Gritty City

Book excerpt: Gritty City is a love letter to Winnipeg, a prairie metropolis born out of rebellion, a river city marooned in the middle of a continent. Maybe there is something in the water that makes us different... Gritty City is the first book to tackle the history of Winnipeg hip-hop, treating it not as a passing fad or a subgenre of rock, but as its own distinct and significant culture and artform. Much like the city itself, hip-hop locally was born out of struggle, out of the intense racism that plagued elements of Winnipeg for much of the 1980s. As the culture blossomed and gained acceptance, slowly but surely the community became more and more prominent, leading from the DIY ‘90s to the heyday of the early 2000s. Gritty City traces this timeline from the early 1980s to 2005 in an oral history format, making it seem like you’re just sitting around with your cousins and their friends as they reminisce. Featuring over 100 voices of Winnipeg rappers, producers, DJs, promoters, and community members, Gritty City is a one of a kind chronicle of an important but until now unknown chapter in Canadian music history.