Catalyst (CA)

My name is Omid Malek and my rapping name is CATALYST. I was born on August 8th, 1987 in Montreal, Quebec. I lived downtown for a couple of years before moving to the suburbs in Brossard, Quebec. I learned from an early age that nothing in life should be taken for granted as his mother died of breast cancer when he was only five years old. To make matters worse my older sister who will be turning 24 next year, suffers from cerebral palsy, which makes her intellectual ability as limited as an elementary school student. My father had to quit his high paying job in Ottawa and become a single parent in a very difficult circumstance. To this day, I consider my father my hero and my mentor. Although I have experienced a difficult and traumatizing childhood, the name of hope (Omid means hope in Persian) has stuck with me. I stand for improving my family’s current troubling financial situation and to leave my mark on society. Excelling at competitive chess, I have become one of the top players for my age category and also in the top 35 of all chess players in Quebec. My father taught me how to play chess shortly after my mother died and thus, this success with my natural talent at the game has been very encouraging for me. However, a rapping career never dawned upon me until a few years ago when I discovered my hidden talent in poetry thanks to my grade 7 and 8 English teacher in high school. Using this new found powerful tool of expressing my emotions on paper, I felt that maybe I could express his talent vocally and reach people. In addition I love listening to hip-hop music, to the point that I began memorizing and reciting songs of other artists in order to practice. Finally, I began to record on the computer at houses of different friends. The summer of 2005 has been a good stepping stone for me as I have recorded 6 solo tracks of date. With a close friend of mine who is making very original beats, I will have several new tracks recorded shortly so stay tuned!

As I mentioned earlier, the summer of 2005 has been a good stepping stone for me as I have recorded 6 solo tracks of date. This is the first time I’m taken rapping seriously backed by a close friend of mine who is making very original beats, I will have several new tracks recorded shortly within the next few weeks.

I haven’t gotten the opportunity to play live yet but I will on January 14th, 2006 as I will participate in a hip-hop competition in Alymer, Quebec.

My musical influences originally stem from legends such as Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. I got into listening to rap music after listening to their tracks. Also, my favourite rapper of all-time is Eminem, who I credit greatly for influencing me to express my inner most emotions, whether I’m very anger or very depressed. The rapper who has influenced me the most in terms of my flow has to 50 Cent. After hearing his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album, I found my own flow, modeling a slow but deep and memorizing flow that 50 Cent provides. The list of rappers who have influenced me goes on and on

I have already mentioned that I’m the 35th best chess player in Quebec.

Chess and rapping are basically my hobbies but I love to go out and party as well as play basketball and other sports with friends. I am also a huge Montreal Canadiens fan, go habs!