Godfather of Canadian hip-hop adds ambassador for Saint John to list of achievements

Rap icon becomes ambassador for Saint John To celebrate his one year anniversary living in Saint John, Maestro Fresh Wes was made an official ambassador for the city.

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — The iconic musical artist and godfather of Canadian hip-hop, Maestro Fresh Wes, can now add official ambassador for the city of Saint John to his lengthy list of achievements.

This past Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Wesley Williams making the move to the East Coast, more specifically to New Brunswick's port city – a city populated with people he describes as kind, warm, and down-to-earth.

"It means a lot to me that I've made an impact on this community, this city, this province within the little time I've been here," he says. "Saint John is beautiful … my family selected a great place to be."

Maestro has been busy in his new East Coast hometown – these days he's back behind the microphone in a Saint John studio making music for the next generation, as he works on a brand new project.

"I'm working on a new album, a kids' project, so you know I have my book, "Stick to Your Vision: Young Maestro Goes to School, and I thought it would be cool to have a music project inspired by the book."

The book, which was written by Williams and features a foreword by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, follows a young Maestro and his memories of going to school in Toronto.

It was written to highlight the importance of "family structure, mentorship, hip-hop, and the positive impact of inspirational elementary school teachers" – as Maestro uses his time, talent and platform to support and inspire young people in Saint John and beyond.

"We have a small window of opportunity to help these young boys and young girls grow to be young men and young women," he says, "and these opportunities don't always come back, so while we're here right now, let's try to maximize that time."

As for what else is in the works for Maestro, he says there are big projects on the horizon but the details of which we'll have to wait for as this artist continues to keep it fresh, in the Maritimes.

You can check out some of his projects on his Facebook page.