Stanley Rimsky Salgado, known by his stage name Imposs, is a
Haitian-Canadian
Haitian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Haitian descent or Haiti-born people who reside in Canada. As of 2016, more than 86% of Haitian Canadians reside in Quebec.
Haitian Migration to Canada
Immigration 1960-1980
Immigration from Haiti ...
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
based in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of
Muzion, one of the well-known
hip hop bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...
during Muzion days and as a solo artist. He is also well known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to Sony
As part of Muzion
As part of band
Muzion that was formed in 1999, Imposs had great success with the band signing a contract with
BMG. The debut album ''Mentalité Moune Morne'' in 1999 was a hit and Imposs became well known in the urban scene throughout Canada and in Quebec in particular. After winning the "Album of the Year - Hip Hop"
Félix Award
The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian p ...
, the band released their second album ''J'Rêvolutionne'' that got critical acclaim and again won the "Best Album of the Year -Hip Hop" in 2002. Imposs and Muzion toured
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
with
IV My People
IV may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
*Immigration Voice, an activist organization
*Industrievereinigung, Federation of Austrian Industry
* Intellectual Ventures, a privately held intellectual property company
*InterVarsity Christian Fello ...
, follow-up to the cult band NTM. In 2004,
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...
invited Muzion to collaborate with him on Wyclef Jean's hit ''24 Heures à vivre''. The
francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the ...
hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally about the life of immigrants. The song won the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
Solo career
Imposs launched his solo career with an album entitled ''Mon Poing D'Vue'' through
K'Maro's
music label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
K-Pone Inc with coverage in the Quebec media including interview at TQS.
He took part in "Festival d'Eté du Quebec" that called him "widely respected and most influential performer on the Quebec hip hop scene"
His first single / video release was ''"Faut qu'j'men aille"'' released in 2007. He followed that with another single release called ''Rien d'interdit'' also in 2007. Rapper
K-Maro appears in the video as a
cameo.
When on 11 August 2008, Freddy Villanueva an 18-year-old youth lost his life by Montreal police bullets and as a result riots ensued in
Montreal-Nord district with a large concentration of minorities, Imposs was one of the first to intervene and was interviewed by the Quebec media as one of the opinion leaders presenting the Haitian and other minority communities. He also explained the grievances in Montreal's ''
La Presse'' daily newspaper on 13 August 2008. Television stations held interviews with him about the incidents on
Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
and
RDI 24-hours news channel.
Imposs's new album ''Peace-Tolet'' debuted at number 76 on the
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Monday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen SoundScan, and published every Tuesday by ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding ...
.
Nominations and awards

During the period with Muzion:
*Nominated "Best singer-songwriter" at ADISQ Awards (2000)
*Winner of "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" for ''Mentalité Moune Morne'' at ADISQ Awards in 2000
*Winner of "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" for ''J'Rêvolutionne'' at ADISQ Awards in 2003
As a solo act:
*Nominated for "Album of the Year" for his album ''Mon Poing d'vue'' at the ADISQ Awards in 2008
*Nominated for "Song of the Year" for his single ''Rien d'interdit'' at the
Sounds of Blackness
Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Hot Da ...
S.O.B.A Gala in 2008
*Winner of "Francophone Album of the Year" for debut solo album ''Mon Poing d'vue'' at the Sounds of Blackness S.O.B.A Gala in 2008
*Winner of "French language Revelation of the Year" at the
S.O.B.A gala in 2009
*Nominated for "Best Artist or Group - Francophone" at the S.O.B.A gala in 2009
*Nominated for "Best Francophone Video Clip of the Year" with Taktika for his song ''Au nom de qui?'' at S.O.B.A in 2009 in addition to nomination for "Best Francophone Collaboration of the Year" for the same song for Imposs and Taktika
*Winner of "S.O.B.A Public Choice Award" at the Sounds of Blackness S.O.B.A Gala in two consecutive years 2008 and 2009 voted via the Canadian music station
MusiquePlus
Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women.
It was first established in 1986 as the mus ...
*Winner of "Best Artist or Group - Frnacophone of the Year" during S.O.B.A gala in 2009
For 2 consecutive years (2008 and 2009), rapper Imposs won the prize for "Best francophone artist of the year", during the Quebec
Sounds of Blackness Awards (S.O.B.A) specializing in urban and hip hop culture. The award is the most prestigious distributed annually.
Festivals and Shows
Imposs has given more than 300 shows throughout Canada and in France. He notably is featured in a number of well-attended festivals including:
*Coup de Coeur Francophone - 1999
*
Les FrancoFolies de Montréal - 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008
*Festival d'été de Québec - 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009
*Festival de Musique Émergente -2008
Collaborations
Imposs has collaborated with a number of artists. However the most notable remains with another international artist of Haitian origin
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...
. It started when Imposs was in Muzion. In 2004 Wyclef Jean invited the band to collaborate with him on Wyclef Hean's hit ''24 Heures à vivre''. The francophone hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally and went to win the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
In the remix of Wyclef Jean's hit ''Let Me Touch Your Button''
Video clip of Wyclef Jean's ''Let Me Touch Your Buttons'' featuring Imposs, will.i.am and Jimmy O.
/ref> Imposs is featured alongside will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim H ...
) and Jimmy O. (of Rap Kreyol)
Imposs is also featured in K'Maro's song ''Love It Or Leave It'' appearing in the latter's 2008 album Perfect Stranger
Discography
Albums
With Muzion
The albums were released under the "VIK Recordings" music label:
*Mentalité Moune Morne (1999)
*J'Rêvolutionne (2002)
Solo
The album was released under K.Pone Inc music label:
*Mon Poing D'Vue (2007)
Tracks:
# Intro (Les rideaux s'ouvrent)
# Rien d'interdit
# Mornier 4 Life
# Faut qu'j'm'en aille (Bonnie and Clyde '07)
# Dope Boys
# Monte mes gardes
# La preuve morte
# Mwen te mouri
# Vive la différence
# Tu piges
# Strip tip
# Chlamedia
# Ça fait longtemps
# Du fond du coeur
*PeaceTolet (2012)
Tracks:
#Qu'1 modeste journée (avec Cim-City)
#Ouvrez le feu (avec J.Kyll)
#Le même tralala
#Donnez-moi une chance
#À toi de briller (avec Alfa Rococo)
#L'erreur est humaine // L'amour est égoiste (avec Audrey Joelle)
#2e souffle (avec France D'Amour & Sans Pression)
#À 7 instant (avec Barnev)
#Le coeur comme métronome (avec Bambi Cruz & Mc Solaar)
#Tu veux qu'on 100 barres ?
#On s'évade
#Enfermé dans ma liberté (avec Corneille)
#Richesse Québécoise (avec Eddy King & Izra L)
#Tu l'auras, tue l'Aura
#SeXorcisme (avec Mackadamion)
#C'est ça ma vie
Singles / Videos
*2007: "Rien d'interdit
*2008: "Faut qu'j'men aille
*2008: "Vive la différence"
*2009: "Monte mes gardes"
References
External links
Imposs MySpace page
Imposs Rap Kreyol MySpace page
Preste.ca Imposs page
{{Authority control
1980 births
Living people
Haitian emigrants to Canada
Haitian Quebecers
Canadian male rappers
Musicians from Montreal
20th-century Canadian male musicians
21st-century Canadian male musicians
20th-century Canadian rappers
21st-century Canadian rappers