By Del F. Cowie

When Michie Mee signed her first record deal, champagne bottles weren’t popping everywhere. “I signed my record deal in my building lobby,” she says, laughing. Despite the modest environment in which it was officially inked, the deal’s historical significance can’t be overstated. Michie Mee, along with DJ La Luv, was the first Canadian hip-hop act to be signed to a major label deal in the U.S. She was just 15-years-old at the time.

But Michie was not only a pioneer in this respect. She was also progressive as one of the few prominent hip-hop artists who were consciously fusing the sounds coming out of New York with music from Jamaica — to which hip-hop owes much of its sonic lineage. It helped Michie to create her own inimitable style that could switch up at a moment’s notice. “I didn’t even really know I was putting a stamp on it because I was really living it,” she says. “What I did was put a dancehall fashion twist to hip-hop. It came out in the music because I was living a dancehall style with hip-hop and it also came out in my dress code.” In retrospect, it’s no surprise that her 1991 debut album, in tandem with DJ La Luv, was entitled Jamaican Funk: Canadian Style.

Michie’s career has a habit of coinciding with groundbreaking occurrences. In 2000, she took on the role of Divine in the CBC series Drop The Beat. Based on the community radio existence of many Canadian hip-hop shows, the series was touted as one of the first dramatic shows to revolve around hip-hop culture.

Additionally, she hasn’t limited her scope to just hip-hop. In the mid to late ’90s, she was part of Raggadeath, a group that mixed rap, rock and reggae in equal measure. It’s an experience that she remembers fondly: “The most fun I’ve had doing music in Canada was the Raggadeath band,” she says. “It was such a journey in a short time. We did three albums, more than I’ve done hip-hop albums.” Michie is still working on new music, collaborating with artists, appearing on remixes and creating her own album, which she promises will incorporate everything she has done in the past with a mature outlook.

Her veteran status also means that she is often a go-to person for opinions on the state of the industry. With the rapid ascension of Canadian hip-hop star Drake, Michie’s insights, given her own achievements, are particularly timely. “He’s got the eyes of the world right now,” she says. “You don’t have to like his record to know Drake, and that’s a good feeling. Anywhere you go after that, in terms of being a Canadian, you can mention Drake and be proud musically. Having him do urban music that’s worldwide? That’s big.”

While Drake’s success might be the Canadian hip-hop story of the year, Michie is working on the story of her life. She has begun writing a book, but it might take some time for its release. “First, but not least, I’m still living the book,” she says. “I don’t think I’m in a spot where it’s like, ‘I’ve got to tell this.’ I’m still living the end. There’s another chapter and I don’t want to leave it out.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Befriend Sway on Facebook

Sway with us on Twitter

Related Articles:

• Promise: Hip-Hop from the Soul
• Q&A with Author and Hip-Hop Theorist Dalton Higgins
• Reema Major hailed as Canada’s next rap star
• Sway Q&A: More or Les
• The 10 most unfortunate trends in hip-hop history