Calgary based rapper Transit  will be showing his transition from Christian rapper and honouring the memory of DJ Booda who passed away last year, by performing at the return of Snapbacks and Throwbacks at the Slice, Aug. 29.
“It will be at the Slice, which is the first place  played in Lethbridge. So it will be fun to be back there,” Transit said.

“ It will also be a bit of a tribute  to James Nishima, DJ Booda. He was the first person to put me on bigger shows. He was one of the key people in Western Canadian Hip Hop and he was a really good friend,” he said adding Booda and Mase One first started the Snapback and Throwbacks event in Lethbridge.

“It’s pretty close to the anniversary of his passing,” he said. He will be performing with his DJ Jonny Williams.

The other performers include fellow Calgary rappers Auston Wentz aka Jam, The Blue and Southern Alberta rappers Aerosubtle, Kyle Pyke and Pat Clifton and Mike Chek. Millz Skills will be on the decks, spinning the beats.

 Transit just released an album in January and is getting ready to release another one in early January
The new album will be a departure from his “clean” image, but he said the new music reflects his more adult experiences and have been influenced by the experiences of himself and his friends.

He doesn’t have any songs directly about Booda's passing.

“ I’ve done freestyle raps about Booda in Lethbridge,” he said adding he is changing along with his music.

“ I used to be pretty much typecast as a Christian rapper,” he said adding Christian rappers are expected to talk only about their faith.
“I still have my faith, but I want to talk about what I want to talk about. I’m a grown man. I’m 25 years old and I want to make the kind of music that I want to make,” he said.

“ I’m not perfect, I want to talk about the problem I face and my friends face,” he said.
“ Red light  Therapist is about strippers. and how some people just go and  they don’t take off their clothes, they just listen,” he said adding he became interested in the idea while studying for his psychology degree.
 He noted his new approach is  risky.

“ I’ll probably never play a show in a church again. It is risky. Church shows pay quadruple what a club show pays and that is something that always bothered me. That is money that could have gone to somebody who needed it more rather than to an entertainer,” he observed
He has toured Europe and the United States. 

Transit has toured with a lot of bigger name rappers like Tech9, Madchild and his idols Swollen Members.

“Booda got me in with people like Tech9 and MadChild. Touring with Swollen Members was huge for me because I grew up in Victoria and those were the Vancouver guys. So  to have guys like that listening and tell em  they like d what I was doing was an honour,” he said.

“ I like doing full tours with people. I like sitting  in a van v with them and picking their brains about the industry. With bigger tours, you don’t ever really get to socialize,” he said.
Tickets cost $12 at the door. The show begins at 9 p.m. sharp.