Whether signed or unsigned, award-winning Canadian hip-hop artist Classified never abandoned his ethos of working hard. The Nova Scotian MC, whose real name is Luke Boyd, steadily built his career from the independent circuit on up to national prominence, developing into a highly respected MC and desired producer. By his ninth studio album, Trial & Error (2003), this average guy from the rap-deficient Maritimes (including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia) informally became the representative for hip-hop on Canada's Atlantic coast.Boyd fell in love with hip-hop music listening to tapes of KRS-One, the Beastie Boys, and Naughty by Nature that he randomly picked up while he used to hitchhike around his hometown of Enfield, Nova Scotia.