Dream Warriors
A key part of the surprisingly active Canadian rap scene, West Indian duo King Lou (b. Louis Robinson, Jamaica, West Indies) and Capital Q (b. Frank Lennon Alert, 10 August c.1969, Port Of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies—so named because his father was a John Lennon fan) had to come to the UK to get a record deal with 4th & Broadway. Previously they had released a single, Let Your Backbone Slide, on a New York independent. Their blend of hip hop superstructure with jazz tempo arrived via arch lyrics, overflowing with obscure mystic imagery, from the pen of King Lou. The sound was big and loose, often punctuated by samples from television themes and psychedelic and African chants. They scored almost immediately with Wash Your Face In My Sink, and the success continued with My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style, derived from a Quincy Jones television theme tune. They also charted when moving in to reggae with Ludi in 1991 (Ludi is a West Indian board game), and worked with Jazz legend Slim Gaillard shortly before his death the same year.