Anyone can make a music blog nowadays. It takes no effort to sign into WordPress, post a video and rant about any topic under the sun, but it takes a nonstop grind and a serious passion to turn a blog into a household name and use that name to make a positive impact for the artists that blog covers. Toronto’s hip-hop blog ThisIsWalder.com attempted just that by supporting homegrown talent at its Showcasing Toronto event hosted at Revival last Sunday night.
Many of the city’s top spitters such as JD Era, Tommy Spitz, Raz Fresco and Peter Jackson hit the stage with that TDot flavour as Flow 93.5 FM’s Dames Nellas turned the night into a jam, spinning party tracks between sets.
Daniel Minichini, one of the organizer’s of the night’s events, said the motive of the showcase was to add exposure to Toronto talent and showcase buzzing acts, who play an influential role in the character of our Toronto hip-hop community.
From Juno award nominated emcee JD Era to the young Bakersclub rapper/producer Raz Fresco, each act was vastly different from the next and original in their own right, but together represented the identity of hip-hop in the north.
“[Hip-hop] is such a niche market and it’s so focused on the diversity of the scene. Starting from the roots, we have so many hip-hop artists that are coming from so many different places in Ontario and I think the root comes from the nature of our city. It is very musical and it’s very artistic,” Minichini says.
Mr. OneTwoooo, Tommy Spitz took a break from his musical hiatus, and proved that he hasn’t missed a beat during his time away and performed new, unreleased music for the audience. The self-proclaimed ‘Top 5 in Canada’ emcee chose the Walder showcase to return to the stage because of his respect for the blog and its contribution to Canadian hip-hop.
“[Thisiswalder] didn’t treat me like a promoter trying to make money off an artist or money off of a show. This is Walder is hip-hop,” Spitz says.
The support wasn’t fully there in numbers at the venue, but by eliminating the American headliner and turning the focus on local talent, Toronto is one step closer to recognizing the underappreciated skills we harbour. ThisIsWalder.com took the culture off the screen and onto the stage, where it belongs and no matter the turnout, demonstrated that the blog really does support Canadian hip-hop.
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