The first cut on Breakupdown (Chocolate Industries), the third album by Ghislain Poirier, immediately signals that this isn't some backpacker-by-numbers hip-hop release. A breathless voice in French-Canadian dialect implores you to do something, and although it's unclear exactly what that something may be (the words "Canada" and "music" are audible, but the rest is strung together in a murky patois of sticky, sliding vowels), the voice's urgency and the stark boom-bap of the accompanying track are unmistakable calls to action.

"It's half in an African dialect, half in French," explains the Montreal-based Poirier (pronounced "Jee-slahn pwar-yay") of Breakupdown's opening gambit. "The guy's saying something I don't understand, but basically it means, 'Hey, listen to my friend Ghislain. He's from Canada. He's making instrumental music, but don't sit. You have to stand up. You have to dance.' Be involved; that's the point."

While MAGNET has profiled its share of Canadian indie-rock acts over the past 12 months (New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Constantines, Broken Social Scene, Stars), what hasn't been as widely discussed is the country's expanding hip-hop communi¬ty. Poirier, Buck 65 and Sixtoo represent a scene that's finally garnering attention after years of slow-motion underground development.

Poirier's roots lie mainly in IDM and techno. His 2001 debut, Il N'y A Pas De Sud, is a minimalist's banquet of bleeps and squiggles composed on an aging home PC and in synch with German electronic artists such as Thomas Brinkmann and Pole. 2003's Beats As Politics takes a few steps further down hip-hop's known pathways but is largely instrumental in nature (think DJ Shadow vs. DJ Premier).

Breakupdown features a partnership with New York rapper Beans ("Cold As Hell"), a few doses of tersely delivered ragamuffin dancehall ("Mic Diplomat," "Nowhere To Run") and several cuts that skirt the edges of Public Enemy's noise-as¬compositional element territory ("Refuse To Lose," "Simplicite Volontaire," "Embargo Riddim"). At 20 tracks in length, it's unmarred by filler and blessedly skit-free. But Poirier sees little meaningful distinction between genre assignments of any kind.

"In Montreal, it's not like we have a hip-hop scene," he explains. "You'll have venues where you hear both hip-hop and punk together. It's just the music scene." Having produced a track for label mate Lady Sovereign's critically acclaimed debut, Vertically Challenged, Poirier pursues multiple paths of musical expression. Aside from his collaborations, Poirier also scratches his funk itch on a regular basis. "I have my own night in Montreal at club Zoo Bizarre," he says with a laugh. "It's called Bounce Le Gros. The translation means 'big bounce: but indirectly-at least, in my imagination-it means 'bounce your big ass.