CONTROLLED K- OS
Acclaimed rapper finds his muse in Vancouver
Kevin Brereton used to call himself a bi- coastal Canadian. The man known as Juno- winning rapper k- os would split his time between Toronto and Vancouver, two cities with very different stories that both had their way of influencing his work.
For the past few months, however, k- os has taken up semi- permanent residency in Gastown, subletting his apartment in downtown Toronto.
“I feel like Vancouver is my solitude,” Brereton, 41, says in a phone interview.
“I’ve said before that Vancouver keeps me sane. It’s more of a ‘ village’ to me than anything else.
“If it wasn’t for the Vancouver hip- hop scene I would have no rap career,” he adds. “When MuchMusic decided to do the first RapCity tour, they put me, ( Vancouver rap legends) the Rascalz and ( Toronto’s) Ghetto Concept on the bill. ( Rascalz member) Red1 said to me, ‘ You could be from Vancouver. I just saw your video and you have a Vancouver vibe.’
“Those guys took me in, I was on a song called Top Of The World, and it was the song that got the industry involved with me.”
Brereton readily admits that if it wasn’t for Vancouver, he wouldn’t make the music he is making at the moment, including his latest double opus, BLack On BLonde.
The audacious double album conjures k- os’s rap side on one disc ( with guest appearances by Corey Hart, The Roots’ Black Thought, Shad and Saukrates) and his rock side on the other ( with cameos by Sam Roberts and Emily Haines, among others).
It’s a bold, ambitious project that flies in the face of current music industry logic.
“I’ve come back since 1998 and made every record ( in Vancouver),” Brereton says. “On this last one, I worked with ( Limblifter/ Age of Electric’s) Ryan Dahle, who was the producer of the ‘ BLonde’ side of the record. He made me have a really authentic sound going back to D. O. A. and Age Of Electric and Hot Hot Heat — real rock ’ n’ roll dudes influencing my sound through osmosis.
“It’s not to say Toronto doesn’t have that, but there’s more business there. It’s harder for people to just connect beyond the platitudes of business. “In Vancouver, people just hang.” Admittedly, one of the places where k- os used to love hanging out was the Waldorf Hotel, which recently gave the boot to the production team that helped its revival.
The hotel is featured prominently in k- os’ video for single NYCE 2 Know Ya, a moody, cinematic black andwhite clip that was shot the day before the announcement of the Waldorf’s closure that made headlines in January.
“It’s like the Drake and the Gladstone in Toronto. There’s a history,” he says. “I don’t want to get too spookish and ghostly, but magic is an unknown science — when you put people in a room over and over again, the room is influenced by those people. When you walk into these places there’s a vibe already. Who knows what that vibe is?
“But it’s just sad to see it go.”
k- os With Rich Aucoin April 20, 9: 30 p. m. | Commodore Ballroom Tickets: $ 25 plus charges at Red Cat, Highlife and livenation.com