Rapper turned Saskatchewan NDP candidate says sorry for lyrics called misogynistic

Phil Smith, Saskatchewan NDP candidate for Estevan-Big Muddy stands with party leader Carla Beck in this 2024 campaign photo. (Source: Sask. NDP)

A former Saskatchewan rapper turned political candidate apologized Tuesday for lyrics that the incumbent Saskatchewan Party has criticized as misogynistic.

Phil Smith, the NDP candidate for Estevan-Big Muddy, said in a statement that he takes full responsibility for the songs released about a decade ago.

He said he's now "committed to social action to bring an end to gender-based discrimination."

"I said things in my 20s that I don’t believe now whatsoever," Smith said.

His apology comes after Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party put out a media release labelling some of Smith's lyrics "misogynistic, pro-drugs and pro-crime."

In Smith's song "Candy Necklaces," Smith rapped: "Just wish I could belly flop into your cleavage."

On a track titled "Casino," he said: “You have to be asinine to test me, I stomp squares all day like a chess piece. Down for jail, and bail and subsequent probation."

The Saskatchewan Party said in the release that either Carla Beck's NDP "completely failed to do basic vetting" on Smith or is comfortable with the lyrics.

"Carla Beck owes the people of Saskatchewan an answer," it said.

Smith, in his apology, recounted how someone pulled a gun on him several years ago. The "horrifying incident" made him realize that he was on the wrong path, he said, and that he needed to change his life for the better.

“My focus now is on being a positive influence in our society and any music I’ve created in recent years has been devoted to that," said Smith.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Beck said she wasn't aware of the lyrics.

It's not what people in Saskatchewan want provincial leaders to focus on, she said.

"Song lyrics are one thing," she said. "Getting caught up in a sex trafficking sting or having assault charges for choking and assault — those are another thing."

One Saskatchewan Party member was booted from caucus last November over a charge of procuring sex, which was stayed after he completed an alternative measures program. Another resigned in January over an assault charge, which is still before the courts.

"If that's what (Moe) wants to focus on, he can fill his boots," Beck said. "But we're focused on the things that Saskatchewan people need."

Last week, Saskatchewan Party candidate David Buckingham came under fire for using a racial slur last year to reference a Black person while recounting a story of someone else using it.

He apologized, telling reporters it was a "very dumb mistake."