Epic & Deadly Stare - A library called Calder
Hand’Solo Records
Released on April 25th, 2025
A library called Calder is steeped in the history of Canadian hip-hop in every way. It is being released by Hand’Solo Records, which is closing in on 30 years of releasing important Canadian rap records featuring people like Sixtoo, Moka Only, Wordburgler, Backburner, Tachichi, Touch and The Dirty Sample. And, of course, Epic and Deadly Stare.
Deadly Stare, AKA Scott Da Ros has been doing cool things since the early 2000s. Promoting, Designing, producing. He runs Endemik Music, which has released albums from Buck 65, INSTRUMENTS, Heliodrome and my favorite rapper, Bleubird. Like me, he’s from Nova Scotia.
Epic is a prairie rapper to his core, growing up in Saskatoon before moving to Edmonton, where I live.
In an interview for his 2004 album Local Only, Epic said “I’m content rapping in the six prairie cities forever.” In the 20 years since then, something has changed a bit. A library called Calder steps out, geographically. “Walking Through Toronto” is about, well..that. The song is filled with little inside jokes and references to stories we will never know, summarized by the chorus “Walking through Toronto, just look around, just look around.” Similarly, “Hot 97” tells stories about hanging in New York and Vancouver Island. “Scarborough Town Centre” is about traveling all over Ontario. “California Beach Town” is about that.
International, surely, but the lens these places are viewed through is decidedly Canadian prairies. A library called Calder is grounded in the prairies. From the title reference to the architecturally fascinating Northside Edmonton Library, to the album cover that shows a pixelated version of the library and surrounding neighbourhood. The other songs are all set in Saskatoon and Edmonton. The excursions to other places even seem to be contextually relative to the prairies.. It’s done sincerely and in a very relatable way, for someone like me.
The international feel is also suitable for the references made. An Epic album is like reading excerpts from a book about the history of rap music. There are references throughout to Doug E. Fresh, Myka 9, Gang Starr, The Roots, Abstract Rude, J Dilla, EPMD and Roxanne Shante. Even more notable are the shoutouts to his peers, the legends who built Canadian hip-hop. Gruff The Druid, Buck 65, Kunga 219, MC J and Cool G, Moka Only, A-Track, Kid Koala, Saukrates and Jesse Dangerously all get mentioned. Very cool.
Epic has a weird, outsider-artist delivery. His flow, non-traditional. Unique. Almost mono-tone, almost speaking. The words fall out of his mouth, sometimes barely squeaking out. The flow flows unassumingly, calmly and modestly, but carrying words that are anything but. The words are literary and confident. They are the words of a man who knows exactly how to describe the world that he lives in. The rhymes are clever, and the rhyme schemes complicated, sometimes falling apart altogether, jazzy. There are no rules in the lyricism of Epic. No walls. Open air hip-hop.
Deadly Stare creates a varied, dynamic and impressive backdrop, jazzy groovy beats to lush ambient soundscapes. Big, harsh, noisy, beats laid over pretty piano parts and jazzy samples. They are beautiful and tense. Thin sounds and thick sounds knitted together into something new. Scott has become an expert at his craft.
Epic isn’t an outsider artist. Neither is Deadly Stare. They are insider artists. Hip-Hop historians. Rap superfans. A library called Calder is a love letter to hip-hop, a love letter to Canada, and a great example of artists creating art based on their love of art.
