SAMPLEDHenry Canyons: the jazz saxophonist from Brooklyn ciphers who became an LA rap fixture
A self-described Brooklinite-French-Jew whose bilingual writing and melodic delivery came out of two coasts and a horn.
Henry Canyons does not fit the standard rapper origin story, which is the point. Before he was an LA rapper he was a trained jazz saxophonist, and before that a teenager in Brooklyn ciphers. He describes himself as a Brooklinite-French-Jew, and his bilingual writing and melodic phrasing come straight out of that mix.
Coast to coast
Canyons left for the West Coast in 2005 to attend Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After graduating he moved to Los Angeles to pursue music full time.
The catalog
His first solo mixtape, Vignettes, arrived in October 2012 with production from BoomBaptist and picked up early cosigns from independent rap outlets. Since then he has worked on collaborative projects with French producers Keor Meteor and Freddy Jay, and with NYC producer Willie Green — the Backwoodz connection that explains how an LA artist ended up in this orbit.
He has shared stages with Macklemore, Tash, Open Mike Eagle, Blue Scholars, billy woods and a long list of LA locals, and released the One Thousand Plateaus EP along the way.
Why the horn matters
Saxophone training changes how a rapper hears a beat. Canyons phrases like someone used to playing over changes rather than counting off a loop, which is why his verses sit at odd, singable angles.
His artist page is here (opens in a new tab).