Epic

Love him or hate him, nobody keeps it more real than Epic. The blue-collared, grey-haired, Saskatoon-to-Edmonton MC is nearing 40 and proud to still be a hip-hop head. On "I Only Like Rap,” he doesn’t so much tell of his struggle with middle age because all he can think about is rap. Or hockey, passionately told in what has become a cult hit, "Ah Hemsky.” But no matter how campy you think he is, there is an underlying humanity to it all, and nothing exemplifies this better than "Sleeping Shirts,” in which Epic raps, "Even the toughest MCs wear sleeping shirts.” On Aging is What Friends Do Together, his first album with Hand’Solo, but far from his first album, Epic understands his limitations. He doesn’t have projection, flow or a mean mug (the liner notes feature a picture of him smiling under a bicycle helmet) but he has sincerity. Knowing this, he keeps most songs to about two minutes, says what he wants and moves on.