James Wesley McGee (January 23, 1950 – January 8, 2021) was an American-Canadian musician. He was most noted for several early

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

singles released under the stage name Mr. Q, including "Ladies Delight", the first known

Canadian hip hop The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained lar ...

single.

Background

A native of

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, McGee moved to

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, in 1968 to work at the

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

plant. After visiting

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, several times, he moved to the city in 1974. In Toronto, he began to work as a musician, performing with bands such as Giant Step, Salongo and Crack of Dawn over the course of his career.

Mr. Q

In 1979, George Lewis of Monica’s Productions (later to become Scorpio Records) hired McGee to rap on "Ladies Delight", a response track to

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

's "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's " King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper ...

". Released just a few weeks after "Rapper's Delight", the song was based around a rerecording of the hook from Cameo's contemporaneous single "I Just Want to Be". He recorded a number of other rap/hip hop songs over the next few months as Mr. Q, including "DJ Style", "Rapping Time", "Party, Party" and "Party Rapp"; "Party Rapp" included lyrics about the

1979 Mississauga train derailment Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, the first explicit indication in any of the Mr. Q singles that they were actually written and performed by Canadians. "DJ Style" was included in the 2006 hip hop compilation album '' Big Apple Rappin'''. He was also featured on ''Rap the Night Away'', a 1981 album by Bobby Boyer and

Demo Cates Demetrius (Demo) Cates is an American-Canadian musician. He is most noted as a two-time Juno Award nominee for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year, receiving nominations at the Juno Awards of 1985 for "Memories of Moments" and at the Juno Awards of 1 ...

which has been credited as the first full-length Canadian hip hop album.

Solo career

He released the solo album ''Over & Over'' in 1982 under his own name. The album featured the single "When We Party (Uptown, Downtown)", which was popular in dance clubs but did not become a charting breakthrough hit as McGee could not afford to undertake a major tour. His single "Another Love in Your Life", from his 1988 album ''Survivor'', received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nomination for Best R&B Soul Recording at the

Juno Awards of 1990 The Juno Awards of 1990, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 18 March 1990 in Toronto at a ceremony in the Hummingbird Centre, O'Keefe Centre. Rick Moranis was the host for the ceremonies, which ...

. In 1991, he was invited to sing "

O Canada "O Canada" () is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which French- ...

" at a

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

game. Throughout his career, McGee also worked as an educational assistant and Black history teacher at Park Public School in the

Regent Park Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario built in the late 1940s as a public housing project managed by Toronto Community Housing. It sits on what used to be a significant part of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood and ...

neighbourhood of Toronto. In 1999, McGee moved back to Flint, where he worked as a church choir director and

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

performer. In 2016 he recorded a song, "Don't Drink the Water", about the

Flint water crisis The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis from 2014 to 2019 which involved the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, being contaminated with lead and possibly ''Legionella'' bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, ...

. He released his seventh and final album, ''Smooth Cruising'', in 2020, soon before his death in January 2021. McGee died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in Flint, on January 8, 2021, at the age of 70.Mr. James Wesley McGee
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Discography

Albums

*''Rap the Night Away'' (1981, with Bobby Boyer and Demo Cates) *''Over & Over'' (1982) *''Survivor'' (1988) *''I Hear Foot Steps'' (1998) *''No Walls'' (2001) *''Good Feeling'' (2015) *''Smooth Cruising'' (2020)

Singles

*"Ladies Delight" (1979, as Mr. Q) *"DJ Style" (1979, as Mr. Q) *"Rapping Time" (1979, as Mr. Q) *"Party, Party" (1979, as Mr. Q) *"Party Rapp" (1979, as Mr. Q) *"Turn Me On" b/w "Your Love" (1980) *"She's Got the Papers But You Got the Key" (1981, with Sattalites) *"One Draw" (1981, with Sattalites) *"When We Party" (1982) *"Crack Attack" b/w "Destiny" (1986, with Jo Perri) *"21st Century Dreamer" (1986) *"I'm a Survivor" b/w "Blame It on the Moonlight" (1988 ) *"My Baby Loves Me" b/w "If the Love Fits" (1988) *"Another Love in Your Life" b/w "Let's Do It Again" (1988) *"Good Feeling" (2015) *"Let's Fall in Love" (2015) *"Perfection" b/w "Love in Motion" (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Jay 1950 births 2021 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century Black Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian male singers American soul singers American rhythm and blues singers American funk singers American gospel singers American emigrants to Canada Canadian soul singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian gospel singers 21st-century African-American singers Musicians from Fayetteville, North Carolina Musicians from Flint, Michigan Singers from Toronto 21st-century African-American musicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan