Dream Warriors were a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hip hop duo 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 anch ...

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 ...

, comprising King Lou and Capital Q. Described as "a pair of deft, intelligent rappers" by John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, they were major contributors to the

jazz rap Jazz rap (or jazz hip hop) is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the ...

movement of the early 1990s. Their 1991 debut album, ''

And Now the Legacy Begins ''And Now the Legacy Begins'' is the debut album of Canadian hip hop duo Dream Warriors, released April 23, 1991. It was released worldwide on Island Records and in the United States on sub-label 4th & B'way Records (although it was not a hit in ...

'', was cited by Bush as one of the finest

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confo ...

records of the

golden era ''The Golden Era'' was a 19th-century San Francisco newspaper. The publication featured the writing of f.e.g. Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard (writing at first as "Pip Pepperpod"), Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Adah Isaacs Menken, Ada Clare ...

. Before the release of their second album ''

Subliminal Simulation ''Subliminal Simulation'' is the second studio album by Canadian hip hop group Dream Warriors, released in 1994 in Canada and worldwide in 1995, on EMI/ Pendulum Records. The original duo, King Lou and Capital Q, expanded to include Spek and DJ ...

'' in 1994, the duo became a group with the addition of rapper Spek and DJ Luv. In 1996, they released a third album, '' The Master Plan'', before the two new members left the group a year later. Though their subsequent releases did not garner similar commercial success as their debut, the duo released a well-received

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

in 1999. Anthology: A Decade of Hits 1988-1998 > OverviewAllmusic. Accessed on March 5, 2010. Their final album, '' The Legacy Continues...'', was released in 2002.

History

King Lou (Louis Robinson) and Capital Q (Frank Allert) formed Dream Warriors in 1988, hailing from the

Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the wes ...

and Willowdale neighbourhoods of Toronto. The same year, King Lou made his recording debut, appearing on Michie Mee and L.A. Luv's single "Victory Is Calling", which also featured

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

. The duo began working on music together in 1989 and joined the Beat Factory Productions team. In 1990 they collaborated on the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause", a plea for greater inclusion of hip hop music in the Canadian music scene, with

Dance Appeal Dance Appeal was a Canadian supergroup of dance, rhythm and blues, reggae and hip hop artists, who released the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause" in 1990. The song, a plea for greater inclusion of these predominantly black music genres in t ...

, a supergroup of Toronto-area musicians that included

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. Devo ...

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 ...

, B-Kool, Michie Mee, Lillian Allen,

Eria Fachin Eria Fachin (April 20, 1960 – May 9, 1996) was a Canadian dance pop singer, best known for her 1988 single "Savin' Myself".

HDV HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon, and Sharp. The four companies formed the HDV Consortium in September 2003. Conceived as an af ...

, Dionne, Thando Hyman, Carla Marshall, Messenjah, Jillian Mendez, Lorraine Scott,

Lorraine Segato Lorraine P. Segato (born June 17, 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group The Parachute Club, with which she continues to pe ...

, Self Defense,

Leroy Sibbles Leroy Sibbles (born Leroy Sibblies, 29 January 1949) is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arr ...

, Zama and Thyron Lee White."Urban Music"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

''. They signed to 4th & B'way/

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

and released their jazz-influenced debut album ''

'' in 1991. The album was critically acclaimed and sold well in Canada, the United Kingdom, and across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

— before becoming an underground hit in the United States. The album spawned the hit singles "Wash Your Face in My Sink", "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style", and "Ludi". The first two singles hit the

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

in the UK, while in their own country, the album went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and collected 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 o ...

. The song "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" featured a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of ...

of "

Soul Bossa Nova "Soul Bossa Nova" is a popular instrumental, composed and first performed by musician and record producer Quincy Jones. It appeared on his 1962 '' Big Band Bossa Nova'' album on Mercury Records. Jones said that it took him twenty minutes to com ...

" by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, which was the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the Canadian game show ''

Definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definiti ...

''. In 1992, they recorded " Man Smart, Woman Smarter" for the ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' soundtrack. For their 1994 follow-up, ''

'', Dream Warriors added rapper Spek (Hussain Yoosuf) and DJ Luv (formerly L.A. Luv; Phillip Gayle), turning the duo into a four-man group. The album received mixed reviews. It featured an appearance by Butterfly of

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenre ...

and

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

(

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

and

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

) contributed to two tracks. Early production by Da Grassroots is found on the track "No Dingbats Allowed".

Spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

is also performed during the interludes. Two singles, "Day in Day Out" and "California Dreamin'", were released. Dream Warriors released their third album '' The Master Plan'' in 1996, however, it was not released in the US. Three singles — "Float On", "What Do You Want 'Ladies'?", and "Sound Clash" (featuring

Beenie Man Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay. Biography Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...

) — supported the album. Later that year, they recorded a hip-hop version of the song "Edmonton Block Heater", which appeared on the compilation album ''

A Tribute to Hard Core Logo ''A Tribute to Hard Core Logo'' is a 1996 album, which was released as an unofficial soundtrack to Bruce McDonald's film ''Hard Core Logo''."Rock albums don't need movies they were written for". ''The Province'', December 5, 1996. The film is a ...

''. Spek left the group in 1997, before relocating to the UK. DJ Luv also left the group the same year. In 1999, '' Anthology: A Decade of Hits 1988–1998'', a

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation, was released on

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice-T, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Big L, Silkk the Shocker and Westside Connection. It also distributed hip hop record labels including Death Row R ...

. It featured two new tracks by the original duo. The compilation was critically acclaimed, with

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

stating: "Certainly they belong in the same sentence as

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

and

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

." That year, the band performed in Hamilton as part of Showcase '99. In 2002, they released their final album, '' The Legacy Continues...'', exclusively in Canada.

The Herbaliser The Herbaliser is an English jazz hip hop group formed by Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba in London, England during the early 1990s. Although currently releasing on their own label and having previously been signed to !K7 Records, they were one o ...

produced the single "Road of Many Signs", which also appeared on their '' Very Mercenary'' album in 1999. Other singles included "Breathe or Die" and "Unstoppable". In 2017, ''Icon'', Dream Warriors' second compilation album, was released.

Discography

Studio albums *''

'' (1991) – CAN #34,Top Albums/CDs - Volume 53, No. 19, April 13 1991
''RPM''. Accessed on June 30, 2010. UK #18, AUS #53 *''

'' (1994) *'' The Master Plan'' (1996) *'' The Legacy Continues...'' (2002) Compilations *'' Anthology: A Decade of Hits 1988–1998'' (1999) *''Icon'' (2017) Singles

Awards and nominations

* 1991 Juno Awards ** Rap Recording of the Year for "Wash Your Face in My Sink" (Nominated) * 1992 Juno Awards **Rap Recording of the Year for "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" (Won) * 1995 Juno Awards **Best Rap Recording for ''Subliminal Simulation'' (Nominated) *

1997 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 1997, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 9 March 1997 in Hamilton, Ontario at a ceremony in the Copps Coliseum. Jann Arden was host for the major ceremonies which were broad ...

**Best Rap Recording for ''The Master Plan'' (Nominated)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Alternative hip hop groups Black Canadian musical groups Canadian hip hop groups Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year winners Canadian musical duos Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups from Toronto 1988 establishments in Ontario 2002 disestablishments in Ontario

History

Discography

Awards and nominations

See also

References

Further reading

External links