This is North Preston

A dead body was found inside the trunk of a car

in North Preston Cemetery yesterday,

making it the second homicide in two weeks

for the small community of 4,000 people.

Funding for Operation CeaseFire has been approved by the government

and will go into action next month,

looking to reduce the high rate of gun violence in the town of North Preston.

Up next on Power 92.3, we've got Just Chase's new single "Ego"

that's been quickly climbing up the Billboard charts since its release.

Multiple men from North Preston have been arrested for human trafficking

and forcible confinement in a nationwide sting yesterday.

Officers say that the gang, North Preston's Finest,

is responsible for a pimp ring that spans the entire country.

Right now, we're on our way up to Preston.

North Preston, man. My hometown.

Today I drop one of my biggest projects,

and, you know, also, it's my mom's birthday, so,

I'm going to see her as well.

Before I go see my mom, I'm just gonna pop in on my dad real quick.

He has no clue that I'm coming. Surprise his ass.

Aw, man. Feels good to be back home, man.

Welcome to Shatner Land itself.

Whoo!

- Hey! - Hey! What's up?

- Good to see you. - How are you?

Surprised!

What, you didn't call or nothing to say you were coming?

- What... - Good to see you. How's everything?

- How's everything? - Look at you. Good.

I remember when I taught you how to drive them trucks.

- Yeah. - And then when I took you out on your own,

I went with you the first few...

For a week, but then, when I let you go on your own...

The first day I let you go by yourself...

I flipped over in the dump truck.

- Rolled the dump truck over. - Oh, my god. I remember that.

- I'll never forget it. - Lucky I didn't hurt myself.

I always had him working for me right from a little boy.

- Teaching him how to... - From the age of eight, nine, right up. Me and my brothers...

Teaching him how to run the Bobcat there and stuff like that.

I had a hard time trying to keep him focused on the job.

When I think he's supposed to be at work, working with the dump truck,

and he's out hanging out with his gangster buddies.

Your mom went in your bedroom one day

and she called me in your bedroom when you wasn't home,

- and we found a sawed-off shotgun - Yeah, I remember that.

in your dresser. Hiding underneath your clothes in your dresser.

And I was, like, blown away, I'm saying, and I took it.

I took it, and I... I...

- That's crazy. - ...got rid of it.

- It wasn't there when I went... - That gun...

And then I start hearing all these, uh, rumors about

guys looking for Justin, and shooting at him,

and him shooting back at guys,

and a couple of his really good friends, good buddies...

- Yup. - ...got killed in that.

That's when I decided, you know,

I gotta get him out of this city.

And I took him to the airport one day and put him on a plane

- and sent him to Toronto with some relatives of mine, and... - Yup.

He said, "I don't wanna see you come back down here.

I wanna see you focused, and stay out of here."

He said, "Focus on your music."

I've been driving since I was two.

One thing about me, boy.

You got a copy on me, Shatner?

10-4, Johnson.

This truck right here,

basically saved my life.

Kept me out the streets. Man, it was so bad,

I was full-time in the streets driving this truck.

It got so bad one day, at one point,

that I used to keep my gun right here.

Right there. Right underneath that seat right there.

Covered up with a newspaper.

My dad didn't know that, though.

If he would have known that I would've been dead.

But, yeah, it was crazy, bro.

Shit was hectic, bro.

Getting a little rusty there, chief. Are you having trouble backing up there,

lock your digs in.

I know, that's 'cause...

I ain't a driver. I'm a singer.

Okay, I gotta go see Mom, so I'll check you later.

- Okay. - I'll be back.

You sure you don't wanna work the rest of the day in the truck?

No, no, no.

[choir singing "The Storm is Passing Over"]

My mom had a big influence on me.

Always, always believed in me from day one.

When others didn't, she was always, had my back.

My name actually used to be Chason.

And, um...

Now it's Just Chase, but she, uh...

She always told me, like, "If you ever go and you make it in this career, in this life,

please run with the name Chason

or have it involved in there some way."

So, it was, like, that meant a lot to me, too, so...

Yeah.

To be honest, I'm really excited to pay her a visit.

It's been a while since I've been here.

Over six months and, you know, it's gonna be great just to visit her.

[choir continues singing "The Storm is Passing Over"]

Happy birthday, Mother.

I miss you so much.

I love you, and I know you're smiling down right now.

I feel your energy.

Love you.

Right now, we're at the graveyard up in North Preston.

I came to visit my mom

My mom passed away in 2011.

Every time I come to Nova Scotia,

I just have to come and see her and just get that energy back and just feel recouped again.

So, I was really close with my mom, and, uh,

releasing this project on her birthday just means the world to me.

She meant a lot to me. I'm her only son.

And, yeah, we were just like best friends,

so this is amazing to just be releasing this on her day,

and happy birthday to my mom.

If we understand where we came from,

we'll understand where we're at.

Soon as we understand where we're at,

we're gonna understand where we need to go.

Where I grew up in North Preston is a small town

with about 4,000 people.

It's the biggest black community in Canada,

and there's only one way in and one way out.

It's very unique because there's no other community that I know of,

the inhabitants have been there for, you know, 250-plus years

and they're all related,

and, uh, they're all black.

You gotta understand this community been in existence

since the beginning of Canada.

We are now at the Black Cultural Center

where you could come learn all the history you want,

see the proof in the indigenous history

of African Nova Scotians that migrated here from America,

the Caribbean, the Loyalists.

Everybody that has made this culture the place that it is.

Remembering our original true story.

The diversity that exists amongst all the different communities

is because of all the different migrations that took place that brought us here,

but we all brought different characteristics, traits, and ancestry.

When they think about indigenous Scotian history,

it's always related to the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad is one of the most significant migrations

because America enslaved us for over 400 years.

Canada abolished slavery 30 years before America,

so it was to the point that they knew once they crossed that border

they were gonna get freedom.

The Underground Railroad provided that with Harriet Tubman.

She led them from the Southern states of America all the way to the north,

following the North Star.

If you got to north and you crossed over at the border,

you came to Canada

and then you migrated to the black settlement of Nova Scotia.

The Underground Railroad's last stop was here.

"Underground Railroad." People think it's train tracks.

It's just barefoot, no train.

Walking through swamps,

through bushes,

perimeters of lakes, guided by the moonlight.

Hoping to get free because you don't wanna get whipped no more.

Nova Scotia are all the ones that got away.

Preston are all the ones that got away.

There's an irony worthy of Shakespeare,

in that, North Preston,

it was a safe haven for Black Loyalists escaping slavery.

Now, the North Preston's Finest has transformed this

into a hub for its gang's activities of sex trafficking,

which is the latest form of slavery.

The spirit of North Preston,

is one of victory.

In spite of stereotypes, in spite of racism,

in spite of discrimination,

in spite of history of being neglected and rejected,

this community has thrived.

North Preston is one of the best communities in the world to me.

I love my community, I love my people.

You know, North Preston gets a real bad shake.

They wanna say that we're the worst place in the whole wide world.

Lot of poverty.

Hard times.

This is one of these little towns that

you gotta make it in it.

Yeah, exactly.

You can't really describe this place other than

when you hear you gotta make it in this town.

Lot of things go on that shouldn't go on.

It was different when these guys were growing up. Dudes were just bad.

- Now we got the fuckin' shooters. - Yup.

We got the people that wanna kill you for just saying hi.

North Preston came a long way.

It's a very spiritual place.

It's a church community.

And there's also that culture, that dark culture.

There's fires, like, there was pimps, there was hookers,

there was crack dealers, there was fiends, there was everything here.

This is the first time we're getting to share our story.

I've been on the streets for a while now.