K-OS actually spends time living here and also in Ontario, where he\u2019s from.<\/p>\n
His Vancouver experience
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Alexandre.ROSA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
K-OS, whose real name is Kevin Brereton, initially moved to Vancouver in 2009 following the release of his album Atlantis, which features the hit track \u201cSunday Morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Someone close to K-OS told him, \u201cDude, you\u2019re in hotels, I can tell how much time you\u2019re spending in Vancouver. It makes sense to get a place there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved Vancouver,\u201d K-OS told Daily Hive. \u201cIt was so healthy for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he felt like moving here would ruin it. Eventually, he found himself interacting with a real estate agent named Dave Markham, who showed him three places. He was shown a loft in Gastown and bought it right away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still an Ontario boy, but Vancouver is the place I come to kind of get away from the Toronto vibe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
We asked K-OS what he likes about Vancouver compared to Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came to Vancouver, the demos and the music I made were more progressive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He found that Vancouver was more original, and that people are strange and different and don\u2019t really care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no real music scene here that you have to be dedicated to.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he believes that\u2019s why there\u2019s a great history of visual artists in Vancouver, because people can be themselves and not feel judged. He doesn\u2019t feel it\u2019s the same in Toronto, where it\u2019s easy to feel embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can just let your flag fly,\u201d he said, feeling like Vancouver allows you to be yourself more than Toronto.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Vancouver, he said, \u201cPeople might kill me for this, I think it\u2019s more of an artistically provocative city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being \u201cdrafted\u201d as a young emcee<\/p>\n
Something somewhat fascinating about the start of his career is the fact that K-OS was discovered by a former NBA player named John Salley.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said something to me one time. He compared the music industry to being drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n
K-OS said that Salley came into his career right when labels wanted to sign him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go, \u2018How do you know about all this stuff?\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018Because I was drafted.’\u201d<\/p>\n
K-OS wondered what that had to do with anything, and Salley told him, \u201cYou\u2019re being drafted right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that with every record I put out, there\u2019s always going to be new people coming into the league, whether it was the Drakes, the Weeknds, the Biebers. I was always prepared because I looked at it kind of like the NBA. Now I\u2019m the veteran player,\u201d K-OS said.<\/p>\n
He explained that Salley helped him understand the bigger picture about the music industry.<\/p>\n
The hurdles of being different<\/p>\n
Something K-OS did differently than a lot of emcees back in the day was singing. While rappers (like Eminem, Drake and even Kendrick Lamar) singing on their own tracks is pretty commonplace now, it wasn\u2019t necessarily that way when he burst on the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got flak for it. And in Toronto, there were all these underground wrappers. I think because they knew it was going to change things, it was like a subversive thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He felt that some other rappers wanted to try to kill it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I did get support from a lot of people that mattered. I was originally a singer who started to rap. So I had the singing in my back pocket. But I really wanted to be a rapper, so it was a very interesting thing to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
He mentioned other artists who had done it, like Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, and Missy Elliott.<\/p>\n
Another way that things were different for K-OS was, in his words, \u201cbeing the only Black guy everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point, if you\u2019re integrated enough, they forget you were there, and you get to see people acting like white people without them worrying about what you thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged it was a privileged lifestyle, and that not every Black person would be able to experience it that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose to focus on the Canadiana and the greatness of it, and I think that\u2019s why so many other Canadian artists and people liked what I did, because, like, \u2018this guy\u2019s actually portraying us.’\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cThe key is to always have fun, and in the fun, people forget all the bulls**t. That\u2019s what being an entertainer is all about, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?
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Blue Jays\/X<\/p>\n
Drake, who appears to be a big K-OS supporter, is essentially acting as the executive producer for his next album.<\/p>\n
K-OS shared that Drake basically said, \u201cI\u2019m going to give you this money to go make a record, but please make a K-OS record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drake is encouraging K-OS to be K-OS.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it takes your younger brother or someone who was witnessing you more in that stage of, \u2018Oh my God, you\u2019re amazing,\u2019 for them to point out things you were doing that you forgot about.\u201d<\/p>\n
While K-OS isn\u2019t currently touring, he will be performing at the Toronto FIFA Fan Festival<\/a>, and suggests he might have more to share about performing in Vancouver later this year.<\/p>\n