Interview ‘The Amazing Race Canada’ Maestro Fresh Wes & Duane Gibson

Wesley Williams — best known as hip-hop pioneer Maestro fresh wes— and his teammate Dwayne “D.O.” Gibson brought music-industry brotherhood and unshakeable positivity to Amazing Race Canada Season 12. After a slow start put them in a hole they could never quite climb out of, the duo went out on their own terms, capped off by D.O. building an irrigation system in the wild during their final mission. In this exit interview, Wesley and Dwayne reflect on the express pass that became a curse and a blessing, the bond they built with the rest of the cast, and the advice they’d give future racers.

TEM (The Extra Mile): I’m here with Wesley and Dwayne of Season 12 of Amazing Race Canada. Nice to meet you both. I was definitely rooting for you guys, especially after last week’s episode. Honestly, I think it was a really beautiful way to end this episode — like giving up your spot. How does it feel watching it back?

Maestro: Well, Michelle, after you told me what you told me, I just got to say, sorry for disappointing you.  People were telling us they were really rooting for us, but it is what it is. We had a great time on the show, my partner and I. Looking back, I’m glad we did what we did, but it still sucks that we’re not continuing. Seeing how the network put it together, how amazing it looks with the editing man, it’d be good to be on a couple more episodes. But like you said, the way we went out was a beautiful way, and I tip my hat off to my teammate, who will begin the Order of Canada. He goes by the name of the Honorable Duane Gibson a.k.a. D.O. He did not know he could build an irrigation system. So, the honorable one, take it from here.

Duane: I think it was such a great thing to work with my mentor, Maestro Fresh Wes, the godfather of Canadian hip-hop. Anytime I was stuck, he would say one thing to me, which I think is very important for Canadians to hear: stop underestimating yourself. As soon as he said that, I locked in, and we delivered on our final mission.

TEM: I think it’s such a bonus that we got to see you guys in an extra episode — that was really fun to watch. How did you guys get into Amazing Race? Whose idea was it?

Maestro: They loved our audition, and that was amazing. One thing Dwayne and I try to do is always reinvent ourselves, where hip-hop is the catalyst or launching pad for other things we do. I’ve been doing music since the early ’80s, and to transcend into film and TV — shows like Mr. D, movies like Four Brothers … But to actually be a competitor on a reality show, not a host, it’s constant reinvention. I think that’s really important, especially in our field. It was an honor to be on Amazing Race Canada Season 12.

TEM: Would you say one of you is more competitive than the other?

Maestro: We don’t like losing trust, we didn’t come in here thinking we’re going to lose. What happened with us was we had slow starts. You have a slow start, how do you catch back up? You start overthinking. We got the express pass, so we didn’t have to do one challenge, but guess what, it comes back to bite you, because the next episode you have to do that challenge on top of the next one. We were exhausted putting up all those tubes, and then I had to do the sit ski after that. The express pass was a curse and a blessing.

Duane: Honestly, I was the one really worried about it, because we were in last place. The one thing about Maestro is he calmed my nerves ,  he told me to watch the next thing I had to do, just focus on what’s in front of me. When we showed up at the final challenge, we weren’t in last place anymore. That’s a credit to Maestro and sticking to your vision.

Maestro: I didn’t think my man could build an irrigation system he complains about IKEA furniture. To see him navigate through the wild and put together an irrigation system was a beautiful thing. And before that, we did that memorization challenge with the Indigenous words. As an MC, memorization is a skill that’s very ideal to have, so that helped us.  It’s very important for us to have. And so that helped us. It was just the slow starts. That really threw us off with the whole thing. Then you start overthinking, like, oh my goodness, what can we do now, type thing. But I’m proud of what we did. I’m proud of how we went out. I’m really happy with the way the network put it together to make us look like, you know, we look good, you know? I can’t lie, though when they said “Maestro, Duane, you’re eliminated,” I might have been smiling, but inside it hurt. Like, ah, this is it, you know? Like, this is it. We’re going home now, man. Like, can’t even hang out with other teammates now, it’s over. So that kind of, that right there was, you know, to be honest, that kind of hurt me, even though I smiling.  Like, you never see anybody smile like that after you hear they’ve been eliminated.

Duane: But just before we reached the mat, Maestro said this was one of the greatest days of my life. It is a great day when you’re able to work with your teammate and complete every task, every mission and there’s no better teammate to have than the godfather of Canadian hip-hop, Wesley “Maestro Fresh Wes” Williams.

Maestro:  Bless, bless, bless. Well, I’m not the one getting the Order of Canada, you are unless you nominate me for it.

Duane: I am nominating you for it. It’s already in the process.

Maestro:  Okay, thank you, thanks for the love. It was a great opportunity, Michelle. The other cast members we don’t even call them competitors, we’re all in a group chat together. The whole time, not knowing each other, we were making up people’s names, thinking someone looked like a Massimo. I was close. That sister looked like she could be a Nyla — it’s Nova. I was pretty good.

Duane: A phenomenal cast. From Dana and Cordelia, to Cheyenne and Shayla, to Felipe and Clarita, to Eamon and Beck,  Sasha and Sebastian, Tina and Liz. Just a phenomenal cast.

Maestro : The Wonder Twins were dope too, Tina and Liz.

TEM: Is there anything you’d like to tell future contestants hoping to try out?

Duane:  The best thing I could advise is expect the unexpected, and always be ready. As soon as they give you a challenge, if you don’t know what to do, just go do it. I learned that from my family, from Saskatchewan and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia any challenge you get, just go do it and put a smile on your face, even when it’s really challenging. It’s such a great honor to work with somebody who has that positive attitude, because sometimes you don’t know how you’re going to do a challenge, and Maestro would just smile and say, let’s make this work.

Maestro:   My whole thing is: if I was to suggest anything to somebody who wants to go on the show, read the details. They kept telling us that read every single thing. Like when we were told to find the cars, my brain went to rental cars, but that’s not what it said. It just said find the cars, not rental. One of the producers told me the hardest thing for me to do was take off my producer hat  I’m conditioned to be a producer. Take that off, be the competitor, be the contestant. That’s something I had to learn along the way. Read the details, breathe, and remember it is a race.

TEM:  My final question before we wrap up — we’re all about going the extra mile. So what does the extra mile mean to you guys?

Maestro : I think that’s so symbolic the extra mile is what we had to do. When my man built an irrigation system in the woods, he went the extra mile. To me, the extra mile means: once again, don’t underestimate your true greatness. We’re here to do great things. We didn’t know we could do what we did. The only difference would’ve been the slower starts  if you look at everything else we did, we were looking good. Continue to push yourself, because extraordinary people will always have extraordinary challenges, so you can go that extra mile and be an extraordinary person.

Duane: What I’d say is always stick to your vision. Each challenge, you have to stick to that vision of completing it. Always stay driven.