John River at Manifesto

 

Manifesto Producer Showcase

In this game, it’s the one with the mic that has the spotlight. But it is the ones behind the beats of the emcees that deserve just as much shine. And by the looks of it, Manifesto and the city of Toronto agree. It was all about the producer as the 7th annual Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture, along with Foundry, hosted The Beat: Producer Showcase at Adelaide Music Hall.
The sounds from acclaimed producers such as Oddisee, Elaquent, Sunclef, Rich Kidd and Lancecape billowed up and around the two-story venue, where silhouettes of bobbing heads could be seen throughout the darkly lit building. In three rounds, which consisted of introductory beats, Canadian rap remixes and finally, R&B collaborations, the producers showed off their skills, gaining feedback from the body language and applause from the audience.
Sango was the obvious crowd-favourite. The Michigan producer, who has only performed his beats at the Coachella festival, says that the experience differs completely from his process of creating the music. “When I’m on stage, it feels more like a lecture… at home, it’s more of a development. When I’m on stage presenting my craft, it’s polished.” He had the crowd dancing during all three rounds, especially during the night’s Canadian remix round when he remixed Drake’s new single, “Hold On, We’re Going Home”.
DC Diamond District producer, Oddisee said he was excited about taking part in the Manifesto festival and pleased at the newfound spotlight that producers are now given through more interest in producer showcase events.
“I think it’s cool that they’re starting to have more producer showcases at festivals and a part of hip-hop events in general. The producer has always been kind of the backbone of the hip-hop world in the first place, so for us to be put in the foreground is kind of a good thing,” he says.” The multi-talented artist also surprised the crowd by coming out and spitting as well, later on in the night, alongside Canadian emcee Shad K.
With powerful beats and a packed venue, The Beat was a success, and by putting a face to the music, the producers got the nods they deserved.

Q&A with Manifesto Executive Director, Dwayne Dixon

Welcoming the new Executive Director, Dwayne Dixon and many new events to the already established festival, it is quite fitting that this year’s Manifesto carried the theme “Evolution”. Not only the festival, but also the urban community has seen a growth and a change this year, having caught the world’s attention. For four days, Toronto belonged to the underground, the urban artists and the hip-hop acts that are usually overlooked by mainstream festivals. As Dixon, prepared for the weekend’s festivities, he spoke about what made this year’s festival unique.
HOW WAS THE TRANSITION INTO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROLE BEEN WHILE PREPARING FOR THIS YEAR’S MANIFESTO FESTIVAL? It’s been a really intense transition. Manifesto is one of the biggest festivals that the city produces. When I joined, it was kind of like jumping onto a treadmill that’s already moving. I started during festival season and a lot of moving parts were already going. It has been pretty intense, but great, because I know a lot of the community partners already, I’ve been in this scene for a number of years and I’ve been able to add where needed.
WHAT DID FESTIVALGOERS GET FROM THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL THAT THEY HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED IN PREVIOUS YEARS? Our theme this year was about evolution. This year they experienced a new executive director and in addition to that, I’m really excited about the [Evolution Summit having been at] George Brown Waterfront campus. It’s a brand new campus. It has only been open for a year; it is along the waterfront and we activated that space for the first time for the arts. That is very important.
WHAT WAS THE PROCESS OF PUTTING TOGETHER THIS YEAR’S EVENTS LIKE FOR YOU? A lot of it had started prior to getting here and prior to me taking on this role. It has been a good process. There was a lot of moving parts and a lot of deadlines. One thing affects another. There’s a cause and effect to how we do things here at Manifesto… from print to securing the acts and working with their management and schedules, us getting photo shoots done and holding auditions here for our dance event, or getting artwork from different artists, it’s an intense process, but because we have such a dedicated and well-versed team, it could have been worse. It’s a well-oiled machine thus far.
WHAT WERE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO AT THE FESTIVAL? I’d have to say the Evolution Summit. At that event, you can clearly see the impact we have on future artists. It’s a place where we bring industry professionals, whether local or international in a space where your average artist or emerging artist wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to access some of this knowledge right at their fingertips. And it’s a great way to gage the impact of Manifesto outside of our most popular event at Dundas Square.
WHAT ROLE WOULD YOU SAY MANIFESTO PLAYS ON CANADA’S URBAN AND HIP-HOP COMMUNITY? To me, we’re at the forefront of the industry. I think that we’re in a very good position to help build an infrastructure here for the urban arts and how you actually learn through the urban arts. We cover a lot of different things and some of that is education and some of that is getting people to a point in their career where they are living off of their art. That is why I think Manifesto is very important to Toronto and Canada as a whole.

ManifesTO Festival 2011

Toronto's hip hop community is alive! It has a soul and a voice of its own. For the last five years, the ManifesTO festival has been a representation of this growing culture.

This year, the 11 day festival was the biggest yet. On Sunday, September 25th, Dundas Square was packed with hiphop heads vibing to the music of Toronto's finest artists such as Andreena Mill, JD Era, Freedom Writers, and Beatbox Canada. Hiphop legends such as Michie Mee, Phonte, 9th Wonder, Kid Capri, and Rakim graced the stage to perform their classic tracks as the crowd felt and responded to their intensity. JD Era, who was recently signed to Raekwon's record label, surprised everyone when he invited the Wutang legend on stage to perform a verse. The crowd was in shock; their energy electric.

The entire day was filled with great music and positive vibes. Hip hop heads of every age, sex, race and background united for their love of great music. It felt as though the city was one being. It was a great day in Toronto hip hop.