Karl Amani Wailoo (born March 6, 1978), better known by his stage name Saukrates (; "

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

"), is a Canadian

rapper 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 backing ...

, singer, and record producer. He is the co-founder of Capitol Hill Music, and lead singer of the

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 ...

/ R&B group Big Black Lincoln. He is also a member of Redman's Gilla House collective.

Career

Early career

In 1994, his first track was titled "Still Caught Up", which earned a nomination for Best Rap Recording at the 1996 Juno Awards. He was also nominated for another Juno of the same award in 2000 for "Money or Love". In 2001, Saukrates produced the track "Uh-Huh" for Redman's ''

Malpractice In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition, Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...

'' album, and appeared on a track called "Enjoy Da Ride". He also did a track called "Fine Line" for the soundtrack to

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

and Redman's ''

How High ''How High'' is a 2001 American stoner comedy film directed by Jesse Dylan in his feature film directorial debut and written by Dustin Lee Abraham. In the film, Method Man and Redman portray two cannabis users who are visited by the ghost ...

'' movie. In 2002, Saukrates teamed up with fellow Canadian producer Agile from BrassMunk to produce the track "Heaven", for

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

' album '' God's Son'', which featured

Jully Black Jully Black (born Jullyann Inderia Gordon Black, November 8, 1977) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She has released 4 studio albums, and 2 remix EPs. She has collaborated and written for many artists, including Nas, Saukrates, Ch ...

. Canadian hip hop artists have had a hard time getting established south of the border, and Saukrates is no exception. In 1996, he was signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. Unfortunately for Saukrates, Warner dropped him in 1998, which was one year before his debut album '' The Underground Tapes'' was released on Capitol Hill. By 2000, Saukrates reached another big deal with

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

and Gilla House Records (owned by Redman). Eventually, Saukrates was dropped by Def Jam because he was no longer considered a priority, however he remained with Gilla House. He appears on two tracks of Redman's latest album '' Red Gone Wild'', released in March 2007. After completing a second album, ''Bad Addiction'', in 2004, Saukrates faced difficulty securing widespread release on a major label. In the meantime, he produced material for Big Black Lincoln and R&B singer Andreena Mill."Border Block – Canadian Hip Hop vs. America"

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

, March 22, 2005.

Work with Nelly Furtado

On November 19, 2006, he performed "

Promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

" with

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

at halftime show of the 94th Grey Cup (the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

championship game) in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba. Two days later, Saukrates beat-boxed during her performance of "

Say It Right "Say It Right" is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her third studio album, ''Loose'' (2006). It was written by Furtado, Tim "Timbaland" Mosley, and Nate "Danja" Hills, with Furtado crediting the Eurythmics' song " Here Comes the ...

" at the 2006 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. On February 23, 2007, he appeared on the

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap o ...

soap opera ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'' with Furtado, performing "Promiscuous". Saukrates also toured with Furtado on her Get Loose Tour, as a percussionist, backing vocalist and supporting act.

2009–present: ''Season One''

In 2009, Saukrates collaborated with

Method Man & Redman Method Man & Redman (also referred to as Meth & Red, Red & Mef, John Blaze and Funk Doc or Funk Doctor Spock and Johnny Blaze) are an American hip-hop duo composed of rappers Method Man (of Wu-Tang Clan) and Redman (of Def Squad). They are sig ...

on the single " A-Yo", from their album ''

Blackout! 2 ''Blackout! 2'' is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Method Man & Redman. It was their first collaborative album in eight years. The album was released on May 19, 2009 under Def Jam. It debuted at #7 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 an ...

''. That year, he also collaborated with k-os and

on the single "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman", from k-os' album '' Yes!''. Originally, the track was a collaboration between Saukrates and Nelly Furtado entitled "On the Run". Saukrates released his much delayed second studio album, ''

Season One Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

'', on April 24, 2012. The album features appearances by Redman, k-os, and Nickelus F among others. The first single, "Drop It Down" featuring Redman, was released on iTunes on July 26, 2011. The second single "Say I" was released in October 2011, and re-released in January 2012, featuring a new verse by OB O'Brien. In 2012, Saukrates collaborated with

Classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

and

Skratch Bastid Paul Murphy (born September 2, 1982), better known by his stage name Skratch Bastid, is a Canadian DJ and record producer. He is a three-time Scribble Jam DJ Battle winner. He is the first-ever Canadian DJ to be nominated for the Juno Award for Pr ...

on the song "Anything Goes" from Classified's self-titled album. The album was released on January 22, 2013. He was also featured twice on ''Orchestrated Noise'', the newly released 7th studio album by pioneering Canadian MC

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 ...

on the tracks "Stranger" and "Look for Me in the Whirlwind", the latter of which also features fellow Canadian hip-hop artist King Reign.

Discography

Studio albums * '' The Underground Tapes'' (1999) * ''Heaven's Caught on Fire'' (with Big Black Lincoln) (2006) * ''

'' (2012) * ''Season 2'' (2017) * ''Bad Addiction'' (2024) EPs * '' Brick House'' (1997) * ''The Bigg Soxx Versions EP'' (2010) * ''Amani'' (2014)

Commercials

Since 2008, Saukrates has done narration for

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 ...

commercials and documentaries. In 2011, he made the song "Say I" for a

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

commercial, featuring

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and ...

. In the 2018/19 NBA season, he narrated both the Season Opener preview for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

season on

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

, as well as its sequel for the beginning of the

2019 NBA Finals The 2019 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series held from May 30 through June 13, 2019, the Eastern ...

References

External links

Official websiteSaukrates
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 ...

Saukrates
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control 1978 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers Canadian hip-hop record producers Canadian hip-hop singers Canadian male rappers Canadian people of Guyanese descent Singers from Ottawa Rappers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers