Halal Gang is a Canadian

hip hop collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collective Souls" '' This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from that o ...

based in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

. The name stems from the preponderance of the group having

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

origins with East African and Caribbean Canadian roots. Initially the group is said to have stemmed out from a gang participating in criminal activity. The group was established in 2010 as a group of youths from

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 ...

inspired to make music. Its original incarnation includes

Puffy L'z Habib Mohamed (born August 2, 1995), better known by his stage name Puffy L'z, is a rapper and singer from Toronto, Ontario. He is of Somali descent. Puffy L'z released his debut studio album '' Take No L'z'' on July 19, 2019, and it received a 6/1 ...

Mustafa the Poet Mustafa Ahmed (born 28 July 1996), known as Mustafa, formerly known as Mustafa the Poet, is a Canadian poet, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker from Toronto. He released his debut EP, '' When Smoke Rises'', in May 2021. His debut album, ''Dunya'', ...

, Mo-G,

Safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

and

Smoke Dawg Jahvante Jahqwane Sheldon Smart ( – ), known professionally as Smoke Dawg, was a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He was a part of hip hop collective Halal Gang alongside Mustafa the Poet, Puffy L'z, Safe, and Mo-G who come together w ...

Background

2010-2017

Although initially the group is said to have stemmed out from a gang participating in criminal activity with the rivalry between Toronto gang Sick Thugz which ended with the passing of Sick Thugz member Ruck, Halal Gang branched out to making music in 2010. The rap group is notable for their identifying trademark exclamation, "AWOLAYY" as well as "SQUAAAD", which is primarily done by

. Halal Gang mostly shoots videos in bustling parts of Toronto's financial district, as well as other communities such as the Yorkville area to 'flex' on mans, given its highly-affluent and desirability to show off money. Mustafa the Poet produces

spoken word poetry Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation ...

from the group including the release ''Spectrum of Hope'' in September 2014. He was featured on

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in which he explores the connection between art and athletics in his Pan Am poem with

Heather Hiscox Heather Hiscox (born 18 November 1965) is a Canadian news anchor, who is the current host of ''CBC Morning Live with Heather Hiscox'' from 6 to 10 a.m. during weekdays on CBC News Network. She has also hosted CBC's former flagship morning televi ...

. Halal Gang gained recognition in 2014 with the release of "Rabba" by members Mo-G and Smoke Dawg, released on October 4, 2014. It garnered over 1 million views within a month of release. This was two days before close friend Ano passed away. Mo-G and Smoke Dawg uploaded the song ''Still'' to YouTube in January 2015. In it, the two rappers and their friends rap, dance, and laugh in shadowy parking lots, fluorescent-lit apartment corridors, and an empty studio. Although the initial upload was deleted, it's reupload amassed over 4 million views within a year of being online. Member Safe was born in

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but immigrated to Toronto as a child. He released the single ''Feel'' that differs heavily from the sound of his fellow crew members’ music and features members of Halal Gang on August 12, 2015.

ASAP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as FERG (previously A$AP Ferg ( /ˈeɪsæp/ ''AY-sap'')), is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a lead member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, f ...

brought out Smoke Dawg in his 2016 tour in Toronto. Puffy L'z and Smoke Dawg released a

Fire In The Booth Charlie Ian Paul Rouillon (born 20 August 1981), known professionally as Charlie Sloth, is a British DJ, hype man, producer and TV presenter. Early life Drake’s Boy Meets World European Tour in the same year. This group would later become viral on the internet for their prank on the famous indigenous hip-hop dancer and rapper J. Rebel.

2018-present

Puffy L'z, Mo-G and Safe returned to music in early 2019. In May 2019, Safe released his full-length album ''Stay''. The 12 tracks were characterized by cool R&B with elements of dancehall and afrobeat. QUIN and

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...

were the only featured artists. On his return, Puffy L'z released his debut album ''Take No L'z''. which also featured Safe and the late Smoke Dawg. On 17 March 2019, Mustafa the Poet released the short film titled ''Remember Me, Toronto.'' The film featured numerous Toronto rappers including

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

Baka Not Nice Travis Savoury (born March 6, 1979), known professionally as Baka Not Nice, is a Canadian rapper and former security guard. He signed with Drake's record label OVO Sound, an imprint of Warner Records, in 2018. Career Baka's career began as part ...

Pressa ''Pressa'' was an International Press Exhibition held in Cologne between May and October, 1928. As German exhibitors were barred from participating in the ''Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modern'' held in Paris in ...

, Jay Whiss, Puffy L’z amongst others and was scored by 40. Mustafa stated that he decided to work on the film after thinking about how his dead friends want to be remembered, after thinking about how we all want to be remembered. He created this for the artists in this video those in the Toronto community. Since 2018 after the passing off his older brother Smoke Dawg, Young Smoke began his music career rapping alongside the hip hop collective. Mo-G released the single ''Perfect Dark'' on September 5, 2019. Him, Safe and Lz were featured on

6ixBuzz 6ixBuzz (pronounced ''six-buzz''), is a controversial online media platform based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2017 by Abraham Tekabo and Sarman Esagholian, 6ixBuzz is best known for sharing user-generated content, clickbait, and local news i ...

's compilation album ''Northern Sound'' released on December 13, 2019.

Death of Smoke Dawg

Canadian rapper

was killed in a shooting in broad daylight in front of a Toronto night club on June 30, 2018. Mayor

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer, broadcaster, businessman, and former politician who served as the 65th mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2023. He served as leader of the Official Opposition in Ontario from 2005 to 2007 ...

blamed the shooting on

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

and as a result met with the

team and

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian music video director. Having trained under Hype Williams, Lutz has been credited for directing over a hundred music videos spanning various genres si ...

to meet with members of the hip-hop community to talk gun violence solutions and raise awareness on the issue.

References

{{Halal Gang Black Canadian musical groups Canadian hip-hop groups Hip-hop collectives Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups established in 2010 2010 establishments in Ontario