Cityreal
With the recent release of Western Canadian Music Award nominee Cityreal’s debut solo album The Beginning, his career is shifting into high gear. Born in Winnipeg and relocated to Vancouver at an early age, Cityreal wrote raps and played drums as creative outlets in high school. He draws heavily from his political inspirations and his wide range of musical influences that span from artists like 2pac, Bob Marley and Van Morrison all the way to home-grown rappers such as the Swollen Members, K-OS, and the Rascalz. Cityreal started taking his craft seriously when he returned to Winnipeg to study political science; he began officially paying his dues in the rap world working and collaborating with other underground hip hop groups. Among those collaborations a relationship grew with A Hustle, a member of Bonafide crew, A Hustle became one of Cityreal’s closest allies and collaborators; they performed numerous shows and started recording several projects together. Due to unfortunate circumstances involving a studio owner packing up and leaving town in the middle of the night, most of the material from those sessions with A Hustle was lost. The few tracks that Cityreal and A Hustle did have copies of were compiled onto a mixtape called Unfinished Business. After the setback of losing most of the music he had worked on, Cityreal moved back to Vancouver and renewed his determination. He poured everything he had into his music, honing his ability to rock a live show on his own with more performances and carefully crafted his debut solo album.
The Beginning is entirely self-produced and features guest appearances from three-time Juno Award winner Moka Only, Kyprios of the renowned Sweatshop Union, celebrated veteran bluesman Wes Mackey, and more. Since the release of The Beginning Cityreal has toured relentlessly rocking crowds across Canada, the United States, and France, building his live fan base. He has shared stages with Ice Cube, Three 6 Mafia, Warren G, Swollen Members, Dilated Peoples, Souls of Mischief, Kurupt (of the Dogg Pound), Saigon, and many more. Just a few short months after the release of The Beginning¸ Cityreal was honoured to have it nominated for the Western Canadian Music Award for Rap Recording of the Year. Following a successful Western Canadian tour with Swollen Members he was also invited to join them on their entire American fall tour, taking his fan base development to an international level. Momentum continued to develop; Mad Child (from Swollen Members) inducted Cityreal into the Battle Axe Warriors crew, had him produce several songs for his own forthcoming solo album, and had him to make a guest appearance on the album’s title track. Support for Cityreal also continued to grow in the rest of the music industry; he was invited to showcase at Canadian Music Week in Toronto - Canada’s largest music festival, the Breakout West festival in Kelowna, the Deraylor Festival in Whistler, Shambhala Festival in Nelson, and at the Transmission conference in Victoria – an invite-only gathering of high level entertainment business executives. Cityreal also received several grants to create awareness for his music from FACTOR (the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent On Recordings), which will help provide the financial means to further develop his career. Just recently, Cityreal’s debut music video was nominated for the multimedia award at this year’s Western Canadian Music Awards. As Cityreal continues to establish himself he remains dedicated to delivering a soulful, conscientious sound that has the potential to capture the ears and hearts of the masses.
The Beginning is entirely self-produced and features guest appearances from three-time Juno Award winner Moka Only, Kyprios of the renowned Sweatshop Union, celebrated veteran bluesman Wes Mackey, and more. Since the release of The Beginning Cityreal has toured relentlessly rocking crowds across Canada, the United States, and France, building his live fan base. He has shared stages with Ice Cube, Three 6 Mafia, Warren G, Swollen Members, Dilated Peoples, Souls of Mischief, Kurupt (of the Dogg Pound), Saigon, and many more. Just a few short months after the release of The Beginning¸ Cityreal was honoured to have it nominated for the Western Canadian Music Award for Rap Recording of the Year. Following a successful Western Canadian tour with Swollen Members he was also invited to join them on their entire American fall tour, taking his fan base development to an international level. Momentum continued to develop; Mad Child (from Swollen Members) inducted Cityreal into the Battle Axe Warriors crew, had him produce several songs for his own forthcoming solo album, and had him to make a guest appearance on the album’s title track. Support for Cityreal also continued to grow in the rest of the music industry; he was invited to showcase at Canadian Music Week in Toronto - Canada’s largest music festival, the Breakout West festival in Kelowna, the Deraylor Festival in Whistler, Shambhala Festival in Nelson, and at the Transmission conference in Victoria – an invite-only gathering of high level entertainment business executives. Cityreal also received several grants to create awareness for his music from FACTOR (the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent On Recordings), which will help provide the financial means to further develop his career. Just recently, Cityreal’s debut music video was nominated for the multimedia award at this year’s Western Canadian Music Awards. As Cityreal continues to establish himself he remains dedicated to delivering a soulful, conscientious sound that has the potential to capture the ears and hearts of the masses.
