Toronto-via-Nova Scotia rapper and CBC Radio 2 host finds an unlikely new fan.
The night before his band was to play in front of 100,000-plus people at Quebec City’s Festival d’été, Metallica’s James Hetfield did something out of ordinary: he went to a hip-hop show. Without much fanfare, the man whose band has sold over 50 million albums in the United States alone arrived anonymously last Friday night at the relatively small confines of the Imperial de Quebec Theatre to check out Toronto-via-Nova Scotia rapper Buck 65 (a.k.a. CBC Radio 2 host Rich Terfry), to the amazement of both artist and crowd.
“I was told by the promoter before the show that Hetfield was going to be attending,” Terfry tells STFU. ”I knew that Metallica was playing the next night, so it seemed at least mathematically possible, but I had a hard time believing it. I put it out of my mind. After the show was over, I wondered for a fleeting moment if I might see him backstage, but chose to stay out front and spend some time with the audience—taking pictures, signing stuff, hugs and handshakes.”
Though the two didn’t get to meet face to face, Hetfield did manage to get a message to Terfry before he left.
“When all was said and done at the end of the night, sure enough, there was a message from Hetfield,” the grizzled-voiced MC recalls. “[It said] he “loved the show’ and that my ‘lyrics are amazing.’ Flattering, but still hard to believe.”
Hetfield is not the only international artist to express their love for Radio 2′s Drive host. During their last trip to Toronto, up-and-coming New Zealanders The Naked and Famous revealed to STFU their love for the rapper, admitting he’s one of the few current Canadian artists they enjoy.
Which leaves STFU wondering aloud: with that kind of international love and Hetfield’s penchant for unpredictable genre-bending collaborations (Orchestras? Marianne Faithfull? Lou Reed?), how much longer can Canada keep the ever-humble Terfry as one of its best kept secrets?
