Written by David Fitzgerald for HipHopVancouver
College Radio is an invaluable resource for local artists to gain exposure, experience, and have a chance for their voices to be heard. Crimes and Treasons – a long-running hip-hop show on 101.9 CiTR – recently celebrated 12 years of uncensored rap at Fortune Sound Club with a Happy Endings fundraiser. HipHopVancouver had a chance to chat with some of the show’s mainstays, Relly Rels, Homeboy Jules and Jamal Steeles, to find out what makes the show – and the people behind it – tick.
HipHipVancouver: What is your role at Crimes and Treasons radio?
I’m Relly Rels – I DJ and host on Crimes and Treasons.
I’m Homeboy Jules – I do the graphics, DJ on the show and talk shit.
I’m Jamal Steeles – I host, do the news, and I guess talk some shit too.
HHV: What can people expect when they listen to your Crimes & Treasons radio show and what does the show represent for the Vancouver scene?
Relly Rels: Well it’s 2 hours of uncensored rap and it’s new rap that you aren’t going to hear anywhere else on the radio.
Homeboy Jules: I think it represents a chance for people through the uncensorship to express something that doesn’t always get expressed in other music. The freedom allows the show to dig into some pretty intense cultural discourse.
Jamal Steeles: Ya, like Rels said, 2 hours of uncensored hip hop and trill-ish. We also like to shine light on local and international artists as well. We do play hip-hop, rap and R&B but we definitely just love good music and you’ll hear different things. We’re talking about a lot of uncensored things which separates us from other radio shows.
HHV: What’s the best way for young artists to get involved with the station?
Relly Rels: Anyone interested in coming on the Crimes and s radio show can send us an email with some music we listen to. We’re pretty open to having different people on the show.
Homeboy Jules: Ya email is DJ@crimesandtreasons.com! If they’re interested on being on the radio CITR, they can email the music director who is the amazing Sarah Cordingly!
Jamal Steeles: Ya there’s lots of opportunity for people do get involved, just remember to send your music in a good file quality.
HHV: What’s in store for the future of Crimes and Treasons Radio?
Homeboy Jules: There’s been some discussions about us syndicating with other radio shows which is pretty cool. We’ve grown and now have Horsepower and Lucky Rich, they’ve doing audio essays, so I’d like to see where that goes. And I would love to see artists doing exclusive Crimes and Treasons mixes.
Jamal Steeles: Ya and we want to keep doing more events. We did the opening of the skatepark at UBC and this event tonight at Fortune is an example of more to come.
Homeboy Jules: We are also going to create a new brand of ketchup no one has tasted before and a new type of plant.
HHV: How has college radio helped you progress in your own career?
Relly Rels: Being on the show has helped me get a lot of gigs that I may not have gotten otherwise. People respect you more. Before the radio show I don’t think I had any DJ gigs in Vancouver and that’s changed now.
Homeboy Jules: The show has definitely helped me career wise, but it’s also been helpful for friendships which ultimately leads to better business opportunities. Rico who did the show with me is one of my closest friends, Lauren Burrows who’s out here tonight is my good friend and so is Brendan Butter as well as so many more we’ve met through the show. For me I’d take it just for all the friendships I’ve made.
Jamal Steeles: Practice, practice, practice. The show gives us the opportunity to always be practicing. We do our show live and there’s no better way to practice and sharpen our craft. And my day job is hosting all types of events, the radio show has made me so much more aware of how to operate a production.
Homeboy Jules: Ya, I think with any type of production like radio you’re pushed to be constantly editing and things like that so you learn a lot.
HHV: Any shows or releases coming up that people should know about?
Homeboy Jules: Horsepower just put out a record called BollyWoes. I did some of the production on that, shout out Rob Schnieder. And shout out to all the radio shows out there doing it. There’s the Screen Girls on Fridays on CITR, that’s a cool show.
Jamal Steeles: That mixtape on Friday that Homeboy Jules put out is fire, so everybody should check that out.
HipHipVancouver: If you had to pick one track to sum up tonight’s party, what would it be?
IAMSU! – I Love My Squad
Written by David Fitzgerald for HipHopVancouver