Masia Lim, better known as Masia One (MAS1A) (), is a Canadian rapper from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

.Vela, Thandiwe (2009)
Toronto home to hip-hop diasporas
, ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', January 8, 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2011

Biography

Lim was born in Singapore and moved to Canada at a very young age, growing up in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and eventually moving to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

.Cheah, Jason (2009)
Club Beat: Holiday fever continues as the parties just get hotter this weekend
", ''

'', February 6, 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2011 She attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and graduated with a degree in Architecture and Economics.Tan, Valerie (2009)
S'porean hip hop artist gets worldwide recognition for her works
, Channel NewsAsia, June 28, 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2011 In 2003, she began her own record label known as M1 Group (later renamed The

Merdeka ''Merdeka'' is a term in Indonesian and Malay which means "independent" or " free". It is derived from the Sanskrit ''maharddhika'' (महर्द्धिक) meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term ha ...

Group) and subsequently released her debut album, ''Mississauga''. Her most famous songs are "Split Second Time", "Return of the B-Girl" and "Warriors Tongue". In 2003, Masia One became the first female rapper to be nominated for "Best Rap Video" in the

MuchMusic Video Awards 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 ...

. Her second album, ''Pulau'' was released in fall 2008, in two volumes; ''Pulau: Chapter 1: Montreal in the Fall'' and ''Pulau: Chapter 2: The Islands''. It features collaborations with Moe Masri, Isis, Lady E, DJ SARASA, Dylan Murray,

Zaki Ibrahim Zaki Ibrahim is a South African-Canadian singer-songwriter. Her music blends R&B, soul and jazz.Moka Only Daniel Denton (born November 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Moka Only, is a Canadian underground hip hop artist. He has won 3 JUNO Awards, 5 MuchMusic Video Awards, and has been nominated for 11 Western Canadian Music Awards. Origina ...

, Sikh Knowledge, Vybz Machine and more. In 2012, she appeared on former

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

guitarist

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...

's EP, ''

Letur-Lefr ''Letur-Lefr'' (pronunciation: /'lɛtɹ̩ 'lɛfɹ̩/) is the fourth EP by John Frusciante, released on July 17, 2012 on Record Collection. It was released in multiple formats including 32-bit digital download and cassette. The EP features Fruscia ...

''. Masia One has also been featured on two ill.Gates songs, on his 18-track LP, ''The ill.Methodology'', also released in 2012. Her third album Bootleg Culture 2014, was produced by Kops and Robbers, the production duo of Che Vicious (Aftermath, G.O.O.D. Music, Jay-Z, Eminem) and Travis von Cartier. The album included features from

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...

and notable Canadian artists Isis Salam and

Graph Nobel Graph Nobel is a Canadian indie/ alternative/ pop musician and songwriter. Her music is " hip-hop inspired with punk rock abandon". Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario to Trinidadian parents. Nobel tributes several genres as an influence; as is e ...

. Warrior's Tongue off this project was used by

Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory. He initiall ...

in his song "Speakerbox" off his '' Into the Sun'' album, which became the trailer theme song for

The Fate of the Furious ''The Fate of the Furious'' (alternatively known as ''F8'' and titled on-screen as ''Fast & Furious 8'' internationally) is a 2017 American action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Furious 7'' (2 ...

. Masia One spent years in Jamaica following the release of her third album and worked on a yet unreleased record at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studios with Jamaican reggae band Dubtonic Kru. In 2015, Masia One moved back to the place of her birth Singapore and founded the Singapura Dub Club, the country's first Dub, Reggae and Dancehall events company. She spent the next year's touring Southeast Asia and connecting Reggae scenes from across this region to bring Jamaican inspired music to the forefront. Through Singapura Dub Club she has brought artists like

Sister Nancy Ophlin Russell (born on 2 January 1962), better known as Sister Nancy (or Muma Nancy), is a Jamaicans, Jamaican dancehall Deejay (Jamaican), DJ and singer. She is known to the world as the first female dancehall DJ and was described as being a ...

Johnny Osbourne Johnny Osbourne (born Errol Osbourne, 1948) is one of the most popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall singers of all time, who rose to success in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. His album '' Truths and Rights'' was a roots reggae success, and featu ...

General Levy Paul Scott Levy (born 28 April 1971), also known as General Levy, is an English ragga deejay, regularly employed on studio tracks by drum and bass DJs. He is best known for the track "Incredible" which he recorded with M-Beat. A remixed version ...

, U-Brown, Papa Ugee, Cojie (Mighty Crown) and

Tippa Irie Tippa Irie (born Anthony Henry, 1965, London, England) is a British reggae singer and DJ from Brixton, South London. He first came to prominence in the early 1980s as an MC on the South London reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International. He fir ...

to the

Lion City Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderi ...

. In the fall of 2018, Masia One released her 4th studio album, ''Far East Empress'', which was produced by Richie Beretta and featured artists collaborations with Southeast Asian talents and executive. Her first single
Wastin
has been released with a video that features dance crew Ragga Waka and other influential Singaporean women.

Discography

* ''Mississauga'' (2003) * ''Pulau'' (2009) * ''Highplace Drive'' (2010) * ''Bootleg Culture'' (2014) * ''Far East Empress'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:One, Masia Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian women rappers Living people Rappers from Toronto Underground rappers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian rappers 21st-century women rappers