F-You Book Review

“Sometimes our deepest pains become our most beautiful lessons,” writes Tara Muldoon, founder of F-You: The Forgiveness Project, in her new book F-You: The Forgiveness Project – Memoirs on Violence and Compassion.

Muldoon created a dialogue through the F-You Project defining forgiveness and evolving trauma into healing through a discussion group, which became a movement, which in turn led to the F-You book. The volume features 21 pieces of writing from talented young people, including poetry and personal reflections on forgiveness, as these young minds share insight on their journey to recovery through their unique stories and powerful perspectives.

With project co-signs from Manifesto’s former Executive Director, Che Kothari, super-producer Boi-1da and The Globe and Mail, the book is sure to create a conversation about the importance of forgiveness, word-by-word and page-by-page.

Canadian hip-hop icon, Kardinal Offishall sets the tone of the captivating book with a well-written, realistic foreword as a voice for the rap community, taking responsibility for the problems the music industry causes and urging readers to set goals in order to begin to make a real change so that these communities shy away from violence.

Muldoon then takes over the pen, introducing the book by sharing her own struggle to recover from her personal life traumas through forgiveness and credits the movement for being able to let go in a beautifully honest testimony, before turning the remainder of the book over to the young writers.

Canadian hip-hop artist, L The 12th Letter draws a powerful parallel between bullets and words in his intriguing piece titled, “Words”, Jessica Kaya pulls at the heartstrings while writing a genuine piece on suicide, loneliness and mental illness, while Sahar T captures a shooting victim, speaking beyond the grave to his shooter in the passionately-written, “Barrel of the Gun”.

The book even leaves pages at the end for personal reflection notes so that readers can use the book as a tool during their own process of forgiveness.

F-You: The Forgiveness Project – Memoirs on Violence and Compassion is an innovative and passionate project. While highlighting the talented writing skills of each author involved, it is also sure to open eyes and minds on reasons for the current state of violence and the importance of letting go.

The Ism

“Exercise your ism, and don’t depend on no one else,” Chicago rapper GLC spits at the end of Kendrick Lamar’s Section 80 track, “Poe Man’s Dream” and that was the exact mentality and concept of IFreeCan founder Mazin Osman when putting together his showcase titled The Ism, which took place August 17 at Toronto’s Revival lounge.

“I just wanted to pay homage to people that stick to their vision, talk about it and also be about it at the same time. Share their vision, share their ism, share their philosophy,” he says.

Toronto’s Revival bar was transformed to a sit down, casual environment as some of Canada’s most talented spoken word artists and poets graced the stage to share their visions with the full house.

Poetic forces such as Lishai, Ahmed Knowmadic and Hyf the Gypsy Sun shared their creative pieces with the candle-lit room, before hip-hop artists Scott Ramirez and 3-Card serenaded the crowd with their up-beat songs. The room was truly blessed by the Waleed Kush African Jazz Ensemble, who had the audience members moving in their seats as they serenaded them with their tremendous talent halfway through the show. The unique melodies from the band’s saxophones, guitars, drums and soulful voices created a culturally rich atmosphere.

Rua El-Kasheef, the talented poet that kicked off the line up of skilled wordsmiths and emotion conveyers says she enjoyed the theme of the evening and stated that poetry is her ism.

“It’s not about the catch-phrases or lyric mazes, it’s about the story, that’s what I love – the story,” she says about her own positive approach to poetry, pointing out the beautiful things in life than many don’t see.

London, England’s poet and writer Warsan Shire, who wrote the book titled, Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth, took to the stage as the main featured artist while the excited energy of the room sifted from seat to seat in anticipation for Shire’s intense messages. Poem after poem, she read without stopping for witty banter or commentary. Her poems spoke for themselves as the listeners sat captivated, hanging on to each profound word.

It was a night of many isms brought together to create a unified night of inspiring words.

Mos Def

Solange in Toronto

Music is good for a mourning soul. This became quite apparent last Saturday as Live Nation presented Solange at the Danforth Music Hall in a night mixed with bittersweet songs.

Captivating singer Kelela opened the show in the dark, her smooth, sultry voice echoing through the venue. The lights rose, displaying the petite talent as she began to belt over her electronic beats. Kelela gave a great performance through talent alone, as the singer was able to hold the audience’s attention for nearly an hour, with just her voice and a microphone, a task too rare.

After Kelela left the stage, the house DJ began to spin. While fans waited for Ms. Knowles to hit the stage, they pulled out their phones to check their social media accounts. Word quickly spread through the venue that George Zimmerman had just been announced as ‘Not Guilty’ in the Trayvon Martin case.

The energy in the building changed entirely. Complete strangers were discussing their shock and disgust with the verdict between the sets. In the packed venue, it was as if time stopped and those in the room were forced to face the reality of the case. Then the band hit the stage and the crowd celebrated, as the lovely Solange took to the stage, in a floral patterned skirt suit and knee-length single braids and began to sing. She began her performance with an emotional rendition of, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” in Trayvon’s honour and transitioned into a cover of Mos Def’s “Umi Says”, which she dedicated to justice. The crowd screamed.

Even though the energy in the place was low, Solange did her best to ease the worries of those in attendance with her music, performing her hits such as “T.O.N.Y”, “Losing You” and “I Decided”. Her vocals were on point and her dance moves were engaging, but the spark that most often makes her such a captivating artist and performer was missing during her show. “My heart is broken. I’m doing my best up here,” she explained, apparently upset from the verdict. But her fans were forgiving, as they sang along with her for the rest of the performance.

Timberland's 40th Anniversary

In an ever-changing fashion market, one brand has stood the test of time, crossing over from industry wear, to street wear to pop culture, and still making an impact on fashion 40 years later. And it all started with a boot. In celebration of its 40-year anniversary, Timberland premiered its upcoming Fall 2013 line to invited guests at Community 54, Toronto’s nostalgic boutique.

Storeowner Joel Reilly introduced Timberland’s marketing director Josh McKellar who ran the intimate early morning presentation.

“We teamed up today with Timberland on the event, because they are a core boot that has been around forever and the heartbeat of this whole scene, the street wear scene and crossover,” he said.

With the men’s and ladies’ fall lines set up around the store, McKellar compared and explained the highlights of each of the products and the thought and manufacturing process behind each of the designs.

“Specifically with this fall line, [what we are doing differently] is introducing new leather stories, stories that are authentic to in ’73 what we were using, our Tobacco 40 leathers and our Sundance 40 leathers. That’s kind of a celebration of what we’ve done for the anniversary,” he says.

New shapes, styles, leathers, fur, colourful laces and heels were added to the trademarked Timberland boot that we all recognize, but the key elements that make Timberland such a successful brand are still embedded in each boot the company manufactures, says McKellar.

“It is all about being true to who we are as a brand, which is authenticity and craftsmanship throughout all our lines,” he states.

“We look at what our best-selling product is and it is always the classic six-inch boot and it’s just staying true to that model. We still manufacture that boot in our own facilities, there is about 80 steps to making that boot and most are still done by hand, every piece of leather is cut and put through that sewing machine by hand, so staying true to the manufacturing process of that boot.”

In September, the lifestyle brand also announced that it would be bringing a limited line of products from the Timberland vault in celebration of the 40th year anniversary. The boot itself has left a legacy and with new, modern designs paying homage to the original boot, it is safe to say Timberland is nowhere near the end of the road.

Franklin Leonard at TIFF

Franklin Leonard, film executive and founder of The Black List, a website dedicated to promoting the top unproduced screenplays of the year, took part in a Q&A presented at the TIFF Bell Lightbox as a guest of STUDIO, TIFF’s first year-round industry programme, to share insight on the ladder of success he climbed in the film industry at a young age and advice to screenwriters interested in doing the same.

“The Blacklist was really birthed from self-interest,” Leonard began, after finishing his story on how he ‘accidentally’ entered the film world, joking that it was basically due to the fact that he was a nerd, with time on his hands and didn’t quite know where he belonged.

Since the website launched in 2004, Leonard was working for Leonardo DiCaprio’s team at the time and remained anonymous, but now after much success, the young entrepreneur is proud of what he has accomplished and the legacy it has started to leave on the film industry.

“Over 250 films out of 600 scripts that have been on the list have been produced. Those movies have made over 16 billion dollars in worldwide box offices and been nominated for 140 Academy Awards, winning around 30 of them and three of the last five best pictures and seven of the last screenwriters,” he shared.

“I think it’s really important to state as plainly as possible, I don’t deserve credit for the success of the films. The success for those films goes to, rightfully, the people who made them – the writers, the directors and everyone down to props and assistants. What I’m really excited about and what I’m really proud of is the fact that The Black List plays a role in catalyzing those movies into existence by shining a very bright spotlight on people and writers in particular that have done really good work.”

After a brief tutorial on the quick and easy uploading process for screenwriters to use the site, Leonard took an hour to answer any questions anyone had from what The Black List looks for in an award-winning script to why there is such a large difference in ratio between men and women scriptwriters, which he took the opportunity to discuss in as much detail as he could.

The informative Q&A session was part of a TIFF industry series, which was a treat for many screenwriters, who so often lack resources to learn about their craft.

Graffiti Documentary,

Graffiti. Art or vandalism? The subject has been debated for years, but one film director put the argument aside to document the craft in all its good, bad and ugly instants. Making A Name, a documentary surrounding the Montreal graffiti scene, screened for the first time in Toronto at Big Picture Cinemas last month. Director Patrick O’Connor began filming the documentary in 2004 and created an interesting piece telling the story of Montreal’s graff sub-culture. With interviews from prominent Montreal graffiti writers such as Castro, Aper, Maysr, Killa EF, Scan and Produkt, footage of late night rooftop tags, running from cops and trains, as well as the death of Montreal Graffiti legend Jays, who was struck by a train while tagging, O’Connor was able to capture the passion and emotion that goes with the craft. Whether you believe that it is art or vandalism, the footage he was able to capture is enough to garner respect for those who risk their lives to be seen, while remaining unseen. Urbanology Magazine had the opportunity to speak with O’Connor following the screening to understand more about his vision on the project.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF FILMING THE DOCUMENTARY? Every year there is a certain beef between graffiti writers and sometimes I could be in the middle of it, unintentionally. For the most part, it’s okay, they understand that I’m doing a documentary, but there are a few hard heads that gave me a hard time documenting their enemies. ‘Why’d you interview this [person]?’ or ‘don’t put him in,’ that was, I wouldn’t say stressful, but the biggest challenge. As far as going to the locations like subway tunnels or rooftops, some people thought was hard, but that’s just stuff that I did as a graffiti writer. The politics was the worst.

YOU INTERVIEWED MANY OF THE MAIN STAPLES IN THE MONTREAL GRAFFITI SCENE. BY DOING SO DID YOU FIND YOURSELF AS A STAPLE AND YOUR DOCUMENTARY A PART OF THAT SCENE SINCE BEGINNING FILMING IN 2004? It’s kind of not even out yet. It screened once in my city so it’s not yet out there on the Internet yet, but I think it will for sure.

WHAT MAKES MONTREAL SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CANADIAN CITIES IN TERMS OF GRAFF WRITING? I guess the amount. It fluctuates – different years, different neighbourhoods at certain times, but it’s been known in the graffiti world as the capital of graffiti in Canada. A lot of cities look up to Montreal, like Toronto and smaller cities.

WHY WAS MAKING THIS DOCUMENTARY SO IMPORTANT TO YOU? I just wanted to show the public the minds of graffiti writers, their selective intention, what they value but I didn’t want to try and justify it or anything, but just to show what goes on, in depth.

Toronto Music Campaign 2.0

Last year at NXNE 2012, an interactive panel titled, “Making The Most Of Your Music City” took place at the Hyatt Regency, where a study was presented comparing Toronto’s music industry to that of the “Live Music Capital Of The World”, Houston, Texas in the hopes of modeling the industry after the Southern city.

A dream became a reality this year as moderator Graham Henderson, president of Music Canada announced at the NXNE panel that the local music community, Toronto tourism industry and Toronto City Hall will unite as they launch a new effort titled, 44° 79°, dedicated to branding Toronto as the new music capital of the world. The campaign plans to create a ‘musical task force’ in City Hall, create new opportunities for artists, promoters, studies and venues and create a united musical community.

Panelists and supporters who came to the Toronto’s Music City Campaign 2.0 Thursday were able to take part in the launch that will, in the next few years, add to the growth of Toronto’s music scene and re-define the city as the place to be for music.

Ludacris at NXNE

After Big Boi cancelled the North By North East (NXNE) headlining gig due to an injury, it was announced that Ludacris would take his place as the final performer at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square on hip-hop day to close out the festival. For hip-hop heads, it would be hard to beat last year’s rap finale with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, which brought an estimated 25,000 people to the square, but this year, Luda most definitely did.

Hitting the stage at approximately 9:15 p.m., Luda came out sporting an orange tee, ready to rock with the city, which had spilled over into the side streets and reached all the way back to the Eaton Centre for the free show. One by one, Luda delivered hit after hit, reminding the crowd (in case fans forgot) of the endless discography of records he has under his belt. Luda spit “Area Codes”, “Southern Hospitality”, “What’s Your Fantasy”, “Blueberry Yum Yum”, “Act A Fool” and his Grammy winning verse of “Yeah”.

After dabbling in some new work, from his IDGAF project, it was obvious that the crowd was not feeling the same vibe, so the southern spitter made sure to bring it back to his old bangers with tracks like the forever relevant, “Move Bitch”. Toronto went in. For any doubters that thought Luda lost it, he proved them undoubtedly wrong, as he closed off this year’s NXNE festival with a vengeance.

Boiler Room Toronto

A secret location, Toronto hip-hop, beers and blunts, along with a live international video stream was a recipe for greatness last Friday night as the legendary Boiler Room TV streamed its first ever Toronto episode.

Toronto hip-hop heads packed themselves into a boiling hot room with no AC (which didn’t just mean Air Conditioning, but rather, air circulation in general), on the third floor of a top-secret location on Queen Street, to show the world through live stream our flavour and immense talent that we serve up. T Dot heavy spitters such as Rich Kidd, Smash Brovaz, Raz Fresco, The 6th Letter, Tre Mission, Tona, Adam Bomb and more took part in a lyrical cypher, with red cups and backwoods on deck. Each rapper showcased their skill and delivered incredible verses that proved why they belonged on such a heavy-stacked bill.

The room vibed and mingled at the secret guest list only showcase, while DJs Mensa and Skratch Bastid spun some classic records before Rich Kidd turned the vibe up with his always entertaining live performance of his In My Opinion single, “Syke”. Raz Fresco showed the live stream what he could do with a performance of “And It Don’t Stop” as the night went on.

The private party was a testament to the raw talent and laidback, tightly-knit, purely hip-hop vibe the urban community embodies in the city and it was about time the rest of the world was able to witness it.

J Cole "Born Sinner" Listening Session

On the evening of Wednesday, June, 5, J. Cole announced via his twitter account that he would be streaming his upcoming album Born Sinner at numerous locations around the world the following evening, by providing fans with latitudes and longitudes in order to send them on a musical treasure hunt to discover his follow up album to Cole World. Along with many other music capitals, Toronto was on the list (as the only Canadian location) with the coordinates of “43.65036 – 79.38884”, which once Google mapped, read the designation of New Era on Queen Street West.

Last Thursday, Cole fans huddled from the rain inside of Toronto’s New Era for the exclusive listening session, with their headphones in and LISTNR app downloaded on their smartphones in anticipation for the one-time stream at 8 p.m. While mingling, an instrumental began to play through the app, which looped until the album started, almost an hour late.

The album started and the venue went silent. Fans stood, sat, leaned and laid, while taking in the anticipated album, in a marketing first, and listened the whole way through to awaited tracks like “Forbidden Fruit”, featuring Kendrick Lamar, and “Let Nas Down”, where Cole speaks on the subject of letting down his idol.

After the album finished, those in attendance rose to their feet with a round of applause for the music that they, among fans in other cities across North America, were the first to hear.

Prominent Toronto blogger, Jordan Hayles, otherwise known as STiXX, could not sit still during the album. “I was mightily impressed,” he said, after the streaming ended. “It was 10 times better than his first one, because he took the time off, he went back to what the roots of hip-hop was. It’s about honesty; it’s about telling a story, it’s about telling your story.”

Award-winning DJ Lissa Monét was also pleased with the growth of J. Cole on the album.

“Sometimes there is a lot of pressure for second albums and I think J. Cole really dug deep and was vulnerable on this album and was still able to do what he wanted to do, which is produce and rap,” she said. “I’ve heard people say that J. Cole is not a strong producer, but he really showed himself up on this album.”

Just a few hours later, the entire album leaked on the internet for the rest of the world to hear, but on Thursday, June 6, many J. Cole fans experienced a listening session never attempted before and took part in hip-hop history.

Frankie Payne "Clarity" Release Party

There was a moment of clarity for Toronto hip-hop supporters recently at Wrongbar. Hip-hop heads came through to celebrate the releases of two Freedom Writers and Toronto hip-hop heavyweights, Clarity, the new solo album from Frankie Payne, and Airplane Over One Way Streets, Theology3’s first full-length album. It was a night filled with live performances and good vibes.

The city’s older heads such as Maestro Fresh Wes and the remaining members of the Freedom Writers, Adam Bomb, Progress and Tona, came through to support their peers. DJ NaNa welcomed and hyped fans with his comical and entertaining version of the host role, screaming and rapping along with each track the DJ spun before the show got underway.

Theo3, who performed tracks such as “Snakes” and “Time”, as well as joints off his Airplane Over One Way Streets album, treated the crowd to his trademarked off the top freestyling skill before passing the mic off to his Freedom Writers brother Frankie Payne whom he had nothing but positive words to speak of.

“He is definitely, to me, a street general in Toronto, who is bringing back storytelling and has a very epic album so I wanted people to get the full scope of both of our projects at one time,” Theo says. “… He’s a certified dude so it’s good to have someone that’s actually talking the real and someone who is expanding and progressing. He wants people to learn from his shit and grow.”

Frankie proved his capabilities as a veteran in the Toronto hip-hop scene with his immense stage presence that poured energy into the crowd as he introduced fans and supporters to his new work. Rocking a “Free People Association” hat and T, he spit tracks such as “Foolish Pride”, “Follow Your Heart” and “Clarity” for his fans that evidently hold the emcee in great respect.

“I just wanted people to understand that I have been through a lot,” Payne says about his new project. “I’ve experienced a lot and I have a story to tell. I feel like that was what I was able to do with this album. I was able to tell my story and reflect my perspective on things because really, the album is like a collective of stories that describe things that were revealed to me in a moment of clarity.”

And for those at Wrongbar, they were able to experience his story firsthand.

Shi Babe Show

There was nothing but soul, neo-soul that is, at Toronto’s Revival last Friday night as The Known Unknown and The Main Ingredient welcomed New York City’s duo Lion Babe and TO’s Shi Wisdom to the stage for the Shi Babe show.

The venue filled to capacity quickly with young music lovers and supporters, while DJ Lissa Monét spun the tracks. Revolutionary local emcee KJ started the night performing with a drummer and his Macbook and warmed up the crowd with his unique sound of hip-hop before New York City’s underground duo Lion Babe flew in to perform and left jaws on the floor with a sultry stage show. With a fishnet top and white moon boots, lead singer Jillian Hervey became a lioness onstage as she captivated the crowd with her unique voice and even more unique dance moves while performing the group’s single “Treat Me Like Fire”.

“This is Lion Babe’s first thing anywhere besides New York City so that’s really cool,” says Hervey. “Also, just to be on this lineup is nice, because we don’t generally get to play with people that have like-minded music.”

Even though the city showed love to the previous acts, it was obvious the crowd had come to see the city’s vocal queen, Shi Wisdom.

“It is an honour. It’s always an honour. I love performing in Toronto,” explains Shi, backstage before her set. “There’s always the misconception of the Screwface stuff, but I’ve never experienced that, I’ve never seen that from the people, so I’m always excited.”

Bloggers, DJs, photographers and friends squished together in the crowded venue to welcome Ms. Shi Wisdom to the stage. Her mother stood beaming front and centre.

“We as Canadians and we as Torontonians are blessed to have a voice like this woman,” announced Tika Simone into the microphone as she welcomed Shi Wisdom on the stage for her headlining performance.

Dressed in all black, sporting a head-piece and blue lips, Shi performed her singles “Penny”, “Easier”, “Bad Mood” and “Take The L” with her trademarked effortless technical range and intensely passionate vocals, but she also blessed her fans and supporters with new music such as a duet, “Lego Love”, with Wolf J McFarlane and a powerful ballad titled “Open”.

The crowd showed nothing but love, mesmerized and awed at the immense talent it was experiencing live from its hometown voice. Shi even returned to the stage and performed a passionate encore delivery of “Bedsheets” before once more thanking the crowd, singing her way off stage.

Junia-T Q&A

Junia-T, one half of the renowned Toronto hip-hop duo Smash Brovaz, has taken on a new serious role as a producer lately and is making noise with his distinct smooth sound. The multi-talented Sauga spitter is set to headline this month’s Big Ticket, Toronto’s premier hip-hop monthly event, to show the city what he’s been working on.

YOU’VE BEEN BUSY. TELL US WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO LATELY? The Smash Brovaz album release was a success. It’s still growing across the world. We’re just gearing up for new music for the rest of the year. Aside from that, me as a producer, that is my focus for this year. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of music come out this year that is produced by me. So far, Veronica Domingues’ album is coming out, which is produced all by me, it’s actually an EP. It’s called Just Chill… I’ve really been connecting with dudes on the come up and dudes that are really doing it, which is exciting, to be a part of the beginning phases of that.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE ROLE AS THE PRODUCER? I’ve always been producing. I’ve been producing since the first Smash Brovaz album came out like eight years ago. I spent so much time sharpening the performance skills, the writing skills, I was always progressively producing, but I never made myself available as a producer and I feel like I missed out on opportunities to work with some people in the past, because I didn’t really step forward with it… I went to LA and got to really play my music out there and that’s where my eyes really opened. Just seeing their reaction to my style, because I have a very distinct sound in terms of what I prefer to create. As much as there are modern trends in music, it may mildly influence where I’m at creatively, but it doesn’t take away from what my production style is. I was really happy to see people react in a positive way to what I naturally create.

SPEAKING OF YOUR DISTINCT STYLE, WHO IS JUNIA-T AS AN ARTIST AND AS A PRODUCER? As an artist, I’m the emcee’s emcee. I was born in the cypher lyrically… But when it comes to me as a producer, I’m more musically rounded. I think my musical influences show more in my production. I’m the son of a drummer so I was raised around music. I was raised off of some of the best musicians in the city… As a producer, I really like that jazz, soul, neo soul and even that ’80s funk, that was heavily a part of my music diet and reggae too. When I produce, I try and keep it organic, but also that boom bap ’90s rap that I fell in love with hip-hop through. So it’s a mash up of all those sounds.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOUR POSITION IS, OR WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE, IN THE CANADIAN MUSIC SCENE? I’d definitely like to be a recognized producer, not just for being a hip-hop producer, but being a producer of great music… I’m just hoping to work with a lot more creative people that just want to make beautiful music without any rules. I’m also doing this beat tape right now, it’s a crazy creative experience because I’m actually working with just musicians so I’m bringing in trumpet players, tuba players, guitarists, keyboardists, violinists and I’m really starting to feel like a real producer. I’m not a beat maker anymore; I’m actually a producer now. It’s just a different workflow… It’s been a more satisfying as a creative experience.

The Life Is So Exciting Tour

Pusha T and Fabolous weren’t lying when they titled their joint tour the “Life Is So Exciting” tour. The two made their way through North America and hit up Mississauga (of all places) recently. After a vigorous pat down by security, fans made their way into the packed Famous Nightclub to take in some of their favourite street bangers live.

The last time Fab was in Toronto he had a bottle thrown in his face and Pusha T hasn’t always been on the best terms with Mr. 416, Drizzy. Not to mention, Toronto usually forgets to come correct to club shows so there was tension in the air as to what would go down. Even Pusha asked earlier that day, “What’s going on in Toronto? It’s so violent you gotta stick me outside the city?”

When show time came, Pusha T came out in a technicolor cap and a neck full of diamonds, opening the show with his verse of “I Don’t Like”, which set the tone of his entire set — straight fire! With his raw flow and aggressive expressions, Pusha commanded the crowd who screamed along to every bar from “Cook It Down” off of Fear Of God, his verses from “New God Flow”, “Runaway” and “Mercy”, as well as a hype performance of “Exodus 23:1”. He just rapped. No filler, no wasted time, the G.O.O.D. emcee connected to his fans and they reciprocated all his energy back to him when he ended his hype set with “Millions”, “Blocka” and “Numbers On The Boards”. He delivered pure street bangers that left the crowd drenched and voiceless by the time he exited the stage.

Fab came out repping Toronto, rocking a Blue Jays snap back and jean vest, red leather pants, a star spangled tank top and a pair of shades, spitting tracks from The Soul Tape 2. Although Loso professed his love for the city, it was quiet for the Brooklyn rapper. Too quiet, even awkward quiet at times, during the moments between songs where he stopped to grab a drink, light a blunt or wipe his sweat soaked hi-top fade.

It may have been his lack of performance technique, or his decision to begin his set with his newer material, but either way, it was obvious whom the crowd came to see, as the energy was raised again when Pusha T returned to the stage to perform “Life Is So Exciting” with his tour mate.

Fab continued returning to old fan favourites such as “So Into You”, his verse on Lil Mo’s “Superwoman” and “Breathe”, but it was obvious that the energy of the night had already peaked. Fans left content, however, because Pusha’s set alone was worth the ticket price. Blocka!

Melanie Fiona in Toronto

Two-time Grammy winner, Melanie Fiona, returned to her hometown and put on a legendary show for her city at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre for her first-ever headlining concert in Canada earlier this month.

The show began on time (surprisingly) with a short list of talented opening acts such as Toronto’s own LeiLa Dey, who stepped on stage, exciting fans with a sweet voice and relatable tracks for female fans who were vibing along with the up and comer.

New York duo CharlieRED, comprised of vocalist Rocki Evans and producer Cobaine Ivory, hit the Phoenix stage next, introducing their hip-hop/blues sound to Toronto with an electric performance. The two, accompanied by their band, paid homage to their influences such as James Brown and Notorious B.I.G. and made a good first impression on a critical city.

The dark venue filled up and it was evident fans were ready for Melanie.

As her band began to play, hometown legend Melanie Fiona skipped onstage at 11 p.m. on the dot, in the dot, sporting a pair of cut-off jean shorts that had a Canadian flag stuffed in the back pocket and sky-high Louboutins that the songstress was amazingly able to dance in effortlessly.

From start to finish, Melanie took us through an ‘emotional journey’ of her MF life and performed to her fullest capabilities, belting out her hits such as “Give It To Me Right”, “It Kills Me”, “Monday Morning” and “Change The Record” with immense class, so rare for R&B artists today.

In Toronto fashion, the crowd erupted in cheers with Melanie’s use of patois and danced along to her energetic performance of the Caribbean-influenced “Ay Yo”. Astonishingly, Melanie announced to the crowd that earlier she had lost her voice, but the energy from the city brought it back through sparked adrenaline, which was hard to believe as her pitches and melodies were completely on point throughout the powerful set.

To conclude the show, Melanie belted out her soulful ballad “4 AM”, which the predominantly female crowd sang along with. She left the stage as the lights went low before chants and claps brought her back out for an encore of her Drake cover of “Started From The Bottom” and fan requests of favourites like “Gone and Never Coming Back”.

Melanie delivered arguably the best R&B performance of the year to her hometown city, reciprocating the love she received from her fans and giving them a superstar-quality show. Toronto should be proud.

Kid Ink in Toronto

Toronto’s Guvernment nightclub was a zoo when Cali’s Kid Ink hit up the city, presented by Frontline Entertainment.

Underage fans were herded into the small second floor that overlooked the main venue, far from the stage and the madness below them. The DJs were on point all night. DJ Scratches, Charlie B and Wikked each took turns to spin a set as the audience danced, screamed and… drank from the time the doors opened.

Crazy Chris and Canada’s funny man, Trixx, hosted the event and turned the crowd up immediately by handing out shots of tequila, vodka and Hennessey and tons of free merchandise. Trixx played host and bartender as he poured drink after drink to the hype crowd. It did the trick. The crowd became severely intoxicated early on in the night while waiting for Kid Ink to hit the stage. Drunken fans squished as close as they could to the stage waiting for their tatted idol to perform, and as a result, tensions began to build.

Opener Jerzee “The Icon” and his entire entourage, video crew and group of background singers hit the stage to open up the show and did so with an undeniably entertaining set. As he performed his single “I Can’t Breathe”, his hype man handed out lit sparklers to the crowd, which was visually appealing, but a real danger to those in the crowd surrounded by intoxicated individuals whipping sticks of fire around. Obviously, there was no thought of those who used hairspray to get ready before they came, but thankfully no one was lit on fire and the show continued.

Kid Ink finally hit the stage performing tracks such as “I Just Want It All”, “Time Of Your Life” and “Hell & Back” to fans, as they danced to his live show. A pair of drunken break dancers in wife-beaters attempted to dance all through the venue, but continuously fell all over the alcohol-soaked floor.

At one point in the night, a fight broke out in the middle of the venue. The crowd separated and created a large gap in the middle of the floor where two fans scrapped before security jumped in and dragged them out. Throughout the venue, people were taking “turnt up” to a whole new plateau. It wasn’t actually the tatted rapper’s short set that made the night memorable. His performance was rather basic and even his opener outshined him. It was, however, a night not soon to be forgotten… unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons.

Sean Price in Toronto

Duck Down Music and Good Friday Entertainment presented American emcee Sean Price in concert at the legendary El Mocambo as part of his Mic Tyson tour to promote P’s latest album.

As a surprising twist, the show started promptly at 10 p.m. to a large crowd, a rare trait of most T. Dot hip-hop shows, which could only mean one thing — a bill stacked with openers.

From dub-step duo Only Childs to lyrical emcees Suspect to hip-hop trio Notes To Self, each opener brought a unique vibe to a wide variety of hip-hop heads who came out to turn the show into a jam. Booths were set up throughout the venue where artists and their entourages popped bottles.

Toronto’s east side emcee Shampain brought out a heavy pack of supporters who turned up, drinks in hand, chanting along with the braided rapper’s hood bangers. The vibe was raw and street, an environment rarely attained at hip-hop shows nowadays, due to the usual pack of security, but it was refreshing. It was not a show for hipsters or skaters.

Hip-hop crew THC, known as The Head Crack crew, took over the stage and at the stroke of midnight, threw blunts into the crowd in celebration of the stoner holiday 4/20 and performed its weed anthem “Everyday 4/20”. The whole venue couldn’t help but engage with the energy from the full stage of emcees, intoxicated by the smoke and the heavy bass and snares from their heavy beats.

Toronto rap OG Fortunato, who was previously a part of the hip-hop group Angerville performed solo. Out of protest, a tall man stood at the front of the stage with his back turned the emcee and his arms crossed. The emcee continued to spit nonetheless, stating, “I’ve been in this game a long time, that shit don’t phase me.”

By this time, the crowd was tired and annoyed at the waiting game, anxious for Sean Price to hit the stage. The night’s DJ attempted to entertain the crowd, spinning bangers from Pusha T and French Montana, but three hours of openers had left a bad taste with many.

P didn’t even enter the venue until 1:20 a.m. and like a diva, walked around the club first before even making his way to the stage. He began his show just before 1:30 a.m. performing tracks off his latest album Mic Tyson. Looking quite New York rocking a Yankees fitted, P performed tracks such as “Bar-Barian” and “Straight Music” to the diehard fans that made it till the end, but to many, three and a half hours and seven openers was something that not even a 4/20 spliff could make them forget.