Snak the Ripper

Origins

Snak the Ripper was born William Scott Fyvie in 1982 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, and grew up in the Vancouver suburbs. He played in a small band in high school before dropping out, and came up first as a graffiti writer, living rough for stretches of his youth. In 1998 he faced around 150 mischief charges tied to graffiti, which were later dropped for lack of evidence. He took the name Snak in 2001 and spent 2003 to 2006 drifting between Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, writing songs as a way out of homelessness and addiction.

Stompdown Killaz

Snak was a founding member of the Stompdown Killaz (SDK) graffiti and rap collective in the Surrey-Langley area, linked to the Ephin clothing brand. His raspy delivery and grimy street image became the face of the crew, to the point that fans assumed he inspired the balaclava-and-bats logo, which actually predated his rise. The 2008 video for "What's Street," which cut between him rapping and painting, drew about 10,000 views in its first week, a big number for independent Canadian rap at the time. His debut album The Ripper arrived in 2007, followed by Sex Machine (2009) and White Dynamite (2012), partly through Camobear Records.

Stealth Bomb and Later Career

In 2010 Snak joined 100 MAD, the network built by Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz of Onyx, which linked him to acts in the U.S. and Europe. Unhappy with his label situation, he launched his own imprint, Stealth Bomb Records, in 2013. From the Dirt (2016) debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes hip hop chart and reached No. 40 on the Canadian Albums Chart; Off the Rails (2018) hit No. 47 and was supported by a European tour. He also brought up Merkules, who started out as his hype man. In 2015 he feuded publicly with Madchild of Swollen Members, answering a social media post with three diss tracks. Later releases include Let It Rip (2022) and Kill the Messenger (2025).

Legacy

Snak built a national following almost entirely outside the industry, using YouTube, touring and crew merch in place of radio play. He earned Western Canadian Music Award nominations for Hip Hop Recording of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and his DIY model shaped a wave of B.C. rappers who followed.