Maestro Fresh Wes (b. Wesley Williams 1968) is a Canadian hip-hop musician from Toronto. Previously known as Maestro Fresh Wes before shortening his name to Maestro in the late 1990's, he was in 1989 the first Canadian rapper to have a Top 40 hit, "Let Your Backbone Slide". As of 2006, in fact, "Let Your Backbone Slide" remained the best-selling Canadian hip hop single until 2008. His debut album Symphony In Effect was released in 1989. After his 1991 album, The Black Tie Affair, Maestro's career faltered as he attempted to break into the United States market. However, he returned to the Canadian charts in 1998, with the hit singles "Stick to Your Vision" and "416/905 (TO Party Anthem)". In 2005, Maestro covered Lawrence Gowan's song "A Criminal Mind"; Gowan appears in the video and his vocals are sampled on the track. Williams has also been an actor, most notably in the Omni Television series Metropia. As an actor, he is normally credited as either Wesley Williams, Wes Williams, or Wesley Paris. In addition, he has had small roles in Honey (2003) and Four Brothers (2005). He was set to appear as a security guard in 50 Cent's film Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005), but his scenes were deleted from the film. He has a supporting role in Instant Star as Darius Mills. Maestro was born to Guyanese parents and was raised in Scarborough, Ontario. He has previously been romantically linked to Canadian television journalist Marci Ien.