When Vancouver-based hip hop artist Snak the Ripper was in his mid-20s, he underwent a major lifestyle transformation.
“I was sick of going out and partying all the time,” he said. “It wasn’t healthy. I needed something to focus on.”
That focus was music, more specifically hip hop and by 2006, Snak was writing lyrics, making his own music and collaborating with other artists.
“I was always rapping all the time and people were always complimenting me on that,” he said. “So I just stayed home and started writing and trying to find beats to rap on and that was how it started.”
On Saturday (July 8), Snak the Ripper will perform a doubleheader at Evolve Nightclub with fellow hip hop artists Jaclyn Gee, D-Rec and Junk and Brevner.
“I am always looking forward to Nanaimo,” he said. “It’s beautiful there and it’s always our first stop on the Island.”
Snak’s stop in Nanaimo is part of a lengthy nationwide tour promoting his latest record, From the Dirt, which was released in June 2016.
“I am trying to offer an honest type of hip hop,” he said. “Every song has a different concept and theme.”
Snak, originally from Maple Ridge, actually had a passion for music when he was a teenager, having been in a small high school band. But by his 20s he had lost touch with his musical side. He said it wasn’t until he was about 25 that he realized he had to make better life choices.
“I was just going through a hard time in life,” he said. “I was doing a lot of drugs and I was living on my own for the first couple of years. It was rough. It was a learning experience, a boy turning into a man kind of thing.”
Since then Snak has put out three records and has toured relentlessly. Since 2006, he’s toured across North America dozens of times, made multiple trips to Europe and just wrapped up an Australian tour earlier this year.
“It’s crazy in Europe because there are a lot more people there per city,” he said. “We were getting a lot better turnout than we would get out here in, say, Alberta or B.C. It’s cool just to go out there and see fans you didn’t even know you had singing lyrics to your songs and they don’t even speak English. It is pretty humbling.”
Snak says he’s been blessed to have toured so much and is looking forward to a summer of touring and meeting new people.
“Every year we go out to these cities and the crowds are bigger and the response is great. We’re just looking forward to getting back out,” he said.
Snak the Ripper performs at Evolve Nightclub at 4 p.m. (all ages) and 9 p.m (19 plus). For more information, visit www.snaktheripper.com.
nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com