The HiCats

Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the HiCats have been a staple of the area’s hip-hop scene for over a decade. Consistently producing honest, relatable, and emotional tracks, the duo has cultivated a solid local fan base through their straight-forward, classic hip-hop style skillfully infused with fresh new sounds and experimentation. Starting out as a six-person group in 2010, the hicats have been nominated for several awards over the years and have earned themselves a reputation for selling out live performances across hamilton. After taking an almost eight-year hiatus, the group has come back together as a duo comprised of two original members, mitchell heaton and stealth elementz. The two are back in the game in full force, shifting to a full-time music focus and releasing over 20 songs throughout the past year. The duo was set to tour with ontario rapper young stitch in 2021, but plans were foiled by covid-19 restrictions. Coming up in 2022, the hicats are anticipating a feature with new york rapper benny the butcher as well as another with jon harvey of monster truck.

Recent releases from the hicats include “high def,” a full-length album that starts off with a bang with “peace” and settles into the wide-awake “gather round” to truly pull the listener in and keep them there. “hybrid music,” their most recent ep released in 2021, grounds listeners into the duo’s updated sound characterized by raw emotion and contemplative, down-tempo meditations on life and struggle. The ep has been quickly followed up by two new, dynamic singles, “act like that” and “don’t know why.” throughout their career, the group has opened for live acts such as royce da 5’9, d12, mgk, members of wutang, sean price, swollen members and madchild, marvwon, kid vishis, classified, peter jackson, dj qbert, dblock, and more.

To learn more, click here to visit their website.