Mindbender Supreme’s 13th Project, The King Of Queen Street, Features Chuck D, Saukrates, Shad, Dj Mel Boogie, Rich Kidd & More
Rapper, journalist, and adult entertainer Mindbender Supreme drops his guest-filled double album, The King Of Queen Street, via Type A Records, out now. The Toronto artist created his 13th musical project with Toronto-based MCs, producers, DJs, and photographers as an offering to rap history in the 50th anniversary year of hip-hop culture.
“King of Queen Street is a concept album dedicated to my love of the Toronto music community, decade-plus of living on Queen Street, and my desire to make something special for Canadian rap history for the summer season on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop,” says Mindbender Supreme. “I rounded up numerous unique producers, MCs, DJs and long-time musical friends and family to help wit this passion project intended to be inspirational edutainment in a time when hip hop seems to be lacking in the leadership and creativity it once had.”
The inventive album includes production by Saukrates, Rich Kidd, Tone Mason, Tough Dumplin, Junia-T, G. Stokes, Peppermint Noise Pollution, The Riksha, and guest features by DJ Mel Boogie, DJX, DJ Mensa, DJ Grouch, and more. Cultural icons Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ernie Pannicioli (legendary hip hop photographer from New Jersey), JUNO Award-winning rap artist Shad, artist/activist Ian Kamau, and journalist/radio host Norman Otis Richmond also appear.
The first single, “The Love That Love Produced,” is an uptempo positivity anthem filled with three verses of witty wordplay delivered over a flute-sprinkled, bass-heavy boom-bap beat, crafted by Tough Dumplin, with live keys by Garry Kennebrew. It also samples rare Malcolm X passages where he spoke about love, self-expression, and dancing,
“The song provides clever little reflections on intimacy, relationships, music lovers, family, and even a few pop culture references for comedic effect,” says Mindbender. “Ultimately, my message is basically this: it’s wonderful when the music’s hugging you.”
Mindbender Supreme has been a mainstay in Canadian hip-hop for 25 years. Previous releases include the double album Beautiful Mutant (2004) and EPs Quarantine Wolf (2019) and Blindside (2020).
Under the name Addi Stewart, he is also a prominent journalist, who has interviewed such heavyweights as Kanye West, Nas, T.I., RZA, Method Man, John Legend, and Kool G. Rap, for various publications, including XXL, Pound Magazine, CBC, City on my Back, Swagg, and Now.
You may even have seen him as award-winning adult entertainer Malcolm Lovejoy (Toronto International P**n Festival’s 2017’s Golden Beaver Award; TIPF’s 2018’s Best Political Porn), under which he explores other avenues of self-expression and personal evolution.
Undoubtedly his other artistic work and discoveries emerge in the lyrics of The King of Queen Street. The song “50 Ways (Closure),” produced by and featuring Saukrates, speaks on modern relationships, dating, break-ups, and the importance of closure. Another track, “Mr. Front Row,” produced by Rich Kidd, celebrates Mindbender Supreme’s history as a staple in the front row of countless musical events in Toronto arts history, as well as “Inner Child’s Hand,” featuring Mel Boogie and DJX, and “Lovemonger’s Message”, featuring DJ Grouch.
The King of Queen Street concept continues on the album through vocal appearances by the aforementioned Ian Kamau and Shad, in addition to Toronto mayoral candidate Knia Singh, Neil Donaldson of Stolen From Africa, Matthew Progress of Freedom Writers, and others.
Listen to The King Of Queen Street (Queen East Side) and The King Of Queen Street (Queen West Side) below and learn more about Mindbender Supreme via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself?
Greetings! I’m Mindbender Supreme aka Malcolm Lovejoy aka Adhimu Stewart, your friendly neighborhood Toronto hip-hop renaissance man! I’m a creative spirit in a dancer’s body with a romantic dreamer’s mind and I’m happy to make your acquaintance. I’ve been recording hip-hop lyrics for over 25 years now, and I’m happy to share what I feel is arguably my very best work of my illustriously strange and innovative career… so far!
Tell us about the process of writing and recording “The Love That Love Produced?”
Since it was one of the last songs we made for the album, my momentum of creativity was rolling forward stronger than ever. Once the Tough Dumplin beat came through to my inbox after asking him for something “to dance to” and/or “a summertime-feeling melodic beat”, the floodgates of wordplay fun burst wide open instantly upon pressing play. I’ve NEVER written a chorus so fast in my life, I swear to the Rap God Rakim Allah and Saint Marshall Mathers the Third! I even wrote down the details of my light-speed creativity on the page I wrote the song: I got the beat on a Friday night at about 8:30 PM, and I had written the first version of the chorus by 8:34 PM! I don’t think I changed a single word, honestly. “Wonderful when the music’s hugging you/ this is the love that love produced!” Pretty good hook, I thought! “Everyone can move/ to a sultry groove…” I smiled and thought: “Am I really going to use the word ‘sultry’ in the chorus?” Then I thought twice and said: “HELL YES, I AM!” And the intention was to write a fun, good energy, radio-friendly ‘gold school’ rap single to introduce people to Mindbender if they have never heard me before… and I’m actually very surprised with the outcome of the first single. It’s got a wonderful tribute to Malcolm X in it (as the title of the song is a reference to the title of the program that broadcast Malcolm’s first time on television in 1959… I’m a huge Malcolm-X-ologist 🙂 and some rare/unheard quotes from Malcolm bookending the song, plus three sixteen bar verses, a catchy fun hook with my VERY best singing ever on it (thanks to engineer The Riksha who also joins me doing back-up harmonies on the chorus) and a dope beat flip in the third verse just to keep the short attention span goldfish still swimming along in the groove! I am so proud of all the songwriting, the flows, the shoutouts to Canadian legends, the romantically inspirational lyrics, the line “please expose your heart like no one’s watching!” and the entire motivational speaker aspect of the third verse… I think ‘The Love That Love Produced’ is a fantastic rap song, and I’m so thankful for everyone involved, from Tough Dumplin to The Riksha to Garry Kennebrew that added the delicious keys and chimes to the flute loops! “It’s wonderful when the music’s hugging you…” is something I’ll believe forever!
What’s it like being a musician in Toronto?
It’s pretty great in 2023, but it always could be Atlanta! We have a wonderful community of literally world-class-yet-unrecognized musicians, artists, dancers, graphic designers, fashion makers, photographers, etc. but we don’t have enough business capital and financial leadership to capitalize and expand all the bottom line potential of the phenomenal artistry in Toronto. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna just up and move to NYC or LA or Paris, nah. I’d rather be like Prince and stay true to my hometown, and just do as much world touring as possible. I like the freedoms we have in Toronto, even though our club scene isn’t what it used to be in the 90s, the Toronto hip-hop scene has now gained global popularity but lost a lot of its original sonic identity, and there still is conservative minds in control of too many record label positions and corporate power structures to evolve Toronto to be the LEADING world-class city it could and should be… but it’s still pretty amazing, whether at its worst or best. I’d rather be here than in lots of places, and I appreciate the sexual freedom and relative lack of violence this city has! Even though the TTC is getting more chaotic for real…
Chuck D, Saukrates, Shad, Dj Mel Boogie, Rich Kidd are all on your album. How did you get them all?
Love.
And long-term relationships. Respect. Creative connection. Sincerity. Passion. And sometimes, money. But LOVE was DEFINITELY the primary energy of exchange between myself and many of those people on the list you mentioned, many of which are my childhood heroes or long-term creative leaders in my life. I’ve made music with Saukrates before, whether it’s “Love Runs Deeper” which came out in 2018, or an unreleased gem from 1996 (long story), but I’ve always loved the music of Amani “Saukrates” Wailoo, and I always will, no matter what changes or stays the same in popular music. I made an entire album with Rich Kidd in 2010 called “Jupiter”, it’s certainly worth a listen as well. DJ Mel Boogie is fam, she DJ’ed my ManifesTO show at Dundas Square when I performed with my twin brother Conspiracy. Shad’s been the dream collaboration for over a decade, and I’m so happy that Rainbow Sun Francks could hook up such an amazing beat for Shad and I to finally rhyme together on. ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ by Jay-Z and Biggie was the inspiration for that song. And Chuck D was arguably the FIRST famous hip hop legend ever to believe in Supreme Being Unit, as he distributed our album ‘Mental Reverse/Spiritual Rebirth’ on his indie digital platform in 1998. I’ve been a fan, a friend, a supporter, and a student of Public Enemy since long before ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ changed my entire existence in 1990. So I’m happy Chuck D showed love, too!
You’ve been making music for a while now, what’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Follow your creative vision more than you follow anything else in the world. Don’t follow trends. Don’t follow fame. Don’t follow your heroes too long, just follow them long enough to learn their steps enough so you can incorporate them into your own style and then keep going on your journey. I’ve been on the scenic route to this point in my life and career as an MC, but it’s been fantastic because all my old music is original and timeless, and I never chased any trends in 2014 or 2003 that made the music I created then dated or sound stuck in that time. I can literally perform my very first song, written in 1994, and it sounds creative and original, and powerful by ANY standards, both then and now. Long story short, if you make yourself a ONE OF ONE in the world of music, your name/music/art/story/pictures/concerts/memories will last forever and beyond. I want to be the Mindbender Supreme version of Jimi Hendrix, Andre 3000, Nina Simone, Frida Kahlo, Posdnous, Shad K, and Busta Rhymes rolled up into one! Thank you for your time, I appreciate these questions. Mindbender Loves You!
Connect with Mindbender Supreme:
Bandcamp