“Soulful, conscientious hip-hop”
Vancouver’s hip-hop group with a social conscience, Sweatshop Union, has come a long way since it released “The Truth We Speak” off its debut Local 604 over five years ago. Now its fourth record, Water Street, named after one of the oldest districts in Vancouver and also the street that nurtured the group during its beginnings, is being released this week.
“I think we’re really trying to come clean with our audience. There have been some personal songs in the past but, in general, the feeling of [Water Street] is more carefree,” says group member Mos Eisley. “It’s still serious but it’s more about how we’re feeling instead of just world issues.”
While Sweatshop Union isn’t planning to make music about shiny cars and female conquests anytime soon, Eisley admits that the group hopes that its music will force people to be more socially aware without sounding preachy.
“I feel like when we first came out, [being preachy] was definitely something that we were associated with,” reflects Eisley, who also notes that the group is always working towards finding a balance between acknowledging world issues and offering solutions instead of simply “making everyone feel crappy about them.”
“We just wanted to shake off that image even [when we were making] the last album,” he admits. “We’re not really telling you how you should feel. Not that we did in the past, but I think [any] perception [that we did] will be a lot less this time.”
Sweatshop Union joined the hip-hop scene in 2000, and for those who remember what Canadian hip hop was like circa the new millennium it’s noteworthy to see how much things have changed.
“I think that a lot of the people that were in their embryonic stage back then have definitely flourished,” says Eisley. “When we were first getting into hip hop and deciding that we kind of wanted to do this, there were people like K-os who barely made a couple of videos and who hadn’t yet become the K-os that people know now. He’s definitely blossomed into this whole other person and has had a lot of success.
“Also, people like Kardy, who we really respected, but he was very local at the time,” he continues. “I think he’s almost international now. People know who he is. So in that sense, I think [Canadian hip hop] has changed quite a bit. [But] there really is no such thing as American or Canadian hip hop.”
In Canada, the supposed credibility of urban artists has often been linked to sales figures or the opinions of tastemakers in the USA, but Eisley feels that it is those who take the time to tour and visit their fans that really deserve praise and respect.
“I gotta say people like Classified definitely made quite a bit of a movement in Canada—like he did these 43-day tours,” says Eisley with a hint of awe. “We can’t even conceive that in Canada because [municipalities] are so far from each other. [Also], people like Kardinall [Offishall], but he’s more in the States now and DO. We’re on tour with [DO] right now. I know he’s been doing his thing and trying to be on the road a lot. Aside from that, there aren’t a whole lot of people who are on the road a lot. Many Canadian artists I guess are discouraged by the fact that Canada’s so big.”
While plenty rock bands hit up small towns like Jasper, Canmore and Golden regularly, it’s almost unheard of for a hip-hop act to do the exact same thing. Eisley, however, feels that times have changed and if hip-hop acts want to remain viable, they can’t solely depend on record sales.
“That’s the past, you know? People aren’t buying as many albums so you have to embrace the fact that it comes back to how music used to be, which is [that] you have to connect with your audience in the flesh and be there and prove to them that you really care enough to come out to their town,” he explains. “Then hopefully they’ll respond by coming to your show and having that organic relationship [with you] as opposed to being like a star and having your CD at HMV and having your CD bought without having a good relationship with [your listeners].
“That’s what it’s going back down to,” he adds. “It’s on the way, it’s kind of good. The future is actually in the past because that’s how music used to be.” V