Alive and well from the underground, Sauga City master of ceremonies J Shiltz returns with “The Latest” – the first single from his new album Forever The Artist produced entirely by Charisma of legendary Scarborough hip-hop collective Monolith. “The Latest”features Charisma’s instant appeal production and Shiltz’s precision lyricism, tied together by a Rel McCoy chorus that will have you wondering how it’s possible that Rel’s trademark soulful vocals blend so seamlessly with this absolute heater of a track (rest assured Rel pulls it off without a hitch even managing to squeeze in some bars himself).
Artist, songwriter, and master of ceremonies J Shiltz was definitely catching a buzz in the 2010s “blog-era” of hip-hop before online exhibitionism, content creation, and social media metrics superseded the music. At his peak he was known for an introspective, self-aware, yet punch line driven style of lyricism accompanied by jazz infused and melodic boom bap production. Yet by today’s standards of artistic measurement Shiltz is largely unknown with minimal social media presence or press coverage. He is heard only by longtime fans and those of a certain tenure or hyper interest in Canada’s hip-hop scene. Yet despite these facts and forever the artist J Shiltz soldiers on creating, ideating, writing, recording, and making music.
Now with five full length albums under his belt and nothing to show for it but props and peace of mind J Shiltz is doing exactly what you would expect – coming back with a brand new project entirely produced by Monolith’s own Charisma, featuring a slew of Toronto’s dopest artists, releasing via URBNET in the Summer of 2024, aptly titled – Forever The Artist.