Belly – March/April 2007
Who: Belly
What: living large
Where: Ottawa, ON
To Contact: Capitol Prophet Records, 3349 Bloor Street West, Suite 77, Toronto, ON M8X 1E9; Tel: 416 761 5657; Fax: 416 233 3430; info@capitalprophetrecords.com; capitalprophetrecords.com.
The Ottawa-based rapper/producer, who helped make Massari a gold-selling artist in Canada, likes to do everything over the top, from having a press kit which even includes photos of his Ottawa Hip Hop Music Awards and full-page cardboard one-sheets on his opening slots (Nas, Fat Joe) right through to putting 23 tracks on his forthcoming album, The Revolution. If he could just chill, he’d save some trees and realize that less is more, even selecting the best songs. He produced the collection himself (with some work from Lynxx, Daheala, and Beat Merchant) at CP Records’ studio in Ottawa with engineer Goggs Gordon, and has various guests – most notably Scarface on the single, “I Swear,” but also Jokaman on “In The South,” Tru Life on “My Stocks Goin Up,” and Vico and Deuce Deuce on “The Fam.” The stand-outs are the minute-and-a-half-long “Thunder,” with its AC/DC nod, which has a more forceful vocal delivery and rapid-fire flow and the lyrically impactful “Dead Soldier.” Calling the double album “controversial” – not sure why – Belly (who, yes, also goes by Rebellyus) rhymes about poverty, politics, sex, and the streets. Word is, since The Revolution’s delay, he has added guests Ginuwine, Mario Winans, and Nina Skye. In January, he did a full tour supporting Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. Look for pics in the next kit.
