Chef Raekwon Is Cooking Up Canadian Home Brew, Sets Up Shop in Toronto

(Photo via swaggnews.com)

Due to Drake and the Bieb's success on the international stage, Wu-Tang Clan member Chef Raekwon has taken his culinary skills north of the border for a piece of the action. With a newly purchased Toronto waterfront condo in hand and an office on Yonge Street for the newly minted Canadian wing of his Ice H20 record label, he's eager to sign some Canadian talent.

From Canoe.ca:

"What brought me here is because of the fact the city is so rich and filled with talent that's being overlooked, Alright you got Drake who made it but there's still more people here. And if you really look at the table chart of Canadian artists that made it out of here, the majority of them, you could say were successful

[....]

So my thing is we want come in and diffuse anything that's not real, anything that doesn't associate with real hip-hop. We want to be the one that says, 'Yo, we want to help build and build a bigger and better industry.' I'm just like. 'Yo with talent from Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec,' who's paying attention?'

The first artist signed to his stable is local MC JD Era. Raekwon thinks he's the real deal, but he wants the young MC to crawl before he balls:

"We got him, how can I say, in training. But he's in a great space right now. Next year, we're counting on him coming through and making an impact but it's about having your business together first. You being an artist that people can say, 'Yo, you're paying your dues.' You can't just come in and run to the top."

Rae also rhymes off on how much he loves Toronto in the piece. Could other Canadian business ventures be in his future? The full article can be found here. Take time to watch the video embedded in the article, even if it's just to see the Chef rocking a Blue Jays cap.

-Paqman