Richard Crouse

On the season five opener of “Pop Life” the panel, Kelsey Miller, author of “I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends,” Steve Jordan, founder and Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize and Wesley Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes), the “godfather of Canadian hip hop,” discuss how to define a disruptor in the arts and what it is like to be a game changer.

“Coming out of Toronto, you know, we knew anything we did was going to be groundbreaking,” says Wes Williams on his influential hit “Let Your Backbone Slide,” “within the parameters of Toronto and within the parameters of hip hop which was at our time was Toronto, New York City, New Jersey and then there was a guy named Ice-T on the west coast. That was it really, so we thought within our parameters we thought whoever comes out with a hit first is going to be the one. I remember the first day I heard my song played in the club. Oh my goodness. They mixed it in with Heavy D and The Boyz. Me my man Farley Flex, we just jumped around the club like like idiots because we finally reached the final destination. We were considered innovators and we were disrupting what was known at the time.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.

Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.