Imposs
Encyclopedia
S. Rimsky Salgado known by his stage name Imposs is a Canadian
rapper of Haiti
an origin based in Quebec
. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion
, one of the well-known hip hop
bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with Wyclef Jean
during Muzion days and as a solo artist. He is also well-known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to the K.Pone.Inc
music label.
that was formed in 1999, Imposs had great success with the band signing a contract with BMG
. The debut album Mentalité Moune Morne in 1999 was a hit and Imposs became well known in the urban scene throughout Canada and in Quebec in particular. After winning the "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" Félix Award
, the band released their second album J'Rêvolutionne that got critical acclaim and again won the "Best Album of the Year -Hip Hop" in 2002.
Imposs and Muzion toured France
with IV My People, follow-up to the cult band NTM.
In 2004, Wyclef Jean
invited Muzion to collaborate with him on Wyclef Jean's hit 24 Heures à vivre. The francophone
hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally about the life of immigrants. The song won the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
's music label K-Pone Inc with coverage in the Quebec media including interview at TQS.
He took part in Bell "Festival d'Eté du Quebec" that called him "widely respected and most influential performer on the Quebec hip hop scene"
His first single / video release was "Faut qu'j'men aille" released in 2007. He followed that with another single release called Rien d'interdit also in 2007. Rapper K-Maro appears in the video as a cameo
.
When on 11 August 2008, Freddy Villanueva an 18-years-old youth lost his life by Montreal police bullets and as a result riots ensued in Montreal-Nord
district with a large concentration of minorities, Imposs was one of the first to intervene and was interviewed by the Quebec media as one of the opinion leaders presenting the Haitian and other minority communities. He also explained the grievances in Montreal's La Presse daily newspaper on 13 August 2008. Television stations held interviews with him about the incidents on Radio-Canada and RDI
24-hours news channel.
As a solo act:
For 2 consecutive years (2008 and 2009), rapper Imposs won the prize for "Best francophone artist of the year", during the Quebec Sounds of Blackness Award
s (S.O.B.A) specializing in urban and hip hop culture. The award is the most prestigious distributed annually.
. It started when Imposs was in Muzion. In 2004 Wyclef Jean invited the band to collaborate with him on Wyclef Hean's hit 24 Heures à vivre. The francophone hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally and went to win the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
In the remix of Wyclef Jean's hit Let Me Touch Your Button Imposs is featured alongside Will.I.Am
(of The Black Eyed Peas
) and Jimmy O. (of Rap Kreyol)
Imposs is also featured in K'Maro's song Love It Or Leave It appearing in the latter's 2008 album Perfect Stranger
Tracks:
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rapper of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an origin based in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion
Muzion
Muzion is a rap group based in Quebec, Canada made up of rap artists of Haitian origin. Members of the band came from Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal. The band is made up of Dramatik, Imposs and his sister J-Kyll...
, one of the well-known hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
during Muzion days and as a solo artist. He is also well-known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to the K.Pone.Inc
K.Pone.Inc
K.Pone.Inc also known as K.Pone.Inc Music Group is a music entertainment group established in 2002 by Cyril Kamar better known by his stage name as K.Maro....
music label.
As Part of Muzion
As part of band MuzionMuzion
Muzion is a rap group based in Quebec, Canada made up of rap artists of Haitian origin. Members of the band came from Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal. The band is made up of Dramatik, Imposs and his sister J-Kyll...
that was formed in 1999, Imposs had great success with the band signing a contract with BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
. The debut album Mentalité Moune Morne in 1999 was a hit and Imposs became well known in the urban scene throughout Canada and in Quebec in particular. After winning the "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" Félix Award
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
, the band released their second album J'Rêvolutionne that got critical acclaim and again won the "Best Album of the Year -Hip Hop" in 2002.
Imposs and Muzion toured France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with IV My People, follow-up to the cult band NTM.
In 2004, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
invited Muzion to collaborate with him on Wyclef Jean's hit 24 Heures à vivre. The francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally about the life of immigrants. The song won the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
Solo career
Imposs launched his solo career with an album entitled Mon Poing D'Vue through K'MaroK'Maro
Cyril Kamar, better known by his stage name K.Maro, sometimes also K'Maro is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter and producer of Lebanese origin. He sings in French and in English...
's music label K-Pone Inc with coverage in the Quebec media including interview at TQS.
He took part in Bell "Festival d'Eté du Quebec" that called him "widely respected and most influential performer on the Quebec hip hop scene"
His first single / video release was "Faut qu'j'men aille" released in 2007. He followed that with another single release called Rien d'interdit also in 2007. Rapper K-Maro appears in the video as a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
.
When on 11 August 2008, Freddy Villanueva an 18-years-old youth lost his life by Montreal police bullets and as a result riots ensued in Montreal-Nord
Montréal-Nord
Montreal North is a borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montréal-Nord on Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was amalgamated into the City of Montreal on January 1, 2002...
district with a large concentration of minorities, Imposs was one of the first to intervene and was interviewed by the Quebec media as one of the opinion leaders presenting the Haitian and other minority communities. He also explained the grievances in Montreal's La Presse daily newspaper on 13 August 2008. Television stations held interviews with him about the incidents on Radio-Canada and RDI
Réseau de l'information
Réseau de l'information is a Canadian French language Category C news channel operated by CBC/Radio-Canada. RDI began broadcasting on January 1, 1995, and is considered the French-language equivalent of the CBC News Network, also owned by the CBC....
24-hours news channel.
Nominations and Awards
During the period with Muzion:- Nominated "Best singer-songwriter" at ADISQ Awards (2000)
- Winner of "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" for Mentalité Moune Morne at ADISQ Awards in 2000
- Winner of "Album of the Year - Hip Hop" for J'Rêvolutionne at ADISQ Awards in 2003
As a solo act:
- Nominated for "Album of the Year" for his album Mon Poing d'vue at the ADISQ Awards in 2008
- Nominated for "Song of the Year" for his single Rien d'interdit at the Sounds of BlacknessSounds of Blackness AwardSounds of Blackness Award also known as S.O.B.A. or SOBA is an annual Canadian awards in hip hop and urban music in Quebec and Canada....
S.O.B.A Gala in 2008 - Winner of "Francophone Album of the Year" for debut solo album Mon Poing d'vue at the Sounds of Blackness S.O.B.A Gala in 2008
- Winner of "French language Revelation of the Year" at the S.O.B.A gala in 2009
- Nominated for "Best Artist or Group - Francophone" at the S.O.B.A gala in 2009
- Nominated for "Best Francophone Video Clip of the Year" with Taktika for his song Au nom de qui? at S.O.B.A in 2009 in addition to nomination for "Best Francophone Collaboration of the Year" for the same song for Imposs and Taktika
- Winner of "S.O.B.A Public Choice Award" at the Sounds of Blackness S.O.B.A Gala in two consecutive years 2008 and 2009 voted via the Canadian music station MusiquePlusMusiquePlusMusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media operating from Montreal, Quebec.MusiquePlus is devoted to music and music related programming from various genres including pop, rock, RnB and focuses on a younger demographic than its sister station, MusiMax...
- Winner of "Best Artist or Group - Frnacophone of the Year" during S.O.B.A gala in 2009
For 2 consecutive years (2008 and 2009), rapper Imposs won the prize for "Best francophone artist of the year", during the Quebec Sounds of Blackness Award
Sounds of Blackness Award
Sounds of Blackness Award also known as S.O.B.A. or SOBA is an annual Canadian awards in hip hop and urban music in Quebec and Canada....
s (S.O.B.A) specializing in urban and hip hop culture. The award is the most prestigious distributed annually.
Festivals and Shows
Imposs has given more than 300 shows throughout Canada and in France. He notably is featured in a number of well-attended festivals including:- Coup de Coeur Francophone - 1999
- Les FrancoFolies de MontréalLes FrancoFolies de MontréalLes FrancoFolies de Montréal is a large annual music and performance festival held in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, featuring over 1,000 French-language performers from all over the world, as well as attracting over 500,000 visitors....
- 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 - Festival d'été de Québec - 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009
- Festival de Musique Émergente -2008
Collaborations
Imposs has collaborated with a number of artists. However the most notable remains with another international artist of Haitian origin Wyclef JeanWyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
. It started when Imposs was in Muzion. In 2004 Wyclef Jean invited the band to collaborate with him on Wyclef Hean's hit 24 Heures à vivre. The francophone hit of Wyclef Jean witnessed huge success in France and internationally and went to win the "Prix Mirroir de la chanson d'expression française" (the Mirror Prize for song in French expression).
In the remix of Wyclef Jean's hit Let Me Touch Your Button Imposs is featured alongside Will.I.Am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
(of The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
) and Jimmy O. (of Rap Kreyol)
Imposs is also featured in K'Maro's song Love It Or Leave It appearing in the latter's 2008 album Perfect Stranger
Perfect Stranger (album)
Perfect Stranger is the third studio album by the Canadian rapper - K.Maro. The album was released on October 28th, 2008. There are 2 singles already released from that album. Some of the songs are in collaboration with various artists like Imposs, Belly and Rad, Odessa Thornhill and Jonas.-Track...
With Muzion
The albums were released under the "VIK Recordings" music label:- Mentalité Moune Morne (1999)
- J'Rêvolutionne (2002)
Solo
The album was released under K.Pone Inc music label:- Mon Poing D'Vue (2007)
Tracks:
- Intro (Les rideaux s'ouvrent)
- Rien d'interdit
- Mornier 4 Life
- Faut qu'j'm'en aille (Bonnie and Clyde '07)
- Dope Boys
- Monte mes gardes
- La preuve morte
- Mwen te mouri
- Vive la différence
- Tu piges
- Strip tip
- Chlamedia
- Ça fait longtemps
- Du fond du coeur
Singles / Videos
- 2007: "Rien d'interdit" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocwFcdmp7Mg
- 2008: "Faut qu'j'men aille" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASfK5FY8akI
- 2008: "Vive la différence"
- 2009: "Monte mes gardes"