Bishop Brigante
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Bishop Brigante

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Bishop Brigante is synonymous with unbridled passion for the hustle. He represents the good, the bad and the ugly in what he refers to as “life music.” Parallel to his affliction for gambling, he’s proven his willingness to play the game – whether it is in the booth, on stage, in front of cameras or face to face in another battle. Bishop thrives on opportunity, which has lead the way to some of the biggest accomplishments in Canadian music. He’s a man that is unequivocally full throttled in his approach to life. From TV screens to feature films to theatre productions to cross Canada tours, Bishop’s unyielding personality has been amplified by his unrelenting drive and eclectic skill set. True to his moniker, “The Gambling Man” has played the game from every angle and is now going all in.
Coming up in Toronto’s east end, Bishop hit the ground running immediately thrusting himself into the fire by making a name for himself on the battle circuit. With an undefeated record on the Power Move radio show and countless titles earned from events around Canada, Bishop proved his prowess and became the first Canadian to appear on BET's Freestyle Friday.
“I literally muscled my way into that situation,” says Brigante through his signature smirk. “Whatever I had to do to get on that show, was gonna get done. By my natural grind and a little bit of luck, that dream came true and I’ve been hearing about it ever since.”
More TV face time was on the way as the Scarborough native consistently topped the MuchMusic video charts with videos for “6 Up,” “That’s The Way,” and “About 2 Change.” With national exposure built on his ability to captivate audiences, “About 2 Change” crossed the border winning Best Video of the Year at the Urban World Film Festival in New York. Thriving in the pace, Bishop jumped on tours with everyone from 50 Cent to Busta Rhymes further solidifying himself as a marquee player. His stage presence, cadence and natural aura won over audiences from coast to coast.
In 2002, Bishop landed a role in the blockbuster film N.A.R.C., starring Ray Liota. His character was shot dead, but his career was thriving. He would go on to star in the theatrical production of A Clockwork Orange and land a role on the TV series Platinum.
As Bishop worked towards his full potential, he fielded dozens of diss records lobbed by anyone and everyone looking for some notoriety. Bishop was arguably the first artist to feel the wrath of the “screwface capital” mentality. ? ?“Bishop was the first artist Toronto saw that was doing some really remarkable things, but was still around the way in between all that,” says Jonathon Brown, cultural commentator and journalist. “Being so accessible left people seeing this ‘regular guy’ doing what they wanted to do. So it became the status quo to hate on Bishop.”
Bishop didn’t just deal with it; Bishop continued to release material and eventually inked a deal with Bodog Music. He was on route to his debut album as he flew to California and got a chance to satisfy his affliction for west coast rap by working with the legendary Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg. This added to the long list of strong relationship with industry heavyweights like Sticky Fingaz, Cooked I, MC Lyte & Busta Rhymes.
That trip would lead to his next single, the Nate Dogg assisted “It’s Fo Twenty.” The smoker’s anthem spread like wild fire across the internet and received stellar support on radio. Before the video was set to be shot, the relationship with Bodog Music broke down due to unfulfilled promises and a lack of commitment on the label’s part. Bishop saw the play early and negotiated out of his contract.
Bishop fell back into the indie grind which he’d built his name off and released a critically acclaimed video for his gripping and cinematic “Hard Times.” Directed by Sharpshooter, the video was no video – it was a short film. And it touched the minds and hearts of fans all over the world and garnered some of the most heartfelt reactions in Bishop’s career.
“All the lights and money and shows are one thing,” says Bishop sincerely. “But when someone tells me one of my songs changed their life, I’m inspired and motivated more than any size stack could make me.”
With some time out of the limelight, he’s been rejuvenated by the talent around him citing confidence in friends and fellow artists such as Drake, and JD Era.
“I feel like I am brand new again right now,” says Brigante with life in his voice. “I’m hitting the restart button.”
And with that he’s set to release a new album to re-inject his high octane personality, engaging charisma and deft delivery into the public consciousness.