It’s been a tense couple of weeks in the lives of Vancouver Canucks fans. So tense, they have had to find ways to release some of those highs and lows through other means than yelling at their televisions.
Two young Vernonites have found a way to encapsulate their feelings through the power of words.
Local hip hop artists Immaculate and Memo (aka Julian Wolansky and Malcolm Otter) have just laid down a new song that is so far getting some good reviews, especially from fellow fanboys and girls.
Not unlike the song How the West was Won, recorded to acclaim by Vancouver hip hop artist Kyprios (of Sweatshop Union fame) back in April, Immaculate and Memo hope their newer anthem will reach the rafters when the final game for the Stanley Cup is played tonight at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.
Entitled The Cup, the video for the song, released only a few days ago, has so far reached more than 1,100 hits on YouTube, and more listeners are expected as the song has been passed on to various radio stations, sports networks, and the CBC, said Wolansky (Immaculate).
“We’re doing everything in our power to get the song out there,” he said, adding, “We’re also working on a radio edit that will be available on YouTube with the one swear word taken out.”
The Cup came to Immaculate and Memo after Game 2 in the Stanley Cup finals, when the Canucks beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 June 4.
The two hip hop artists were playing the last show of the Rock 4 MS tour with Aimie Laws in Salmon Arm while the game was on.
“Everyone in the bar was chanting ‘who wants the cup, we want the cup,’” said Wolansky. “We decided to use that in the chorus, and Malcolm did the first verse. I was up ‘til 2 a.m. writing and recording the song to get it out for Game 5.”
A sound engineer, Wolansky recorded and mixed the song at home, and enlisted his friend, Joe Gooden, who attends the Centre for Arts and Technology (CATO) in Kelowna, to make a video.
“He whipped it up in 20 minutes,” said Wolansky. “The video is all stills of players pieced together. There are even flashes of McLean and Bure.”
In the opening verse, Memo references the last time The Canucks were in the Stanley Cup finals in ‘94 with Trevor Linden getting the score, goalie Kirk McLean shutting the door, and Pavel Bure being the top drawer, then transitions to present day.
“We reference a lot of players from back then and today,” said Wolansky, who raps that he never watched hockey until he turned 13, and is now a fan through and through. “It’s a three minute song; short and sweet.”
As for his team being trounced in Boston Monday, Wolansky remains optimistic.
“We’ve had a tough time in Boston, but I have to admit I was hoping for Game 7, and I really hope Vancouver will take it.”
The Cup can be viewed at www.youtube.com/therealimmaculate, or follow Immaculate at www.myspace.com/immaculatebc or www.facebook.com/immaculatemusic.
