Original summaries of recent reporting on the artists and releases shaping rap across Canada, with a link to the source behind each story.
OCTOBER 2026
Three stories in rotation
NEW MUSIC · OCTOBER 5, 2026
k-os points toward a new album with “Guns & Roses”
Recent artist photo: Complex
Toronto rap veteran k-os has released “Guns & Roses,” his first new music since two earlier tracks this year, as he works toward his first full-length album in more than a decade. The self-produced single pairs his tightly rhythmic, multisyllabic flow with a reworked Latin groove.
Rolling Stone Canada reports that Drake is financing the upcoming record and DreamCrew executive Matte Babel is managing the project, citing Complex Canada. There is no release date or tracklist yet, so the new single is the clearest signal so far of a larger return.
Romeo Don’t Die turns personal loss into the six-track Don’t Die, I’ll Cry
EP cover artwork: Romeo Don’t Die / Bandcamp
Ottawa-born, Montréal-based rapper Romeo Don’t Die has released a six-song EP shaped by the death of his younger cousin. The project makes room for grief alongside ambition and the artist’s sharper, more forceful delivery, rather than keeping those sides of his writing separate.
HipHopCanada reports production from Chanksdaddy and Jeff Sanon, with appearances from Busy Nasa, Kris The $pirit and DO, the Outcast. A run of accompanying videos—including the title track and “Sabado Gigante”—gives the EP several visual entry points.
Kardinal Offishall revisits Firestarter with a long-awaited sequel
Album cover artwork: Kardinal Offishall / Apple Music
Kardinal Offishall has returned with Firestarter Vol. 2: Everyday, Sometimes, a follow-up to his influential 2001 release Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1. In a CBC Q interview with Tom Power, the Toronto artist reflects on why this was the right time to revisit the project, his collaboration with Idris Elba and what still fuels a career spanning more than three decades.
The release links a formative chapter in Canadian rap to a present-day conversation with one of its central artists—not simply as a throwback, but as a new installment in a continuing creative life.
