Gift Of Music at the Hard Rock cafe

Like any successful holiday gift exchange, ticketholders left Toronto’s Hard Rock Café with a lot more than a gift card or stocking stuffer at the third annual Gift Of Music.
The event, hosted by Kid Kut and Jully Black, was dedicated to raising money for MusiCounts, a charity-based organization that focuses on supporting music initiatives and programs in schools. Those who supported the fundraiser enjoyed music from the solid roster of Canadian talent such as Kim Davis, August, Trinity Chris and JD Era. The renowned venue was packed wall to wall with music lovers who came out to celebrate the season and give to a great cause.
Michael Hurley, manager of MusiCounts, thanked everyone in attendance for making a difference in children’s lives across Canada and shared that the foundation will donate over $600,000 to Canadian schools in order to build their music programs.

“At MusiCounts our mission is to make sure that every child in Canada, regardless of circumstances, has access to music programs in school,” he said, while addressing the crowd. “What this is doing is providing an opportunity to learn skills to help them improve with other subjects in school, it’s an opportunity to discover a class that actually makes them want to go to school every day. It’s an opportunity for them to discover their talent and an opportunity for them to build their self-confidence. These are skills that transfer far beyond a classroom, whether they want a career onstage or anywhere else. That is why music is so important and that’s why it needs to stay in our schools.”
Many desirable gifts, including House of Marley headphones and boom boxes were raffled off between sets. The music company has partnered with MusiCounts, donating funds from every set of headphones sold in Canada, which has been tallied at $70,000 to date.

Savannah Re, who opened the show with her signature soulful voice in a festive red dress, was blessed enough to go to arts school, but the young up-and-comer said that the support is not there for the majority of kids who have dreams of becoming an artist like herself.
“Even in our schools, music is looked at as something that is less than exemplary. MusiCounts is something that we need,” she said.
Besides raffle prizes, everyone in attendance was given the gift of music through some of the talent in Toronto and were able to give back just that through their support of the MusiCounts initiative. It was a night of great music, in support of the future of music in Canada.
Photos By: Kiah Walsh

Arcane Preps for KOTD Title Match

Renowned battle rapper Arcane will face Dizaster in a title match for the name of King Of The Dot (KOTD) champion at the upcoming Blackout 3 on January 26. This comes after winning the KOTD Grand Prix championship for the second time, this year against Chedda Cheese. The innovative artist is ready for the main event, but his first concern is to propel the culture forward.
WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS AS A BATTLE RAPPER SO FAR? I’ve had a lot of achievements in King Of The Dot. I’ve won the Grand Prix tournament, which is probably my most esteemed achievement, just because of the difficulty level of the competition… The competition level now in today’s battle world is so much more vicious and you really have to be on point and show different aspects of your game so to be able to win that tournament twice in a row and be undefeated in that format is probably one of my greatest accomplishments in battle rap right now. Also, winning the King Of The Dot chain in 2010 is up there too and I’m hoping to win the chain back.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR MOST RECENT GRAND PRIX WIN? The Grand Prix final, to be honest, was one of my best performances so far. I think I’ve come a long way. The new era of battle rap is a lot different than how I got started and the era that I came from, the freestyle of battle rap was all about one or two punch lines and more simple raps but something that would get the crowd responding. Nowadays, it’s a lot more technical and people are doing a lot more multi-syllable word play, schemes and all new elements to the game that you have to master. In this Grand Prix, what I tried to do was prove that I can do anybody else’s style better than them and that all culminated in the last battle.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF BATTLING? The crowd reaction and the atmosphere. In this day and age, the battles are all written, who you will be battling months before you’re battling the person so it’s a lot different from the freestyle era when you never knew who you were going to battle next. Now, with so much put into it, so much time invested going into the battle, the payoff is the day when you perform your stuff. You are basically writing specific material that you can only spit one time. It’s not like writing a song, where you’re going to go in the studio and record it and tour around and perform that same song at a bunch of different locations. You are writing the best material that you can possibly write and you only get one chance to deliver that material and you have to do it properly. You can’t have any slip-ups. So the real payoff at the end of the day is to be in front of the crowd and everything culminating in that one moment. When those punch lines start to hit and you see the crowd reaction, it is the payoff.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF BATTLING? I’m very versatile. I can do everything it takes to make a good battle rap. To be a good battle rapper, you have to be able to do comedy, you have to be funny, you have to have charisma, you have to have personality, but you also have to have serious wordplay and bars that make the crowd go “oooh, that’s just mean.” You have to have the ability to get personal… I think that is a quality that’s lost in some of the bigger names in battle rap. A lot of stuff is too generic. You have to be able to switch into different cadences with your flow, you have to use multi-syllabics to your advantage, but not overused. I think a lot of rappers use that as a crutch. I think that what battle rappers need to have is a blend of all those qualities and that’s what I would consider my style. I guess I would call my style the full package.

The Big Ticket

There are numerous monthly events and venues that showcase talented hip-hop artists in Toronto, but what the community lacks is professionalism in its field. This is according to industry heavyweight Chris Jackson, who plans to bring about change with his monthly showcase, The Big Ticket. Jackson, the brainchild of The Big Ticket, has been in the music industry for over 25 years and has seen the evolution of Toronto hip-hop for decades. He has hopes for what is to come in the future. “We need a foundation, a base, a blueprint and I was around back in the days in the ’80s and early ’90s and helped establish that foundation in hip-hop,” he explains. “We got lost at one point, we are still a little lost, but hip-hop in Canada is starting to find its identity again and that’s what Big Ticket was designed as, to help support artists, give them a place to perform on a regular basis and give them a venue and event that is on a professional level.”

On the second Friday of every month, hip-hop heads and tastemakers can be found at the city’s The Velvet Underground enjoying a night of music from local emcees, DJs and beat makers who are interested in the future of the hip-hop community in Canada. The event, which was birthed in July has already made a large impact on the city’s music scene, and has welcomed artists such as Perfeck Strangers, Raz Fresco and Masia One to its stage. Toronto emcee, The 12th Letter, who recently dropped his album Hear No Evil, Music To My Ears, celebrated its launch by performing at last month’s edition of The Big Ticket. He says the event is a dynamic asset to the Toronto hip-hop community.

“In the early ’90s, you had the Lyricist Lounge and places like that which spawned a lot of great talent and that people could come and see it. I feel that this is that same kind of hub where artists can perform and the fans can come out and see and get a taste of what the music is like and support it. We haven’t really had things like that in the past that have been consistent and this is a monthly event so things like this are vital to the city to grow the culture and prove that hip-hop has staying power in the city,” he said after his performance. At the next Big Ticket event on January 11, Jackson hopes to bring the best of Big Ticket and feature his favourite acts that have helped the showcase evolve.

Photos By: Fitzroy Facey