Established Canadian hip hop artist Bishop Brigante has risen to the top of the country’s music business, and is now set to conquer another aspect of the industry: acting. Bishop is following in the footsteps of many talented Canadian musicians before him, who pursued their passion for acting and proved their talent translates to the realm of film and TV. The acclaimed rapper-turned-actor is a multi-talented performer who has a number of buzz-worthy projects on the horizon. Most recently, Bishop wrapped a lead role as Carlos in the feature thriller “Evil Feed”, which is currently in post-production. In the vein of Grind House cinema, the horror also stars Lacy J. Mailey and Terry Chen.
Scarborough born and raise, Bishop has always had a natural ease with rhymes. After years of making a name for himself within music circles and battle circuits (he was the first Canadian to be featured on BET’s Freestyle Friday), he was signed to the Bodog Music label in 2008. Here he released his hit single “It’s Fo Twenty”, featuring Nate Dogg, to audience acclaim. His musical repertoire includes the MuchMusic video chart toppers: “6 Up”, “That’s the Way” and “About 2 Change”. Bishop has become a nationally recognized recording artist, electrifying crowds across the country on a number of national tours. His appeal spread across North America, with Bishop jumping on tours with the likes of 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes. He has collaborated with the best in the industry, including Drake, Snoop Dogg, Sticky Fingaz and MC Lyte.
It wasn’t until a cold call from director Joe Carnahan (Smoking Aces, The Grey) to cast Bishop in the feature film “Narc” (where he worked with Ray Liotta and Jason Patric), that he realized his passion for an entirely new aspect of the performing arts. Although Bishop didn’t have any experience acting, while filming his role he discovered many parallels between music and film. The more time he had on-set, the more he knew that this was his new calling to explore. Since then, he has booked roles on the UPN series “Platinum”, “Against the Wall”, “Cracked”, “Chupacabra vs. the Alamo”, and even stretched himself personally and professionally by appearing in the lead role of a stage production of “A Clockwork Orange”. Bishop also took on the role of host of the AUX TV series “Ultimate MC”, which found him traveling the country to find the best battle rapper in the nation. His natural talent, combined with his experience in entertainment, is helping Bishop to quickly prove his transition from hip-hop artist to actor is successful, as he earns respect from the acting world with each new role.
Bishop’s passion for music and film converged with the production of his critically acclaimed video “Hard Times”, directed by Sharpshooter. The video was more of a short cinematic production than a typical music video, and the film resonated with audiences internationally.
His music projects are no stranger to critical acclaim. Just last year, he was honoured with American radio station WBLK’s unsigned hype music awards Best Hip Hop Song of the Year, People’s Fan Choice Award, Producer of the Year, and Best Hip Hop Artist of the Year awards. Bishop also received an Urban World Film Festival award for Music Video of the Year in New York in 2004.
When not on-set, Bishop can be found in the studio writing songs, not only for himself, but other artists as well. When he isn’t writing music, he is writing scripts. Whenever his pen is down though, he dedicates his time to his close-knit family, in particular his seven- year-old son.
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Twitter: @bishopbrigante
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