(Fog Fotàg / Facebook)

Did you grow up in the 90s? Perhaps you were a teenager or young adult at the time? You’re a little cooler than everyone born after? Then this is your article.

Canadian hip-hop legends Rascalz from Vancouver, BC dominated the development of hip-hop in Canada. This group consisted of emcees Red1 and Misfit, and record producer DJ Kemo. In 1998 they collaborated with another Canadian artist, rapper Checkmate, for their influential single “Northern Touch.” Here’s a taste to grease your memory wheels:

Now because Evolution audience ranges in age and taste, you might not click at the height of this group. One you might’ve heard on local Vancouver radio is “Top of the World” – and if that doesn’t jog your memory, you’re a lost cause.

My story today starts in Downtown Vancouver, off Cambie and Hastings, near Victory Square. Dispensaries were just becoming a thing, not officially government-regulated, but they were decriminalized. The weed buying game had gone from “check-over-your-shoulder” dealer’s homes (I never did this Mom), to suddenly shops popping up here and there around the city. If you had a medical referral you could wander into one of the government regulated shops, but anyone knew that you’d get dry crusty (albeit “totally safe”) nugget of weed. I was in the market for that real stuff. The places that let you smell before you buy and weighed it out in front of you. This is what I would refer to as the “good ‘ol days” for weed-smoking Vancouver.

I’d made the venture all the way downtown. When you know where the good stuff is, you make the journey and buy in bulk. I was down there to top up at the now gone Shaman Shop that was part of Cannabis Culture HQ and next door to the infamous vape lounge. I crossed the street to get to my favoured shop… but low and behold… the buggers were closed. I went into a sister shop and asked when the place would reopen. “Not for a couple hours,” I was told, but I should give the shop next door a try. You need to knock on the unmarked black door, someone would answer, and the weed shop was down the hall at the back.

Ominous … but I decided to give it a go.

(HipHopCanada)

Here I met Lyle. A smooth-talking man who called me “miss” for the first long-while of our interactions. He was fascinating. I’d recognized his face from a different weed shop, and this jazzy, Hollywoood-esque romantic demeanour with a thug exterior was so uniquely him.

Not much time had passed before I started doing as I do, and asking questions. How’s your day been? Any fun stories to tell me? What do you do on your downtime?

Lyle, I learnt, wrote music. “Music??” I said, my recent initiation to the Vancouver Co-op Radio Show “No Apologies Necessary” was tickling my thoughts. I was just learning about this comfortable new “in” I had to ask people about their lives, and to ask musicians about their music. With the credibility of a radio show behind me, I felt little to no shyness to ask him more. Then finished up when he agreed to come down to our radio station a couple blocks away for an interview.

That day I went home and googled Lyle Bismarck, also known as Checkmate. There was ample information about him. Rapper, producer, a strong representative of not only Canadian-music, but Vancouver specifically. I was blown away.

(Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press)

I called up my co-host, told him I found this amazing rapper who agreed to be on our show – and that I was in awe by his readily established notoriety. Mostly blown away that his internet interviews were but a handful, yet he had agreed to do one with little-noob me. I sent over all the information so my co-host could prepare. The day came, Lyle came in all cool and suave as normal. The interview began.

About part-way through the interview I noticed something clicked on my co-host’s face. This was WHO? Suddenly my co-host was attempting to keep his demeanour nonchalant. This was the music he grew up on, and suddenly he realized this and didn’t want our interviewee to realize he had just realized.

After Lyle left, my co-host turned to me, “Do you know who that was???”

“I tried to tell you!!!” I said.

My co-host will groan reading this memory, but it paints a wonderful picture to just how monumental this interview became.

(Alchetron)

Lyle Bismarck, Checkmate, is making music with a drive that never waned. Before “Northern Touch” Lyle recorded over 200 underground tracks. After his Rascalz appearance he compiled his songs to create the 2001 album “Welcome to the Game.” In 2003 Lyle received a Juno Award nomination for his standalone single “R.A.W.” Fast forward to 2021, Checkmate released his fourth solo album “Aviator Game” which featured appearances by Concise, Snack the Ripper, Bishop Bigrante, Moka Only, Tre Nice and Tiago Vasquez. This album was executively produced by Rascalz member DJ Kemo.

Checkmate continues to record and release music. You can find his music on Spotify where the newly released Pro Game 2 is posted.

Keep your eyes on an upcoming episode of our New Music Now podcast on Evolution where Lyle will be participating for further questions about his music.

Find more about Checkmate through the links below:

Written by Volante Matheson, Radio Arts & Entertainment at BCIT

Contact: vmatheson1@my.bcit.ca