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Three years into a serious run at a professional rap career, with lives as a teen rapper, criminal, prison inmate, and respectable businessman behind him, Mr. ESQ will drop his first album with a major label, Predominant Studios, in July.
That will be Esquire, with 20 tracks. The title is not how his artist name is pronounced, though it is a play on it. His name is said with each letter enunciated: E S Q. Mr. ESQ.
His name is itself a play on where he is from and what the cops called him during his – often – misspent youth. He was raised in Esquimalt (pronounced eh-SKI-malt).
“That's the neighborhood I grew up in, a little grungy town in Victoria, BC, back when I was a troublemaker. Whenever I got locked up the copy would go, “Oh, if it isn’t Mr. Esquimalt.’ So, we shortened it to Mr. ESQ.”
His music name and his album name are also symbolic of his growth from teen criminal to respected Victoria businessman and now rapper on the rise. The timeline is basically two decades.
“I was still hustling and being a dumb kid, and I ended up being in chains,” he said. “So, 18 years old, sentenced to 10 years. I did my time, I got out, I became a productive member of society. I got, I got a nine-to-five, I started work and I developed these businesses that I run now.”
That’s a roofing company, vinyl decking, railings, gutters, soffits, a clothing store, a supplement store.
“And then, after I got comfortable with my situation, I got back into music. I've only been back in music for three, three and a half years.”
Mr. ESQ recorded 10 songs within a couple weeks for Letter to Judgement, his debut album in 2018. Since then, he has released 17 albums, 35 music videos and numerous features with other people. He has also featured many other artists on his music releases.
When he said he “got back into music,” it was because he started writing when he was 12, which is when, in a rough section of a seafaring town down at the southern end of a big empty island at the far eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean, he started listening to rap with his older brothers.
“And I just started writing my own thoughts down, like in a poetry style.” He started making music and recording from ages 14 to 16.
“The music I grew up on was the California and New York music. I'm definitely a West Coast influenced artist with, you know, 2Pac and South Central Cartel, Bikes 140, The Bay Area Guys, and then, you know The Biggie, Nas, Rakim, Jay-Z.”
Mr. ESQ relishes working with other people. Many of his songs feature other voices and styles.
“I like working with multiple artists, because the challenge is to be more versatile,” he said. “I look up to these guys that I work with. I like their music. I'm not just doing it because I want to do a feature with some guy.”
He continued, “I want to jump on a song with a guy that I know is unique or different than me. It shows two different styles, three different styles at times, and it challenges me. I need to put myself in a position where I want to be just as good as them – as they are in my eyes, right? – and vice versa.”
His personal history, his feelings and emotions are all in his music. Songs like “Run It,” “I Had It All” and “Destiny” are built from the facts of his early life, and his determination to start a new one.
“I throw it out there and be as vulnerable as I can as an artist, just being raw and real and putting my story out,” he said. “But sometimes I just sit and reflect on things, and that's what comes out of me.”
He has released two singles from the upcoming Esquire. “Rich Problems,” featuring his friend Madchild, is a fun satire rich people’s “problems,” conceived on the day Madchild showed up at Mr.ESQ’s house in a Mercedes G-class SUV.
The other is “A Mothers Day,” a rap ode to his own mother.
“I need to have these ‘Rich Problems’ songs,” he said, “these bangers that kids’ll listen to, and then grab a date and maybe listen to some of my other music, and maybe they'll sit down and say, ‘Oh, okay, so it's not all about money.’”
That describes his hopes and dreams for his music.
“Where do I want it to take me? To the top of the world obviously. I would love to get global recognition for the type of music that I'm doing. But the impact that I want my music to have is deeper than just having ‘rich problems’ and being famous or something like that.”
He sums up the heart of it this way: “I want to rap about things that will make an impact in this world and help change troubled minds.”
To listen to Mr. ESQ’s music, follow him on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts:
Website: http://www.predominantstudiosinc.com/
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/mr-esq/1376354174
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3PFvR6hD2fa1pCuV4cHHpC
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MrESQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harrison.mresq.7
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harrison_mr.esq/
