Artist: Checkmate, Album: Welcome To The Game, Song: These Days And Times

Checkmate is a hip hop artist from Vancouver, B.C..  Already known to many on the west coast of Canada, Checkmate caught the nation's attention in 1998 as a guest MC on one of our country's biggest hip hop tracks ever.  Fellow west coast rappers, Rascalz, released a tune called, Northern Touch which featured Kardinal Offishall, Thrust (see blog 2/15/11), Choclair and Checkmate trading verses with one another.  The song became a huge hit and the video was on heavy rotation within the country.  The song itself was later added to subsequent pressings of the band's Cash Crop album which eventually won a Juno.  I'm sure Checkmate would agree that among all the rappers on that track, he was the least known at the time yet had the most to benefit from the recording.  A lot of people perked up and waited anxiously for more from this talented artist.  Well in 2001, he answered with his debut album, Welcome To The Game.  It was a strong album that benefited from the production of Da Grassroots and the compliment of MC Concise.  Today, both Checkmate and Concise have teamed up and call themselves, Defenders Of The Faith.  You can follow them at http://www.defendersmusic.ca/.  These Days And Times was one of the singles off the album, Welcome To The Game, and you can check out the video on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxO7POQA3I4).  The album, Welcome To The Game, isn't widely available today but you can still purchase new copies from Amazon for $14.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!