COVID has claimed one of Canada’s unsung hip-hop pioneers. On January 8, 2021, Jay W. McGee, a Juno-nominated r&b and gospel singer, passed away in Flint, Michigan. McGee lived and performed in Canada for 25 years and collected numerous accolades throughout his career. However, McGee should also be recognised for another accomplishment.
Since 2016 I’ve been attempting to locate the earliest examples of hip-hop culture in Toronto as part of my doctoral research in media studies at Western University. As a result of this investigation, remarkable information appears to be absent from written histories documenting Canadian hip-hop — McGee, as I will argue, recorded what is most likely Canada’s first rap record in 1979.