My guests this week are BAG$, aka Jimmy Simard and Pete Rae. They’re a hip-hop duo from Kingston, Ontario. We first met when we all played a show together in their hometown in 2004. We’ve shared many bills over the years, and Pete has made several beats for my group Shark Tank.
They describe discovering hip-hop in 1980s rural Canada, and unveiling their early projects in Kingston in the 90s. They break down their initial forays into beatmaking via pause tapes and belt-driven turntables, and how Jimmy formed The Makeshift Beat Collective to highlight this oft-kilter aesthetic. We discuss their collaborations through the years, and what led to them teaming up to form this new duo.
Mike Riley’s art this week is an homage to Luniz’s Operation Stackola.