ON THE RISE
VICTORIA, BC — Mr. Esq grew up in a small port town on Canada’s southwest coast named Esquimalt, and that community gave him his stage name.
Now he’s working to help young people avoid the problems he had and mistakes he made while as a youngster in Esquimalt with his latest album, ‘Esquire’ coming out July 14.
“This is my first album with the label Predominate Studios, this will be my 18th album in the last three and a half years,” Mr. Esq said. “This album, 20 tracks for the label, it’s my reintroduction to the hip hop scene with this label backing me and I wanted to do something a little more creative and different.
“The topics of this, there’s a bunch. It goes from ‘Rich Problems,’ I wrote a song about my mother, ‘A Mother’s Day.’ There are songs about abusive relationships, COVID, Black Lives Matter, the indigenous people and the babies that were found, and there’s a whole spectrum about content songs. Songs about the youth and the direction they’re going. I’ve got something for everybody. Then there are some clubby, banging songs, songs for the ladies, I talk about sexual abuse, I talk about all kinds of things.”
Mr. Esq said his time in prison and a child he lost more than 20 years ago are helping feed his music today and helping him mold his message.
“I spent 10 years in prison,” he said. “I was 18 years old, I was part of an escort agency, selling drugs for certain people. I got a girl pregnant, she moved away and I went with her, then she lost all the amniotic fluid six and a half or seven months into the pregnancy and it forced her to go into labor. My son passed away at birth. That sent me down an even darker path at that point, just drinking more and being more violent, hurting people. It’s ultimately what led to my incarceration.”
After he got out of prison, he worked hard to change his life and a happy coincidence helped along the way.
“I met a girl and I had a daughter with her,” Mr. Esq said. “The doctor told me the due date and it was the exact same date my son passed away. Ten years to the day my daughter was born on the same day my son died 10 years apart. So we celebrate both their birthdays on the same day, she wears his ashes and she knows all about her big brother. The worst day of my life was changed and now it’s the best day of my life
“It’s crazy how the universe works because what kind of father would I have been at 18 years old selling drugs and being a knuckle head, as opposed to now, my daughter is my world, she means everything to me and everything I do every day is to provide her with a life that I never had and make sure she never walks the path that I lived when I was growing up.”
Mr. Esq said his latest single, ‘Rich Problems’ was the result of a fun collaboration with a friend, the rapper and artist Madchild.
“So a buddy of mine Madchild, he's a really really good artist and he’s made some huge new moves in the community of hip hop,” Mr. Esq said. “So I grew up listening to his music and we became good friends and he pulled up to my house in a G-Wagon (a Mercedes G-class SUV) and I said, oh, you’ve got Rich Problems. We Kind of laughed about it and then we ended up going to the studio and that beat came on and I started going through the beat in my head and seeing what comes and Anything you really got is a Rich Problem. That’s the first thing that came to my head and we started writing and we just made magic from there.”
Mr. Esq said “Rich Problems” is about having complaints that really aren’t that serious in the wider scheme of things.
“A lot of people have complaints about their relationships or girls or the pandemic or gas prices, shit like that, it’s like I want to have Rich Problems,” Mr. Esq said. “I’ve got too much money, I need to figure out what to do with it. That’s kind of what the song is about, when you have rich problems, you have no more problems, everything’s just taken care of. Maybe one day I’ll have those kinds of problems, but really it was just a fun song to make with my buddy Madchild, and it turned out to be pretty good. I like how it came together.”
To listen to Mr. Esq’s music, or to follow him on social media, please visit the following links:
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Elvis Presley – ‘Mystery Train’
“My first love was Elvis, no question. In our house, we had a French-release compilation album of his songs called ‘Le Roi Du Rock ‘n’ Roll’. As a small kid, I was obsessed with ‘Mystery Train’. The way Elvis held his guitar like a gun and the percussive way he attacked the strings made me fall in love with the guitar. Many years later, I went busking around Europe on my motorbike with a tent and played my guitar in the streets. But it was all because of Elvis and those early Sun [Records] recordings – and ‘Mystery Train’ in particular.”
Blondie – ‘Autoamerican’
“There was an Our Price on Finchley Road, North London that I’d go to with my older brother and sister. That’s where I bought ‘Autoamerican’ in 1981. Blondie – what can you say? Apart from the fact that as a young boy, it was impossible not to be in love with Debbie Harry. I love the variety on this particular record – it goes through different genres. Years later, I saw Blondie play [in 2013] at a private function in New York with Kanye West. Debbie Harry was still magnetic.”
Queen, Wembley Stadium, 1986
“Queen were supported by INXS. It was before they released ‘Kick’ [in 1987]. I only went because it turned out my friend Kieran’s dad was a big-shot in the music industry and he got four tickets. I was around 17, it was a year after they played Live Aid and Queen were phenomenal.”
The Beatles – ‘Eleanor Rigby’
“All through our early teenage years, my younger brother and I were always at the top of the house listening to The Beatles. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ reminds me of the ‘80s and the views out of our house in London: looking at the grey, rain-drizzled skies. I always felt its melancholy, looking out of the window back then as a teenager. Not that I was unhappy, but I definitely responded to that in music.”
Ever meet Macca?
“I have met Paul McCartney and he was a complete gentleman. At a political party, we were watching the American election on TV and he came up to me and said [Lewis does a pitch-perfect Macca impersonation]: ‘Oh, you understand a bit or two about the TV, don’t you?’. And I just realised he’d seen me on TV and I melted. I went to bed grinning. That McCartney knows who I am is incredible. I was completely tongue-tied.”
David Bowie – ‘Heroes’
“I know 173 other people will probably also have picked ‘Heroes’ for this, but from the opening note, it’s just relentlessly brilliant. It’s the most evocative, triumphant, euphoric song – and unbelievably cool. The second album I ever owned was Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’ – and he’s remained a touchstone for me.”
The Rolling Stones – ‘Little T&A’
“I listen to the Stones a lot and I can never get ‘Little T&A ‘ out of my head. Keith Richards is quoted as calling the song ‘dumb’ and that it’s just about rock ‘n’ roll energy. It’s a celebration of carnality, I’m aware of that, but that’s the one that stays in my head!”
Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers – ‘Swing the Mood’
“I can’t fucking hear Jive Bunny again! But I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. When I was in my twenties, I would go out on my own dancing to old-school rock ‘n’ roll at rockabilly nights. Then Jive Bunny came out and cut up my favourite songs into snippets and put them into this endless [novelty] medley. And then it was never off the radio, so I’d have to put it into the Room 101 of music.”
Crazy P – ‘There’s a Better Place’
“It’s an ambient rave tune with a fantastic Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory sample. I’m just that age. I left school right into the dance culture of the ‘90s and that will still always get me up on the floor.”
The Weepies – ‘Gotta Have You’
“It reminds me of moving to LA as a family with my late wife Helen [McCrory]. My daughter was one year old and my son was about to be born. We were living in Venice Canals – and I was filming out there. We had a babysitter who was a 23-year-old roller-skating, already-Botoxed sunny Californian girl. We asked her, are you listening to any good music? She gave us two great bands. One is The Shins but the other was a lesser-known band called The Weepies. That song will always get me going.”
Elton John – ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’
“I can’t say I do karaoke but I will proudly divulge that I was at karaoke in Fulham Broadway once. I went in there with a friend and I got up and sang ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ and I won a bottle of champagne for best karaoke of the evening! Very chuffed I was too. If I was back looking for another bottle of champers, I’d pick it again.”
Talk Talk – ‘It’s My Life’
“I was an ‘80s kid and I liked electronic music. I’ve always loved ‘It’s My Life’ and Andy Hollis’ vocals, as well as its slightly bombastic nature. Life’s what you make of it – seems like a good sentiment to have.”
Damian Lewis’ UK tour begins on October 2. His album ‘Sweet Chaos’ is out now via Thin Red Duke
