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.

Action Bronson, Killer Mike, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah at Dundas Sq For NXNE

An estimated 25,000 people reached Dundas Square for the NXNE main event, which this year featured hip-hop acts Tasha The Amazon, Tre Mission, Action Bronson, Killer Mike and Wu-Tang legends Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. The forecast, which continuously teased the audience with spits of rain, couldn’t stop the high energy and good vibes of the entire evening.

The show began at 5 p.m. as Toronto artist Tasha The Amazon held it down for the local acts in a pair of high-waisted white shorts, and a black top, her trademark long braids swinging, as she spit her bangers such as “Scallywags” and “Let It Go”. The femcee graciously brought Rich Kidd to the stage to perform his single, “Back In The Day” since his NXNE showcase was cancelled earlier that week. (Many fans believe this was the work of the Toronto Police, although the organization denies being involved in the cancellation.)

Queens’ rapper Action Bronson followed group Tre Mission, and came out in a black tee, drinking who-knows-what from a red cup and immediately sparked up a giant spliff as the audience welcomed him with their screams and followed suit, by lighting their own. While rapping, Bronson jumped into the media pit, grabbing a camera from a videographer nearby and filmed himself as he rapped to the crowd with intensity in his voice. As the 320 pound man took a breather, he told the crowd to keep lighting up. “If they take you, I’m going with you,” he said. After performing songs from his Blue Chips mixtape, Bronson spit a freestyle for the crowd, who responded to his energy with applause.

Killer Mike jumped to the stage with immense force, spitting his verses of Bonecrusher’s “Never Scared” and OutKast’s “Kryptonite (I’m On It)”. The crowd actually began a mosh pit, which is a rarity at hip-hop shows, but Mike’s energy was contagious. After hyping up the crowd, Mike, who is the son of a police officer, got political, asking everyone to raise their middle fingers to Ronald Reagan as he spoke about issues with government.

The energy was electric at 9 p.m. as thousands of people shouted “Wu-Tang” before the two legends Raekwon and Ghostface hit the stage. Raekwon sported a IceH20 tee with a giant red maple leaf on the front, while Ghostface wore a white tee, towel around his neck and a blue Denver Nuggets fitted. Dripping in sweat, The Chef and Tony Starks performed classic hits such as “Ice Cream”, “Scarfaces”, “Da Mystery of Chessboxin” and “Incarcerated” as the crowd rapped along with the icons, with their Ws in the air. Raekwon continuously spoke on how much pride he has for the city and stated that not even New York shows them this much love, changing our name from T-Dot to Wu-Dot.
Halfway through their set, they brought out hometown IceH20 prince, JD Era who performed “Hate Me Later” and “Mount Olympus” from his recent mixtape No Handouts. The crowd showed nothing but love to the hometown hero.

The energy hit a new peak when the legends announced that they were about to perform the first song they ever released, “Protect Ya Neck”, and asked for two audience members to come on stage to perform Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Method Man’s part. They could not have chosen two more energetic people, as the two men took over the stage, jumping around and spitting the renowned verses with everything they had. After that, they had another surprise for the audience, bringing out Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s son, to rap along with “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” as a tribute to the late great and it could not have been more fitting, as it was Father’s Day. Just when the crowd thought it couldn’t get any better, the stars performed “C.R.E.A.M” and “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ Ta F*ck Wit”, as a sea of fans chanted along.
Raekwon then got serious with the crowd and addressed the Eaton Centre shooting and said that us as a nation needs to come together and ask ourselves if it is really worth it. “All we got is each other,” he said, before they performed the fitting track “Triumph”, as thousands of peace signs were raised in the air by the energetic fans.

“The show was amazing, the energy was really high. They have some crazy fans, some really amazing fans and everybody enjoyed it, the crowd was going wild,” said Dynasti, immediately after the show.
“They made it perfectly clear that they didn’t want any violence during the show. They just wanted us to represent for Toronto and the hip-hop scene in Toronto and to show that we are just here to enjoy hip-hop and celebrate the culture.”
It is safe to say that Wu-Tang has as much love for Toronto as the city has for them, and the peaceful show proved to non-supporters and doubters of the culture that, even with 25,000 people crowded together listening to hip-hop, the music can unite us.

Photos By: Nic Denny

NXNE Film Reviews

As part of the North By Northeast festival, two historically significant and visually stunning films by Toronto producer/director Jerry Levitan were shown at The National Film Board. These two films, though both released previously, have timeless messages.
I Met The Walrus | Director: Josh Raskin | Executive Producer: Jerry Levitan
In 1969, when Jerry Levitan was only 14 years old, the brave young man snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, with a tape recorder and persuaded the music legend for an interview. He later turned the life-changing experience into a five minute short film, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won an Emmy. The animation by James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina is intensely creative, using black and white drawings to depict the historically important time in John Lennon’s life when he married Yoko Ono and the two participated in the famous “Bed In For Peace”. Lennon speaks about peace and the backlash he received from America in a prophetic way, but even though the interview was in ’69, the issues he speaks on are just as relevant to society today. The symbolic imagery provided by the illustration captivates the eyes, and the youthful flow of these pictures serves as an effective contradiction to Lennon’s powerful message of peace soothes the ears. It is an emotional and powerful film. At the time, the young Jerry Levitan had no idea that his brave act would serve as a historic and pinnacle memorial of the late Beatle and that the innovative style and revolutionary message of the film would have a profound impact on those who watched it.
My Hometown | Director: Jerry Levitan and Terry Tompkins | Executive Producer: Jerry Levitan
Before creating the Academy Award winning film, I Met The Walrus, Director/Executive Producer Jerry Levitan, who first met Yoko Ono after sneaking into her and John Lennon’s hotel room to interview the late legend in 1969, teamed up with the creative genius herself to create the captivating seven-minute short film titled, My Hometown, which she wrote and narrated. The film features Yoko Ono’s soothing song, “Remember Love” and warm, child-like imagery by visual and animation director, Sharmil Halaldeen, which creates a warm, calm feeling to viewers, which coincides with Yoko’s message of home, love and peace. The symbolic illustrations of Poloroid photos, hearts and maps are used successfully to ignite the powerful message of unity as Yoko tells her story. The film is almost therapeutic and its underlying meaning is timeless.

Q&A with Tasha The Amazon on NXNE

Toronto artist/producer, Tasha The Amazon has gained a lot of attention with her singles, “Scallywags” and “Let It Go”. The femcee has performed at NXNE the past few years and this year is looking forward to opening up for Action Bronson, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah at Dundas Square on June 17.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY OF PERFORMING WITH RAEKWON AND GHOSTFACE KILLAH AT NXNE? It’s obviously a huge honour to be able to do that. I performed previously with the GZA and The Roots. Wu-Tang is a huge inspiration to me so I’m ticking more and more of those people off the list. Anybody I tell, their mind is blown.
WHAT DOES AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THAT DO FOR YOUR CAREER? It’s hard to say, because it all depends on who comes out to the show and even something like if it rains and it’s an outdoor show, there’s gonna be less people. It may be harder to hype the crowd but it’s always cool to have that flyer. I think personally, it’ll be great because it’s the middle of the summer — a lot of people come out. I performed at the show last year and there’s always a great response. I can only imagine it’ll be wicked.
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN PERFORMANCE WISE TO CATER TO A FESTIVAL CROWD? You have to build on-stage chemistry. I have a couple of my boys that are going to come and be hype-men and do a couple verses of their own. JD Era might be coming to perform with Raekwon and him and I have a song together so maybe we’ll pull out that and do a little collab. Maybe I’ll see if Saukrates is around and wants to do the song that we have going on. Just being able to build your own chemistry on stage, then it doesn’t matter so much if the crowd is dry and into it or not. You just kind of bring them into your world.
HOW DO YOU THINK NXNE WILL AFFECT THE VIBE OF THE CITY? I just find that festivals seem to be more positive than shows. At shows, people come across the border and they bring their bullshit with them sometimes. When we have a festival, there’s a lot of people coming together. Some people are conscious hip-hop, some people are street hip-hop and some people are just fun on the line between pop and everyone puts their shit away for a day or for a week. I think it will be good in this kind of climate, because we need shows that are fun and positive.
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT DOES NXNE DO FOR THE CANADIAN MUSIC SCENE? I think it’s an opportunity for us to show in an official way what’s going on. Every time I go anywhere else in the world, everyone is like, “Oh, you’re from Toronto? There are so many cool bands and artists and producers that I hear coming from there.” They’re definitely checking for us, but they’re not necessarily going to come up here on a regular Friday and check out what we have going on. This is an official reason for label heads and booking agents and other artists to get on a plane, buy a wristband and check us out for real. It’s a culmination of everything that we have going on.