Luke Boyd (born December 13, 1977), better known by his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Classified, is a Canadian rapper and record producer from
Enfield, Nova Scotia.
Musical career
1995–2004: Early beginnings
Boyd attended
Hants East Rural High School in
Milford Station, Nova Scotia. He started his own production label, Half Life Records, and released his first full-length LP called ''Time's Up, Kid'' in 1995.
After years of working on
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, including eight studio albums and sorting through
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
s, Boyd produced, recorded, and released his ninth album, ''
Trial & Error'', and signed a nationwide distribution deal with Toronto-based
URBNET Records
URBNET Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. URBNET was formed by Darryl Rodway and Janusz Jarosinski in 1999 to provide distribution, marketing and promotional services to Hip Hop artists throughout Canada. U ...
in 2003. Containing collaborations with up-and-coming Canadian artists like
Eternia
''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ad ...
and
DL Incognito
Oliver Nestor, better known as DL Incognito, is a Canadian hip hop rapper and producer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is currently signed to URBNET Records but also operates his independent label Nine Planets Hip Hop along with his brother. In 2007 ...
, as well as Canadian rap veteran
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian ''wikt:maestro#Italian, maestro'' , meaning "wikt:master, master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music ...
, the album was one of the highest-selling independent rap albums in Canada in 2004.
With the support of Canadian grant foundation
VideoFACT, Boyd was able to release two
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s for the singles "Just the Way It Is" and "Unexpected". Boyd continued to develop his production skills and worked alongside prominent MCs in Canada including
Choclair
Kareem Blake (born March 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Choclair, is a Canadian rapper. He was one of the most successful Canadian rappers in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Choclair has been nominated for six Juno Awards, winn ...
and
Maestro Fresh Wes
Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is cred ...
.
[Bliss, Karen (July–August 2005). "Classified", ''Canadian Musician'', 27 (4): 78.] He also collaborated with
Shady Records
Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999).
Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful ...
recording artist
Royce da 5'9" and opened for
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive.
Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
,
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
,
Busta Rhymes
Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...
,
The Game,
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
, MC Grizzly, Captain Capota, Nas,
The Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...
and
Black Moon Black Moon may refer to:
* Black moon, one of four astronomical events involving new or dark moons
* Black Moon (person) (c. 1821–1893), Lakota (American Indian) headman
* Black Moon or Lilith (hypothetical moon), a hypothetical natural satelli ...
.
2005–2007: Nationwide buzz and recognition
Boyd's tenth album, ''
Boy-Cott-In the Industry'', marked a significant turning point is his career. The 2005 album includes guest appearances by Trent James, Royce Da 5'9", Jay Bizzy, J-Bru, A-Wall, Spesh K, and Mike Boyd (Boyd's younger brother and fellow MC). He has said he enjoys doing music with other people: "It keeps things exciting and there are tons of talented people in Halifax so you make connections 'cause it's not a huge scene." The album reached #46 on
SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
's Canadian
R&B/
Hip-Hop albums chart. The singles "The Maritimes", "5th Element", "No Mistakes", and "Find Out", which is the lead single of his 11th studio album, ''Hitch Hikin' Music'', were all Top 20 hits on
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
and
MTV Canada that year. The music video for "No Mistakes" won him an
MMVA
The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018.
Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...
for MuchVibe Best Rap Video. ''Boy-Cott-In the Industry'' also earned a
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
nomination for
Rap Recording of the Year in 2006.
Following ''Boy-Cott-In the Industry'', Boyd released his eleventh album ''
Hitch Hikin' Music''. Like previous works, the album was self-produced. On "Fall From Paradise", Boyd reflects on the difficulty of staying fresh and on top. In the song "All About U", featuring singer Chad Hatcher, Classified shows the extent of his growth from his early releases. In "Hip Hop Star", he eschews the bling-bling culture of popular hip hop to remind people that life is not about trying to impress others. The rest of the album includes guest appearances by Jay Bizzy, Mic Boyd, Jordan Croucher, Preacher K, White Mic and more. Four singles have been released off the album: "Find Out" (which won the 2007
East Coast Music Award
The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...
for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Single), "Feelin' Fine Remix", "All About U", and "Hard to Be Hip Hop". ''Hitch Hikin' Music'' also received a
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
nomination for Rap Recording of the Year in 2007.
2008–2017: Mainstream breakthrough and national success
In 2008, Boyd signed his first major label deal with Sony Music and released his twelfth studio album, ''
Self Explanatory'', in 2009, which received highly positive reviews from critics, debuting on the
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...
at #25 making it Boyd's first album on that chart. The hit single "Anybody Listening" brought Boyd to mainstream success as it peaked at #52 on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
. The accompanying music video also received heavy rotation on
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
. At the
2009 MuchMusic Video Awards
The 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards were held in Toronto, Ontario at MuchMusic's headquarters on June 21, 2009. Along with the MuchMusic VJ's, on April 16, 2009, it was confirmed on the MuchMusic website that the Jonas Brothers would co-host the show ...
on May 21, 2009, Boyd won the
MuchVibe "Best Hip-Hop Video of the Year" award for "Anybody Listening" directed by Harv Glazer and produced by Robert Wilson of TwoThreeFiveFilms. He would also receive three Juno Award nominations in 2010, for Rap Recording of the Year,
Single of the Year, and
Video of the Year respectively. Boyd would enjoy more mainstream success with another hit single, "Oh...Canada". which peaked at #14 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified platinum in digital downloads by
Music Canada
Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...
. In early 2011, "Oh...Canada" received a Juno nomination for "Single of the Year".
On March 22, 2011, Boyd released his thirteenth album and second major studio album, ''
Handshakes and Middle Fingers
''Handshakes and Middle Fingers'' is the second major release studio album by Canadian rapper Classified released on March 22, 2011 on Sony Music Canada, his thirteenth studio album overall. The first single "That Ain't Classy" reached number 45 ...
''. The album debuted at #7 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The first single from the album, "That Ain't Classy", reached #45 on the Canadian Hot 100. "That Ain't Classy" also featured in the EA Sports football game
Madden 12
''Madden NFL 12'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It was released on August 30, 2011 in North America and Asia, September 1, 2011 in Australia, and Septemb ...
. Another song featured on the album, "Run With Me", was included in the soundtrack for
NHL 13
''NHL 13'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada published by EA Sports. It is the 22nd installment of the ''NHL'' series. The game was released on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, featuring Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giro ...
, another EA Sports title. In 2012, Boyd signed with Universal Music.
In 2013, Boyd would reach the height of his music career with the release of his fourteenth album, eponymously titled ''
Classified'', which debuted at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, earning him his first chart-topping album that would eventually be certified Platinum by Music Canada. The first single from the album, "Inner Ninja", reached #5 on the Canadian Hot 100, earning Boyd his first top-ten hit and highest-charting song. The song has been certified 5× Platinum in digital downloads by Music Canada.
In March 2013, it was announced that Boyd signed a deal with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. Boyd won an award at the 2013 Juno Awards for "Rap Recording of the Year" for his song "Inner Ninja". A remix of the song featuring guest vocals from
Olly Murs
Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom ...
was released on November 10, 2013.
In March 2014, Boyd co-hosted the
2014 Juno Awards along with
Serena Ryder
Serena most commonly refers to:
* Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player
Serena may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre
* ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime t ...
and
Johnny Reid
John Kirkland Reid (born August 21, 1974) is a Scottish-Canadian country music artist. Reid moved to Canada in July 1988 when he was 13. His father, a diesel mechanic, wanted to give Reid and his brother opportunities he did not think they would ...
, and released a new single "Higher" featuring
B.o.B
Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...
.
On January 15, 2016, Boyd released his fifteenth album ''
Greatful
'' Greatful ''is the fourth major release studio album by Canadian rapper Classified released on January 15, 2016 on Halflife Records, distributed by Universal Music Canada, and serves as his fifteenth album overall. The first single released, "N ...
''. Three singles were released: "Filthy" which features DJ Premier, "No Pressure" which features Snoop Dogg (and which reached #65 on the Canadian Hot 100) and "Noah's Arch" which features Saukrates. The album debuted #6 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Boyd announced he would be touring across Canada from February to March in support of the album.
Boyd co-wrote and produced Ria Mae's hit song ''Thoughts On Fire'' and raps on the ''Thoughts on Fire (feat. Classified)'' version which was on heavy rotation in early 2017 on the
CBC Radio 2 network.
2018–present: Longevity and latest projects
On February 9, 2018, Boyd filmed a music video for "Powerless" in Nova Scotia, featuring native dancers and musicians and bringing to light the issues surrounding missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. On May 8, 2018, Boyd released another new single called "Changes" featuring
Anjulie
Anjulie Persaud (born May 21, 1983), known as Anjulie, is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has released one self-titled album, and has collaborated with Diplo, Zedd, Boombox Cartel, Kelly Clarkson, Nicki Minaj, TheFatRat, and Benny Benassi, ...
. On May 25, 2018, Boyd released another single "She Ain't Gotta Do Much". Later that month, Boyd announced his new EP ''
Tomorrow Could Be...''. The EP was released on June 29, 2018. On September 14, 2018, Boyd announced that his new album ''
Tomorrow Could Be the Day Things Change'' would be released on October 12. The first single from the album, "Cold Love", featuring
Tory Lanez
Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and convicted felon. He received initial recognition from the mixtape ''Conflicts of My Soul: The 416 Story'', rel ...
, was released the same day.
On September 20, 2020, Boyd released an EP called ''Time''. "Good News" which features Breagh Isabel was one of the singles off the EP, it was certified Gold in Canada, and appeared on John Krasinski's ‘
Some Good News’.
On June 29, 2022, Boyd released ''Retrospected (Acoustic)'' which is an album consisting of acoustic versions of all his hit singles.
Personal life
Boyd is married to Kim Boyd and together they have three children. He has a song named "Having Kids Is Easy" on his 2016 album Greatful, dedicated to his daughters. He has two brothers, Mike and Jake Boyd, and one sister, Leah Boyd. Mike is a frequent collaborator with Classified and has produced multiple albums with him.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Time's Up, Kid'' (1995)
* ''One Shot'' (1996)
* ''What Happened'' (1996)
* ''Information'' (1997)
* ''Now Whut!'' (1998)
* ''Touch of Class'' (1999)
* ''Unpredictable'' (2000)
* ''Union Dues'' (2001)
* ''
Trial & Error'' (2003)
* ''
Boy-Cott-In the Industry'' (2005)
* ''
Hitch Hikin' Music'' (2006)
* ''
Self Explanatory'' (2009)
* ''
Handshakes and Middle Fingers
''Handshakes and Middle Fingers'' is the second major release studio album by Canadian rapper Classified released on March 22, 2011 on Sony Music Canada, his thirteenth studio album overall. The first single "That Ain't Classy" reached number 45 ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Classified'' (2013)
* ''
Greatful
'' Greatful ''is the fourth major release studio album by Canadian rapper Classified released on January 15, 2016 on Halflife Records, distributed by Universal Music Canada, and serves as his fifteenth album overall. The first single released, "N ...
'' (2016)
* ''
Tomorrow Could Be the Day Things Change'' (2018)
EPs
* ''iTunes Session'' (2013)
* ''
Tomorrow Could Be...'' (2018)
* ''Time'' (2020)
Compilations
* ''
While You Were Sleeping'' (2007)
Remix albums
* ''Retrospected (Acoustic)'' (2022)
Mixtapes
* ''The Joint Effort'' (2012)
Awards and nominations
Books
* ''Classified: Off the Beat 'N Path'' (2021) - #1 Best Seller on Amazon Pop Music Books
See also
*
Canadian hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained l ...
*
Music of Canada
The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been ...
References
External links
ClassifiedOfficial website
ClassifiedOfficial HalfLife Records website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Classified
1977 births
20th-century Canadian male musicians
20th-century Canadian rappers
21st-century Canadian male musicians
21st-century Canadian rappers
Canadian hip hop record producers
Canadian male rappers
Canadian songwriters
Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners
Living people
Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia