King Reign!

The first time I heard about you, you were working with Mr. Murr and I came to check you at an event your cousin Wan put together. From that performance alone I knew you were no joke! The next time we connected was when you dropped “Lookin For Love” with Darp Malone (geez!). By that time I was doing O.T.A. Live! on Flow and so I reached out…. you came through, and we put together a nice short piece about the inspiration for that song. You did a guest Cell Therapy feature on the show and told Toronto about the connections between Trinidad’s extempo traditions and freestyle rap.

Then I found out your uncle was MR. MANSWELL?!!

Mr. Manswell was one of many Black-Caribbean men that kept a lot of us Scarborough boys out of trouble through soccer. And I realized then, that your family’s roots run deep in our community (still learning just how deep!).

So your intelligence, demeanor… your energy on the mic….. it all made sense.
All this just to say.. you mattered to me.

My sincerest condolences go out to your family and loved ones.

I’ll do my best to make sure you are remembered… and your children know that their father was respected and admired by many.

Rest in peace, and power, with my love, and the love of your communities.

Ty Harper