What's In Your Fridge: Greg Beamish

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      What’s in Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz Ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

      On the grill

      Greg Beamish

      Who are you?

      Greg Beamish, Vancouver rapper/sports-trivia genius. Coming off a broken leg didn't stop this dude from touring 12 shows around Germany and Switzerland last November with American DJ/producer/MPC legend KutMasta Kurt and German MC Retrogott. He also just came back from rocking an official showcase at NXNE 2015 in Toronto last month. Recently, he recorded his latest EP, Dude on Fire in only two days with production help from Juno award–winning, West Coast legend Moka Only.

      First concert

      My first concert I ever went to see was Mr. Dressup. I think this was probably somewhere around 1986 or 1987? I'm about three years old at the time. I went with my mom and I remember I was really f*ckin excited! When Casey and Finnegan came on stage I was so stoked, I started shaking uncontrollably! When Mr. Dressup actually appeared I was full-blown freaking out. Like a girl from Atlanta at an R. Kelly concert. By the time they wheeled the Tickle Trunk out, my little three-year-old brain just couldn't process all the excitement anymore! I had reached the pinnacle of life! I'd seen it all already and I just couldn't handle it. I just straight-up passed out right there! We had to leave the show because my mom was scared and had to take me to the hospital. This really happened.

      Life-changing concert

      This was back when I was in grade 9 or 10. At the time if you were born in 1984, you could take a thumb-tack and scratch the "4" on your driver's license to make it look like a “1”, making it appear as if you're born in 1981. I became a master of this technique. Boom! I was instantly transformed from a boy into a 19-year-old man in the eyes of any undiscerning doorman. The house band at the Rose and Crown Pub in Tsawwassen was alright, but Context Mondays at 7 Alexander was really more my cup of tea. I would hop on the 601 bus and make it to Gastown in time to cautiously sip a beer before the end of soundcheck. I only needed two or three beers to get drunk in those days, so by the time the show had actually started, I was on beer number three and my 16-year-old ass was feeling pretty cool! One night I was there and Swollen Members performed and it was a really crazy show! This was in their heyday and the place was really packed. I was young, drunk, and impressionable, but being from Vancouver, wanting to be a rapper and seeing the huge response they got from the crowd, knowing they were a local group, set a tone for me. Maybe one day I too could get drunk on-stage and say stuff for money. They made it look like a fun job.

      Top three records

      MC Hammer Please Hammer, Don't Hurt ‘Em Around 1989 I used to stay up late after In Living Color was on and watch The Arsenio Hall Show. When Hammer came on the show one night and did "U Can't Touch This", that was it for me! I was an instant fan. I made my dad buy me the Please Hammer, Don't Hurt ‘Em album on tape at A&B Sound on Marine Drive the day it came out. Then I made him listen to the whole thing in our 1985 Mercury Lynx all the way up to Grouse Mountain one night when we went skiing. Then I put the tape in my yellow Sony Sports Walkman and I went skiing with headphones on! That's when I invented that. I was the first guy to do that—the skiing with headphones on thing! I was five. I was a spoiled kid, but I was a trendsetter.

      Ice-T O.G. Original Gangster Before Ice-T, I really didn't know the difference between what was considered gangster rap or pop rap or anything really. I didn't care if it was Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice or Kris Kross or whatever. They all rapped right? So it was all rap music to me. This all changed when my friend’s older brother introduced me to this album. I was only in Grade 1, but before then I didn't know what a little pussy I was! (Prior to this, nobody had showed me Ice-T in the movie Breakin') I ditched my Cross Colours gear and insisted from then on that my mom only buy me black Levi's and L.A. Kings gear so I could look cool in front of all the Grade 7 girls at recess. It didn't work. But the album helped define my taste nonetheless.

      Del Tha Funkee Homosapien Future Development I stumbled upon this record online sometime around when I was in Grade 11. Up to then all the music I had was a physical copy, CD, tape, or vinyl. I remember this was the first full album I ever downloaded off the Internet. Probably off LimeWire or something similar. I was already a big Del and Hieroglyphics fan back then. I just liked this album because it seemed so chilling and effortless, especially compared to the stuff that was coming out around the time. The lo-fi beats, the careless and fun lyrics about partying and hanging out with your crew at the mall. This was the type of hip-hop that I could picture myself in.

      Favourite video

      Dr. Dre "Nuthin' But a ‘G’ Thang" I remember I was at a friend's house and we were watching another riveting episode of Full House. Stephanie had just driven Danny's car into the kitchen when my friend’s older brother came in and switched the channel to MuchMusic because "Rap City was on". I think that was the first time I remember seeing Master T as the host. Within a few minutes the "Nuthin But a ‘G' Thang" video came on. There was Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and a bunch of crazy bouncing cars! I grew up in Richmond so I'd never seen cars like that. I'd seen Hondas with doilies and Kleenex boxes in the back, but I hadn't seen that shit! I was like whoa! These guys are fuckin' cool! I had been to a barbecue before—how come the barbecues I'd been to weren't like that one? I'd go on to spend the rest of my life attempting to make every barbecue I would ever attend a little more like the one in that video.

      What's in your fridge

      Granny Smith apples. I really like Granny Smith apples, not only because of their great taste, but because I have an actual grandma named Betty Smith and as a kid she told me that they were apples named after her. In my early years I thought everybody's grandma had their own signature apple in their name. Later on, I learned this was not the case. One time, I went to a fortune teller and she mentioned something about my affinity for green apples. Since then, I've always ate Granny Smith apples before I do a show. Usually, I've been drinking and smoking weed all night prior so having an apple before I rap alleviates the dry-mouth that comes along with that. Until recently, I thought I was the only person that did this! A few years ago I went to school and they told us that a lot of professional broadcasters eat apples before they hit the air. I guess they all went to the same weird fortune teller as I did.

      Orange juice. Orange juice really is the Undisputed King of Juice. It's like the Budweiser of juice. I've sampled a lot of other fruit juices on the market out there, but I keep going back to OJ. If you order straight pineapple juice at a bar people always assume something. Mango juice is too thick. Apple juice should only be consumed by children under five. Coconut water, by name, isn't really juice. But anyway it's too trendy and tastes like shit! Obviously, I go for fresh-squeezed OJ whenever possible, but time and cost can be a factor there. Otherwise, in terms of simple consumer juice, for me it's usually a toss-up between Simply Orange and Tropicana, with “Some Pulp”. “No Pulp” is okay, but if you go for “Extra Pulp”, you are just a sick, sick fuck. Gross!

      Fresh local produce. Of course in the freezer we have some locally sourced greens raised by local providers. Grown in some of the finest well-lit attics, walk-in closets, and basement suites that this amazing city has to offer! Super Natural B.C..

      Greg Beamish's Dude on Fire is available here.

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