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.

Rich Kidd x Samo @ Stalley

Stalley Show

Despite the shooting at the Eaton Centre earlier in the day, a young crowd united at the graffiti filled El Mocambo for positive vibes and some real hip-hop this past Saturday night.
The 1s and 2s for the evening were brought by DJ James Redi, who played Maybach Music bangers in anticipation for MMG’s Stalley, who headlined the show, to hit the stage during a concert presented by SmashMouth Entertainment and The Academy.

Eight emcees of The Cypher, such as MC FÜBB, Ill-literate, J Maroon and NewBreedMC opened up the show, each spitting a written verse and taking part in a freestyle cipher, spitting rhymes involving adlib words from small pieces of paper provided by the crew such as Rob Ford, mountain and microscope, each bringing their own unique style and flow to the mix. The freestyles were refreshing, as the concept has become almost extinct due to artists who write and recycle the same bars even during freestyles. MC FÜBB ended their set on a serious note touching on the tragedy that happened earlier in the afternoon, stating, “hip-hop is about peace, love, unity and respect and anyone who tells you anything different is after something else and they’re full of shit,” he rhymed.

Sha Prince and Flex, who make up the group The Antiheroes performed next with NaNa DJing their set and blessed the crowd by inviting D-Sisive to the stage to spit his verse on “Listen Up”. The duo was followed by Vibonics, the six-piece band who ignited the crowd with their vibe truly unique to the music industry, combining hip-hop, rock, soul and funk to create an energy and sound that made it impossible for the audience to ignore.

Up next was the charmer of the Toronto hip-hop scene, rapper/producer Rich Kidd who never fails to hype the crowd and make a fan out of even the biggest screw-face hater. He spit tracks such as “Take It Slow”, “So Much More” and “Back In The Day”, with his distinctive flow and contagious energy.

By the time Stalley reached the stage, all negative vibes from the day were out of everyone’s minds, if only for the time being. The MMG artist humbly made his way to the stage to perform tracks off his Lincoln Way Nights and Savage Journey To The American Dream projects such as “Hammers and Vogues”, “Cold”, “Hercules”, “Everything New” and his verse on Curren$y’s “Address”. His fans rapped along with him, and he continuously thanked everyone for the love; making sure the audience didn’t applaud him, but rather themselves for their support.

Even after leaving the stage, the audience’s applause brought Stalley back for an encore, as he performed “Savage Journey” and “Petrin Hill Peonies”. It was the perfect way to lift the spirit of city after the shock of the day, a solace that only good music and good people can provide.