Michelle Ann Camille McCullock (born November 1, 1970), better known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Michie Mee, is a Canadian rapper and actress. Canada's first notable female MC, she is considered a national

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

pioneer.

Early life and career

McCullock was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, later moving to

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 ...

at a young age, and was raised in the city's

Jane Street Jane Street may refer to: * Jane Street (labor organizer) (1887–1966), American union founder * Jane Street Capital, global proprietary trading firm * Jane Street (Toronto), major road in Toronto, Canada * Jane Street Theatre, now The Jane, on Ja ...

area, as well as the

Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the west ...

neighbourhood. She began performing professionally at age 14. Biography > Michie Mee''Allmusic''. Accessed on April 25, 2010. In 1985, during a concert in Toronto,

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip-hop group formed in the Bronx, New York City, in 1986. It originally consisted of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the ...

introduced her to the audience and she performed on stage. Michie Mee later teamed up with DJ L.A. Luv (Phillip Gayle) and formed the duo Michie Mee and L.A. Luv. ''Jam!'' Accessed on April 25, 2010. The duo was featured on the 1987

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 ...

compilation ''Break'n Out'', which was produced by

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

and

Scott La Rock Scott Monroe Sterling (March 2, 1962 – August 27, 1987), known by the stage name DJ Scott La Rock, was an American hip-hop disc jockey and music producer from the Bronx, New York. He was a founding member of the East Coast hip hop group Boog ...

of Boogie Down Productions.Border Block—Canadian Hip Hop vs. America
CBC. Accessed on April 25, 2010. The duo's first single, "Elements of Style", made an impact in the United States, and it signed with First Priority/

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in 1988. In the process, Michie Mee became the first Canadian MC to sign a

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with a major American label. The same year, the duo was featured on the compilation '' The First Priority Music Family: Basement Flavor'', appearing on the tracks "Victory Is Calling" and "On This Mic", which were produced by Howard Hughes & engineered by Walter Sobczak who would several years later ask Michie Mee to record and perform with Raggadeath. "Victory Is Calling" also featured MC Lyte. In 1990 she collaborated on the one-off single " Can't Repress the Cause", a plea for greater inclusion of hip hop music in the Canadian music scene, with Dance Appeal, a supergroup of Toronto-area musicians that included

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited ...

, Dream Warriors, B-Kool,

Lillian Allen Lillian Allen (born 5 April 1951) is a Canadians, Canadian dub poetry, dub poet, writer and Juno Award winner. Biography Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, Spanish Town, Jamaica, she left that country in 1969, first moving to New York City, where ...

Eria Fachin Eria Fachin (April 20, 1960 – May 9, 1996) was a Canadian dance pop singer, best known for her 1988 single "Savin' Myself". at the Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Fachin began performing in the Toronto area ...

, HDV aka 'Pimp of the Microphone', Dionne, Thando Hyman, Carla Marshall,

Messenjah Messenjah is a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music. History Messenjah was formed in 1980 in Kitchener, Ontario and released their first albu ...

, Jillian Mendez, Lorraine Scott,

Lorraine Segato Lorraine P. Segato (born June 17, 1956, in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group The Parachute Club, with which she continues to ...

, Self Defense,

Leroy Sibbles Leroy Sibbles (born Leroy Sibblies, 29 January 1949) is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arra ...

, Zama and Thyron Lee White."Urban Music"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

''. In 1991, the duo released its debut album, '' Jamaican Funk—Canadian Style'', which incorporated

dancehall reggae Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Roug ...

music and spawned the single "Jamaican Funk". Over 60,000 copies of the album were sold in the U.S. and it was nominated for 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 ...

in 1992. After Michie Mee ran into trouble with the law, the duo broke up. L.A. Luv later joined the group Dream Warriors. After starting a solo career and opening shows for artists such as

Salt-n-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

, and

Judy Mowatt Judith Veronica Mowatt, (born 1952) is a Jamaican reggae artist. As well as being a solo artist, from 1974 she was also a member of the I Threes, the trio of backing vocalists for Bob Marley & The Wailers. Early life Mowatt was born in Gordo ...

, she became a founding member of the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Raggadeath Raggadeath was a Canadian rock band that enjoyed moderate success in the mid-1990s."Wha� ...

, which had a Canadian chart hit in 1995 with "One Life". In the late 1990s, Michie Mee began an acting career. She made her first film appearance in 1999's '' In Too Deep''. In 2000, she starred in the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

series ''

Drop the Beat ''Drop the Beat'' is a Canadian television series produced by Back Alley Film Productions that aired on CBC Television in 2000 and 2001."TV show puts spotlight on hip-hop". ''Sudbury Star'', February 9, 2000. A short-run dramatic series, the show ...

'', playing a rapper named Divine. Later that year, she released a comeback album, ''

The First Cut Is the Deepest "The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold for her album The First Lady of Immediate, ''The First Lady of Immediate'' in April 1967. Stevens' own version ...

'', which spawned the single "Don't Wanna Be Your Slave" (featuring

Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of herself ...

). The single earned her another Juno nomination. In 2001, she formed the band The Day After, which received rotation on MuchLoud. In 2004, Michie Mee joined a group of local artists (including

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

, and

Toya Alexis Toya Alexis (born July 16, 1980) is a Canadian vocalist and actress from Ajax, Ontario. Career Alexis won a "Rising Star" contest and sang at the Apollo Theater. In 2001 she appeared, as LaToya Lesmond, as a contestant on season one of ''Pop ...

among others) and formed the Peace Prophets. The group released the

charity single A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artis ...

"Drop the Chrome" in association with radio station

FLOW 93.5 CFXJ-FM (93.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "New Country 93.5") is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Stingray Radio, it broadcasts a country music format. Its studios are located on Yonge Street at St. Clair Avenue in Toronto's Deer Park ...

. The same year, she appeared in the film ''

My Baby's Daddy ''My Baby's Daddy'' is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Cheryl Dunye. Plot Childhood friends Lonnie, G, and Dominic have a rude awakening when they find out their girlfriends are pregnant. Lonnie and G have sons names Carver and Bruce-L ...

''. Throughout the remainder of the decade (2005–2009) saw Michie mostly focus on more acting in small films and TV shows, reconnecting with her rock band Raggadeath, whilst still rapping here and there making features on other fellow Canadian artists songs. In 2009, she released the single "Say About Us". The 2010s, saw Michie again further continue with small acting appearances and continuing music always with again features here and there on other musicians projects. In 2020, marking her 35th year in the business the start of the new decade brought about a long-awaited new album. In November of that year she released her first full-length album and third overall in twenty years, titled ''Bahdgyal's Revenge''. The album had notable features from long-time friend and collaborator

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

, and other notable Canadian rappers and Jamaican reggae legends, such as Lindo P. She performed on the 2021 ''

FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special ''FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special'' is an annual Canadian television special, which was broadcast for the first time by CBC Gem on August 1, 2020.Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

opened the ''Inventive and Empowered: The Culture – Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century'', an immersive exhibition that welcomed visitors into the world of hip hop through contemporary art and fashion. On December 6, Michie Mee performed as part of the exhibition, which showcased various artists from the Toronto hip hop scene, including a 2000 portrait of Michie Mee by Canadian music photographer Patrick Nichols.

Discography

* '' Jamaican Funk—Canadian Style'' (1991) * ''

'' (2000) * '' Bahdgyal's Revenge (2020)

Music videos

with Raggadeath

with The Day After

Solo

Filmography

References

External links

Michie Mee
at

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...