Latest track from Canadian Hip-Hop pioneer Maestro inspired by coaching son’s football team

Before Drake, before Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates and K-os there was Wes Williams.

He is the godfather of Canadian Hip-Hop.

Better known as Maestro Fresh Wes from when he burst onto the music scene in the late 1980’s, later he simply became Maestro.  Now you can add “Coach Fresh” to the list.

That was the title given to him by a group of tyke football players he helped coach this past season with the Vaughan Rebels of the Ontario Football League (OFL).

“These kids would come up and say “My dad says you rap. My mom says you rap,” Williams said via telephone from his home in Toronto. “I would say "my name is Coach Wes, not Coach Fresh. I thought about it after and came up with the concept for the joint.”

The premise for Williams’s latest track uses sports metaphors, primarily the relationship between a coach or trainer to a star athlete, in delivering a clever perspective on where he stands at this point in his career.

“As an elder, rather than shoving it down their throat and saying "I’m the man and you’re not", it’s more about mentoring if you read through the lines,” said the 47-year-old.  “A lot of cats have told me I have inspired them.”

Nearly three decades have passed since he released the ground-breaking album Symphony in Effect.  On the strength hard hitting tracks like “Let Your Backbone Slide” and “Drop the Needle,” which have since become classics, the album was certified platinum, selling over 100,000 copies in Canada. In 1991, his follow up, The Black Tie Affair went gold.

Toward the turn of the century, Williams channeled his creative pursuits to include acting. Credits include "Metropia" and his current role as Paul Dwyer on CBC’s “Mr. D” which began its fifth season on Jan. 19.  He also travels the county as a speaker, mentoring and doing presentations.

Releasing “Coach Fresh” on Jan. 15 was calculated to coincide with the season premiere of "Mr. D", the start of NFL Playoffs and the lead up to NBA All-Star Weekend which runs from Feb. 12 – Feb. 14 in Toronto.

“I’m using Hip-Hop as a catalyst for other things, not everyone is going to be that guy (the star),” he said. “What did you learn from Hip-Hop? For me, it’s being a leader and implementing that to other aspects of my life.”

Assuming a leadership role included helping out with the Rebels defense en-route to their Double AA championship in November.  It was a thrilling comeback over the York-Simcoe Young Bucs, trailing 13-0 early on, they won 26-25.  His 7-year-old son Chancellor, a rush end, had two tackles in the victory.

“It was an awesome experience for me to rock out with my son, these are the things he will remember as he gets older,” said Williams, whose duties included teaching the three-point stance. “What I respect with football is the resiliency, you fall and you get back up, your team is dependent on you.”

The determination that spurred Williams to pursue his dreams and eventually led to his pioneering artistry has its roots in sports and involves the most iconic defenceman in NHL history.

When he was around his son’s age, Williams was asked by a teacher to draw a picture of what he wanted to be when he grew up, he drew a picture of black Bobby Orr.  It didn’t go over too well in the classroom.

The incident had a profound impact on young Williams and comprised the first chapter of his book “Stick to Your Vision: How to Get Past the Hurdles & Haters and Be Where You Want to Be", which was published in 2010.

“That was the first time someone told me I couldn’t do something.” he recalls, “Now I tell young minds, don’t let anything stop you.”

When Williams heard that there was a chance he and Orr would both be part of an event leading up to the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, he saw a chance to hand off his book to “thank for him for the inspiration”.  It turned out that legendary No. 4 was not present that day, but Williams was able to pass it on to someone in Orr’s circle.

A few months later, he received a package at his door, a signed copy of Bobby Orr’s autobiography with a personalized note.

An exchange of gifts from one trailblazer to another.

As a forerunner in Canadian Hip-Hop, Williams only had contemporaries like Michee Mee in trying to navigate the record business during the early stages of their careers, so over the years he has paid his experience forward and continues to do so.

“There is no one older than me (in my city) that I can look up to (as an artist in my genre),” he says. “No one knew about a record deal, no one could teach me anything so I learned how to be humble and teach the kids.…at the end of the day we all learn from each other.”

Follow Neil Acharya on Twitter: @Neil_Acharya