If there is one thing you learn about Word Mason, it is that there is no other emcee in the world that is like him. The name Word Mason means one who builds with the word, and the alias The Chevalier is French for Knight or Gentleman. Listening to his lyrics conveys exactly these images. Using his gift with language, Word Mason compliments the noble craft of song writing by weaving images into the mind like strands of wool into an ancient tapestry. Each word that he speaks is like a brick in a lyrical monument to the depth of his ability. This trilingual emcee combines his ability to speak English, French and Spanish with captivating story telling to draw the listener in make them sway to the hypnotic sound of his voice. He demonstrates a diversity that mirrors his various influences. Being of mixed parentage, culturally and ethnically, he draws upon this to find new avenues of sharing his messages of love, life, pain, triumph, failure, and self-discovery. He exemplifies an ageless experience in the human condition and all of its complexities.
Born Adam Horatio Christopher Myrie in 1983 in Red Deer, Alberta, he spent the formative years of his life surrounded by grassroots Canadians in Canadas heartland. At the age of 7, he, his parents and his three sisters moved to Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario, where he began his love affair with the pen. At the age of 10, he performed his own written poetry live at the annual culture show Legacy, which was founded by his older sister and other members of the young black community. He also began his love affair with his other mistress, Hip hop. He started bboying at an early age, dancing in gyms, at dances, in stairwells, hallways, and anywhere else there was enough room to bust a move. Dancing and writing was his escape from his personal struggles, trying to identify his culture, being bullied without mercy, and a troubled home life. Between two runaway sisters and a father with a drinking problem, music and the written word provided and escape for his fear, frustration and anxieties as a teenager. This became especially helpful for him at the age of 17, when his family moved to Kingston, the capital city of his fathers homeland of Jamaica. Here is where he began to put his love of the word to his love of rhythm.
In Jamaica he briefly attended high school, where he began to freestyle with some of his close friends and classmates. The impromptu songs that they would come up with were an eclectic mix of reggae and hip hop lyrics, some of them clever, and many of them not. Within his short time there, his mother and all of his sisters left him and his father and returned to Canada. In Jamaica, Word Mason discovered that the world is not as safe and rosy as he had been raised to believe back in Canada. After repeated mugging attempts and nearly escaping a few scrapes with death, he began to change and realise that his life had to be preserved at all costs. On a visit to his mother in Canada, he explained to his mother what he had to do to preserve himself upon his return to Jamaica, and against her better judgement, his protests and the displeasure of his father, she made him remain with her and the rest of his family in Canada, even though they lived in much poorer conditions than they were accustomed to.
In Canada, he finished high school, graduated from McMaster University with an honours degree in Philosophy and a minor in French by working to pay his tuition, and improving and perfecting his craft as an emcee. He had a show on CFMU 93.3, called Word Masons Hip Hop Nation, where he used his love of Hip Hop to spread his message of love. Word Mason is known to be associated with UrbanRice Productions, and has performed at events hosted by the Stylordz and the McMaster African Students Association.
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Discography:
Debut collaborative album with Dub Dutch '2 Sides 2 a Coin' (2007)
Appears in the Dub Dutch compilation CD 'Long Night Out' (2006)
Appears in the Dub Dutch compilation CD 'Skip to da Beat' (2005)
