Gena Meldazy
Single fathers in Canada may have a new way to find voice in the court system: through the hip hop community. For the sceptical, go no further than the Hamilton-based artist Changer; a hip hop musician, producer, web developer, entrepreneur, and single father since the age of 17. After gaining custody of his son, Changer looked for ways to make positive connections with other parents in custody battles, through his music: “My name represents self improvement, change for the better or get out. Don’t hide from your mistakes or run from your mistakes.”
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It’s [single fathers] not a really a topic you hear people talking about a lot. It exists, as a demographic, but it’s not prominent.
Changer: Right, and if you look at the statistics, fathers are getting custody more and more. […] When people go for custody of their children, there’s this whole point system where “I gotta outdo you, I gotta put you down, I gotta go and do this and make you look bad before you make me look bad” and its cut throat and it gets in the way of the children. My lyrics go more in the way of storytelling and representing that, but I want to have a balance where it’s not all that.
What kind of stereotypes and stigma do you face…not as an artist, because there’s a whole other set of stereotypes about Canadian hip hop artists…but as a single father in Canada…
C: Separate to the music industry?
Right
C: That I can’t give the same love or compassion that a mom can.
How does that affect how people perceive your music?
C: I think as it evolves I’ll have more feedback and interaction. That’s part of my marketing strategy, to put up more surveys and voting buttons and feedback sections and encourage it immensely. At the stage that it’s at, Sonic Unyon is my distributor; I’m the web designer and developer. I’m encouraging more feedback of people letting me know how are they perceiving me. I don’t want to be biased and say I’m hitting every aspect right or people are agreeing with me. From what I’m finding, I’m not pushing the controversy enough either. I could go more ‘Eminem’…
Are they expecting you to bash your ex and be a bit more misogynistic…
C: Well, in terms of the whole stereotype of hip hop, of course. In terms of the beauty of being independent and having that balance of…how can I address my market who love that stereotypical hip hop and still keep my integrity and not sell out, so to speak. I do plan on pushing the envelope a little more.
What is your plan for the next year. You have this deal with Sonic Unyon, so what is going to be happening for you over the next year with that deal
C: For the next 6 months, at least online marketing. I’ve got at least 100 songs to choose from. By summertime I’ll be doing more shows, I’ll have that production done. The next album on Sonic Unyon, approximately May the latest. Hopefully sooner. My aspirations are bigger than my reality, so I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth and say “yeah, it will be two”. But I definitely have enough material for 3 (albums).
Sound Pollution 2010
