The members of Montreal-based hip-hop group The Posterz are unpredictable. One minute they are speaking in Russian accents about imagined hidden cash and the next they are detailing the time they admitted to being on shrooms, a hallucinogenic drug, to Canadian border police on their way to Boston.

“This woman came out with a f*cking glove after they had us waiting there for like an hour and a half and we thought…,” rapper Husser begins.

“I was tripping. I thought she was going to do a cavity search, but she was just taking our fingerprints,” producer Joey Sherrett continues.

It’s been five years since the creation of The Posterz and until now the trio has only teased its potential with the release of the 2013 debut EP Starships and Dark Tints, composed merely of five songs. Mind you, those tracks are rippling with unapologetic lyricism spewing from the minds of rappers Husser and Kris the $pirit, and have the added advantage of striding over evocative beats designed by Sherrett.

In alignment with the two-year anniversary of that project the three-man band dropped their second EP Junga last fall on Oct. 30, 2015. The EP composed of six songs, including a chopped and screwed version of the second track on the mix “Want it All” and a re-work of Secret Sun’s “Cold Coast”.

Junga acts as an audio trailer to the freshman album The Posterz plan on releasing within the next year, expected to tell an enticing story of what it’s like for Kris and Husser living in what they refer to as the concrete jungle.

Residing in the small neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Montreal, Husser and Kris began recording music while they were in high school. They sought out Joey’s talent knowing he had experience producing beats and they dubbed themselves ‘The Poster Boiiz’. With time, they dropped the ‘Boiiz’ and re-defined the meaning of being a ‘poster’.

“It’s pretty much someone who chases their dreams and lives their lives the way they want,” Kris explains.

“You don’t have to confine yourself to one style, one genre or one cliché.”

The Posterz whole-heartedly embrace this concept and it comes through in their music.

They incorporate the absurdity and infinity of their creative mojos into every lyric and each music video. Tracks are often peppered with snippets of random phrases or layered with moody, haunting rhythms.

“[We want to] show people that you can be different and you can just be yourself and be dope,” Sperrett shares.

“You don’t have to confine yourself to one style, one genre or one cliché. If you’re Black you don’t have to just like trap or do one thing, you can listen to anything, hang out with anybody. We’re all one people; we’re all the same.”

They refuse to have their ingenuity imprisoned in metaphorical chains, which makes them totally unsuited for the average nine to five.

In an industry drowning in pokerfaced copycats, The Posterz are unfiltered and unreformed. They refuse to have their ingenuity imprisoned in metaphorical chains, which makes them totally unsuited for the average nine to five.

“[With] music, you craft your own product and the more passion you put into it, the more you get out of it. With [somewhere like] McDonalds there’s a barrier; you’re working for some guy. With music you’re working for yourself and it’s f*cking awesome.”

Welcome to the ominous land of The Posterz, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the
Junga.

Photo By. Chantal ‘Rose’ Gregory © Urbanology Magazine

Sadé Powell is a freelance writer and illustrator based in Toronto, Ontario. With six years of experience in the journalism field under her belt, she has had the freedom to dabble in a range of topics including music, technology, culture, fashion, local and international daily news.