Maestro Fresh Wes makes sandcastle competition 'a beautiful experience'
All Maestro wants to ensure is that everybody has a good time. And he joined the show during a tough one.
Maestro Fresh Wes takes his hosting gig seriously. And not just as the host of the competition show Race Against the Tide, now in its fourth season and streaming free on CBC Gem, where sand sculptors have to carve wildly inventive and challenging creations before the tide rolls in — and washes away their work. TV hosting involves cameras, lines and takes; it's ultimately a performance.
But Maestro hosts everyone on that New Brunswick beach in the larger sense.
"You've got to think about the crew who did all this work to make everybody look this good," he says. "And you've got to think about these sculptors who've travelled from all over the world to be right here in New Brunswick, expressing their artistry right here. So I want to be there for them, you feel what I'm saying?"
Maestro likens it to Universal Studios or Disneyland — when people visit, they look for excitement and spectacle. He offers up his big energy and encouragement for the teams of sculptors facing ever-increasing challenges, cracks and collapses. And if their work crumbles, they could be sent home.
All Maestro wants to ensure is that everybody has a good time. And he joined the show during a tough one.
"You have to remember the first season [I started hosting] was Season 2," he says. "It was during COVID where, you know, we had global uncertainty. We didn't know what the world was going to be like, but we are on this beach right here, doing something that we love to do."
"So I try to make it a beautiful experience for the sculptors," he continues. "I want the sculptors to enjoy this experience that they have visiting Canada, visiting New Brunswick, at this specific time, you know?"
The 'first' on the scene
The Canadian rapper, producer, actor and author has a long history of being an ambassador — most notably as a trailblazer of Canadian hip hop, bringing the country's scene to a global stage, laying the groundwork for others to follow.
His bio is a series of "firsts": first certified platinum album by a Black Canadian artist; first Canadian hip hop single to chart in the Top 40; first rap song to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame; first hip hop artist to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame; first hip hop artist to receive a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Asked which "first" makes him most proud, Maestro says the Canadian Music Hall of Fame — partially because, in 2024, Canadian hip hop artists are now "top of the global food chain," he says. And he's watched that journey over his 42 years as a performer, he points out.
But mostly because his whole family flew out to Halifax for the induction ceremony in March, and they spent the weekend together, celebrating.
"I'll tell you one thing," he says. "That was definitely the best weekend I ever had — like, music-related — of my whole life."
Returning favourites and high-concept creations
Back to the beach, Maestro admits his favourite sand-sculpting team was Season 2's Carlos and Francisco: "Those guys are hilarious, man," he says.
The high-energy team from Mexico came back for Season 3, joking, "We are here for revenge" in the first episode. Maestro later quipped to the judges, "Who let Francisco back on the beach?"
But credit goes to David and Dmitry — Season 3, Episode 9 for his favourite sculpture. The team was tasked with creating an optical illusion and their work was three sculptures in one, combining to form the face of a man at the front.
"I thought that was good," Maestro says. "So in front, you see a dude with a lot of hair, right? And then you look at it from the side like, oh shoot, it's like a monkey because it has big ears, right? And a lion's mane was his hair. So from the front, he looked like a Fabio-type dude with a lot of hair. To me, that was creative, just the thought of it."
The entire concept was threatened by a "super crack" in one of the pieces, which could have brought the whole sculpture — and concept — down. It's a dramatic twist in many episodes when a crack turns into a collapse.
For all the drama, Maestro is excited for each season of the show. He appreciates the perspective he has behind the scenes and the technical aspect of filming, all while contributing his energy and hosting hospitality.
"[I love to] just see how they put it together," Maestro says. "I know how long it took to put it together, and I know how gruelling it was in the six hours of filming. And to see the drones, to see the different angles and different POVs, you know, is interesting — definitely."
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