Jeru The Damaja in Toronto

Revival was surprisingly packed for a rainy Monday night in June as hip-hop heads braved the downpour for a show featuring local talent, lyrical emcees and of course, hip-hop legend Jeru The Damaja. DJ Xplisit, Toronto’s beat-boxing DJ spun all old school records as the venue began to fill up with concert goers who grabbed drinks and mingled over the beats provided in the dimly lit venue.
First to perform was JUNO nominated producer and engineer Fresh Kils and Toronto MC Relic who delivered an entertaining and energetic set, which had all audience members involved with heads bobbing and gun fingers lifted to the technical beats and smooth flow of the two artists. Fresh Kils brought Brooklyn emcee iLLspoKinN to the stage to spit a freestyle as the crowd was in shock of the lyrical content of the rapper who looked more like a football player than an emcee.
MC FÜBB was next to the stage to spit his set of inspirational and positive tracks rocking his trademark fedora and bringing emcees from The Cypher to the stage to perform alongside him such as Crossword MC and New Breed MC.
MC FÜBB and The Cypher gang were followed by Calgary rapper Dizzy, whose name, flow and stage presence resembled that of Drizzy Drake. He hit the stage rhyming over beats such as “Stay Schemin’” and “The Motto”. The crowd, who had been welcoming and energetic all night, took the time to grab another round of drinks, obviously unimpressed by the similarities of the two. Fans of boom-bap hip-hop are no easy crowd to please.

The energy was saved by Angerville, two lyricists with clout in the city, who blessed the venue with a reunion. Fortunato and Conscious Thought’s demanding stage presence, banging beats and confident flow hyped the crowd before the legend made his appearance on the stage.
The crowd erupted and the camera flashes were blinding as Brooklyn’s own, Jeru The Damaja reached the stage with a six-pack of Stella Artois. He charmed the audience with his humour, making the show half concert, half comedy show, playfully roasting audience members on texting through his set, not making enough noise and continuously teasing the audience by saying it was time to go home. His charismatic stage presence was completely authentic, communicating with his fans and looking everyone dead in the eye as he spit his classics such as “Da Bitchez”, “Come Clean” and “You Can’t Stop The Prophet.” The audience couldn’t get enough.
 As Jeru met with fans to take photos, sign autographs and sell merchandise after his set, DJ Xplisit entertained those waiting to meet the hip-hop legend by beat-boxing and spinning more classic tunes. It was apparent by the vibe that it was a night worth braving the rain for.

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.