STEPHEN HERO makes raw, working class, alternative hip hop from Canada’s east coast. He began writing and recording raps on a tape recorder in his bedroom in the early aughts, and spent his teens and twenties honing his craft, exploring other genres and learning a few instruments and engineering skills. His style is heavily influenced by alt-rap legends like Kool Keith, El-P and MF DOOM, with a strong penchant for the relaxed and joyous experimentation of groups like De La Soul and Beastie Boys, with a contemporary feel. His taste in production is eclectic and open-minded, working with artists from various genres and handling production himself.
“Hero's darkly sly humour is an easy entry point to his multifaceted music, and his MF DOOM fandom shows through offbeat rhyming and layered lyricism. EAT THE RICH, his anti-capitalist new EP with Motherhood's Brydon Crain, boasts tracks like the abrasively industrial "Livin the Dream" and the acoustic guitar-backed call to arms ‘Nose to Tail,’ which will make you nod your head as you hoist your pitchfork” - Exclaim!
“He’s single-handedly filled the latest EP in his Patchwork series with wicked and wild beats, imaginative ideas and complicated storytelling that focuses on both the trials and little triumphs of working-class Canada. Underrated but undeterred, Patchwork 2 confirms STEPHEN HERO’s status as one of the country’s most exceptional rappers and wordsmiths.” - Dominionated.ca
“In Hero’s retelling, the everyday grit of Saint John chafes against the way New Brunswick’s largest city is ‘presented to the world in this sanitized way…’ By snugly embracing the local rough and tumble, he hopes to evoke James Joyce, who once declared the universal could be found in well articulated particulars. It’s a sentiment Hero thinks about often ‘because regionalism in hip-hop is so important. And I think I’ve developed a style that’s very regional, and that hasn’t existed before.’ - Complex Canada
“This Saint John MC…lambasts ‘oligarchy enabling’ politicians and corporations (perhaps not surprisingly, a recent EP is titled ‘Eat The Rich.’)” - The Globe & Mail
