Choclair facts for kids

Kareem Blake (born March 27, 1975), known by his stage name Choclair, is a Canadian rapper. He became one of the most successful rappers in Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Choclair has been nominated for six Juno Awards, which are like Canada's Grammy Awards, and he has won four of them.

Choclair's Music Journey

Early Life and Starting Out

Kareem Blake was born in Scarborough, a part of Toronto, Ontario. His family has Jamaican roots. When he was 11 years old, he decided he wanted to be a rapper, just like his older brother. He started performing as "Choclair" while attending St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School.

In 1995, Choclair released his very first song, "Twenty One Years." He put it out on his own record label, called Knee Deep Records. Two years later, in 1997, he released a shorter music collection called an EP titled What It Takes. This EP even had a music video featuring singer Jully Black. What It Takes won the "Best Rap Recording" award at the 1997 Juno Awards. By 1998, Choclair had helped release music for many other Toronto artists through his label.

Big Hits and Awards

Choclair worked with a group called the Rascalz on a popular hip hop song called "Northern Touch." This song became a huge hit and is still loved by Canadian hip hop fans. It won two Juno Awards and a MuchMusic Video Award.

In 1998, Choclair joined Virgin Music Canada. The next year, he signed with Priority Records and released his first full album, Ice Cold. This album was produced by another artist named Saukrates. Ice Cold sold over 50,000 copies in Canada, earning a "gold" certification. It also featured the hit song "Let's Ride," which was produced by Kardinal Offishall. "Let's Ride" became very popular on Canadian radio, reaching number 31 on the charts.

Ice Cold won the Juno Award for "Best Rap Recording" in 2000. Later that year, "Let's Ride" also won awards from SOCAN and MuchMusic. Choclair received another Urban Music award from SOCAN in 2001. He also performed at a big concert called Music Without Borders in Toronto that same year.

New Music and Independent Work

On March 5, 2002, Choclair released his next album, Memoirs of Blake Savage. He released a song called "Skunk" from this album, which featured the rapper Kurupt.

After working with Virgin Music, Choclair decided to start his own independent record label called Greenhouse Music. He partnered with Sextant Records/EMI Music Canada. On June 17, 2003, he released the album Flagrant. This album also won a Juno Award for "Best Rap Recording" in 2004. Greenhouse Music also released My Demo, which was a collection of Choclair's earlier, less-known recordings.

In 2006, Choclair released another album called Flagship. He also appeared on a song called "Desensitize" by Karl Wolf.

Recent Performances

In 2018, Choclair and the other artists who made "Northern Touch" performed the song together at the 2018 Juno Awards ceremony. Also in 2018, Choclair went on a "Canadian Classic Tour" with other famous Canadian rappers, Classified and Maestro Fresh-Wes.

Choclair's Music Albums

Studio Albums

• Ice Cold (1999)
• Memoirs of Blake Savage (2002)
• Flagrant (2003)
• My Demo (2003)
• Flagship (2006)

Extended Plays (EPs)

• What It Takes (1997)

Singles (Individual Songs)