Mo Moshiri

Mo Moshiri is an MC, songwriter, and producer. He is perhaps best known as one of the founders of the legendary west coast hip-hop group Sweatshop Union. Together they recorded several albums, performed hundreds of shows, earned Juno nods and WCMA wins, and helped pave the path for the new generation of artists making waves on the coast and beyond.

After a healthy hiatus, Mo is back from deep space and feeling rejuvenated. He wants to talk to YOU about everything! Or maybe just vibe. A deft lyricist whose flow and beats pay hommage to classic hip-hop sounds, as he explores the lyrical ether in a way few other MCs dare to tread. Full of big ideas and deep wells of thought and feeling, you know Mo Moshiri is going to take you on a journey when he's on the mic.

His latest full album Can I Tell You Something? is a potent blend of true-skool hip-hop and global bass music with intelligent and passionate rhymes, and melodies that stay with you. A majority of the production on the album is handled by long-time friends Mo and Rob the Viking, who have been working together since they were both in their teens. In fact, it was Rob who showed Mo how to make beats 20 years ago! Working together again was a very natural and powerful combination for the duo, resulting in Moshiri's most textured and layered offering to date.

Like any great adherent to the tenets of hip-hop, Moshiri can thrive on his own with a just a mic and a beat or in the midst of a group, trading energy with the other people in the room – always working to build musical community based in Love and Rap.

Shows

The Upstairs Cabaret
Thu. June 22nd 21:00
$19.50 - $25 advance
With reggae and hip-hop being the big flavours at Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest this year, we thought we'd shine the light on and give the stage to our west coast community's shining stars of each genre. BC-implant and Trinidad & Tobago native CALEB HART will be taking our festival for the time in a few years, after his west coast mini-run with UK legend Macka B this spring. Once he was in the area, it didn't take Caleb Hart long to establish himself as one the west coast's favourite vocalists and performers – not just reggae, but of all genres. His songs are both powerful and sweet, delivered with an unmatched passion. His voice is a musical weapon, floating through the air one minute with a lovers' reggae sound and then drilling down into your ears the next with gruff, rapid fire dancehall styles. The love Hart has for reggae radiates off the stage every time he's on it. We are beyond excited to welcome his and his crew back to Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest.

And we're equally as excited to welcome back two of our favourite MC s – MO MOSHIRI & NOSTIC – back for a very special collaborative performance that will celebrate hip-hop culture and put the art of MCing on full display. Through his work with Sweatshop Union and his stellar solo work, Mo Moshiri has long been a fixture on the west coast hip-hop scene, paying respect to the culture every time he picks up the mic. His rhymes are reflective, celebratory and overflowing with feeling. If you've been around the Victoria music scene for any time you've probably come across the immensely talented and ephemeral Nostic. The Canadian/Peruvian MC and creator has one of the smoothest flows on the mic this city has seen in a long time, shifting between languages and rhythms seemingly effortlessly. He combines his raps with beatboxing and singing, blending them up in a way no one else in the area is doing it.