{"id":4627,"date":"2017-01-09T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=4627"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:41:18","slug":"maestro-fresh-wes-carleton","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/maestro-fresh-wes-carleton\/","title":{"rendered":"Maestro Fresh Wes in the House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Maestro Fresh Wes in the House\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Thirty years ago, a teenager from Toronto moved to Ottawa to enrol at Carleton University. His experience on campus and in a new city inspired him to get serious about making music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wes Williams, who studied law and political science at Carleton in the mid-1980s, went on to release \u201cLet Your Backbone Slide,\u201d<\/a> the first Canadian hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit and one of the best-selling singles in Canadian hip hop history. And now Williams \u2014 better known as Maestro Fresh Wes<\/a>, the godfather of Canadian hip hop \u2014 will be returning to Carleton as a VIP guest to help the university kick off its 75th<\/sup> anniversary celebrations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wes
Wes “Maestro Fresh Wes” Williams, who studied law and political science at Carleton in
the mid-1980s, released the first Canadian hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. | Photo: Melissa Moffat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a major transition you make in life, from high school to university, and I made the most of it,\u201d says Williams, who will be performing and speaking at an anniversary launch event in the University Centre galleria on Wednesday, Jan. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBeing at Carleton and in Ottawa really helped me find myself. Then I transcended. I went back home to Scarborough, worked hard, and a year and a half later I got my record deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cLet Your Backbone Slide\u201d was the first single on Maestro\u2019s 1989 debut album \u201cSymphony in Effect,\u201d which won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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