Organized Rhyme was a

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 ...

group based in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. The group became one of the first Canadian rap acts to sign a

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with a major label (

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

) and the video for their debut single "Check the O.R." won the

MuchMusic Video Award 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 Best Rap Video in 1992. Comedian

Tom Green Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted ''The Tom Green Show'', which a ...

was one of the group's founding members.

History

Organized Rhyme was formed in 1990 by Tom Green (a.k.a. MC Bones), Greg Campbell (a.k.a. MC Pin or Pin The Chameleon) and Geordie Ferguson (a.k.a. DJ Signal). The group signed with

in 1991. The group released their debut album ''Huh!? Stiffenin Against the Wall'' in 1992. That same year the video for their first single "Check the O.R.", won the

for Best Rap Video. In 1993 "Check the O.R." was also nominated for 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 ...

in the category of Best Rap Recording, but the song lost to "Keep It Slammin'" by

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. The group toured with such artists as

The Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold i ...

, Dream Warriors and

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a 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 credited by his ...

. They disbanded shortly after the release of their first album. Green's 2005 rap album ''

Prepare for Impact ''Prepare For Impact'' is the second studio album by Tom Green. It was released through ViK. Recordings. It was produced by Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers. The Keepin' It Real Crew (Tom Green, "Playboy" Jeremy Klein, MC Shawn Anthony and M ...

'' included a bonus DVD that contained both a live solo-performance of "Check the O.R." as well as a recording of the original music video. Organized Rhyme reunited and recorded a new video for "Check the O.R." for the 2011 Just for Laughs festival in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Discography

''Huh!? Stiffenin Against the Wall'' (1992)

"Check the O.R." single (1992)

"Check the O.R." remix single (2000)

References

External links

Profile of "''Check the O.R.''" video at Jane-Finch.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Organized Rhyme Musical groups from Ottawa Canadian musical trios Canadian hip hop groups