TORONTO — June 7, 2019 — Maestro Fresh Wes — the Godfather of Canadian hip hop — has dropped a fresh video for his infectious Toronto Raptors-inspired anthem. “Jurassic Park” is available now!
Produced and featuring Rich Kidd, the track and video is a celebration of the award-winning artist’s hometown team and their fans who gather outside the stadium for games.
Shot by Lee Solo and edited by FLX VSN, “Jurassic Park” was initially featured on Maestro’s 2017 LP Coach Fresh — available on all platforms.
The video comes amidst Williams’ latest release, Champagne Campaign, an album that marks his 30th anniversary of exploding onto the scene with 1989’s iconic Symphony in Effect. Its success blazed a fiery fresh trail, becoming the first hip hop release to receive a JUNO Award for Best Rap Recording of the Year, and first Canadian hip hop album to reach Platinum status.
Even more, his legendary track “Let Your Backbone Slide” made Williams the first Canadian hip hop artist to have a single reach Gold status; he was also the first Canadian hip hop artist to have a stronghold on Billboard’s Top 20 Rap Singles chart.
With 14 JUNO nominations (plus a second win, this time for Best Video in ’91), real estate on the Scarborough Walk of Fame, anthems on repeat for both ’14 and ’16 Olympics — to say the least — Williams is easily considered one of Canada’s premier and most notable multi-media personalities. His previous 2017 LP Coach Fresh was also nominated last year for another JUNO Award, and he just wrapped up eight seasons playing the role of Vice Principal Paul Dwyer on the CBC hit sitcom, Mr. D.
Maestro Fresh Wes (Wes Williams) is a multi-award winning recording artist, and the first Canadian Hip Hop artist to have a single — “Let Your Backbone Slide” — hit Gold status on the charts. His iconic 1989 album Symphony In Effect was the first to receive a JUNO Award for Best Rap Recording of the Year, as well as the first Canadian Hip Hop album to go Platinum. A true pioneer, he was also the first Canadian hip hop artist to have a song rank on Billboard’s Top 20 Rap Singles chart.
Maestro’s songs “Reach For The Sky (feat. Classified and Blue Rodeo)” and “The Distance (feat. Saukrates)” was featured throughout the Olympics, 2014 Winter and 2016 Summer, respectively.
As an actor, Williams has appeared on numerous film and television projects, including The Line — for which he was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series — and as the character of Paul Dwyer in the CBC hit sitcom, Mr. D.
He has been inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame, received the 2003 Reel World Film Festival Trailblazer Award, and was a guest speaker for the Governor General of Canada’s Summit on Urban Arts.
Williams’ paths as both an author and motivational speaker merged with the release of his motivational book, Stick To Your Vision. With its foreword written by Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and content long-credited for inspiring fellow Canadian hip hop star Drake, the book has been incorporated by multiple school curriculums as required reading. His 2017 TED Talks on the subject of Self – Revision has been inspiring to many who have watched him evolve for over three decades.
2019 commemorates the 30 year anniversary of his first album and it’s a great time to celebrate as well as to motivate young minds. Recently, Wes performed and was a presenter at the 2019 JUNO Awards, performed at the final home game for the Vancouver Canucks’ 2019 NHL season, and supported the Kidney Foundation of BC.
