Wolf J McFarlane in Toronto

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.

The Known Unknown x AR Report

In just a few short months after its rebirth, the Known Unknown has evolved past being just a prominent monthly showcase in Toronto by bringing a new element to the mix. Collaborating with A&R Report’s Who Got Next, Tika Simone, Michael Asante and their collective armies brought the industry to the talent through a Toronto artist showcase at The Hard Rock Café this month.
The allure of opportunity was undeniable while walking through the doors, and the historical venue, with photos of legends lining its walls, only added to the excitement of the night’s event. Supporters filled the venue to absorb the talent from Toronto, anticipating what is next for the budding careers of each act.
Talent scouts and industry folk such as Epic Records’ Jeff Juin had their eyes on the stage, upping the ante of pressure for the artists and giving an opportunity that surpassed their regular performance.
The event’s host Marlon Palmer announced the evening’s line-up, which consisted of bands Unbuttoned and Plaitwrights, who were both magical forces on stage, unbelievably skilled singer Juvon Taylor and rappers Sean Leon, G Milla, TFHOUSE and KJ, who showed the audience what Toronto hip-hop is working with.
Toronto rapper/singer/art director, WolF J McFarlane shared his set to showcase some of his musical peers such as Shi Wisdom, O’Sound and Lord Quest, who performed alongside him. “It was very embracing. You could actually see people listening to the music. It’s not the Screwface Capital as everybody always puts it. Everybody really enjoyed the music. I got a lot of feedback,” he says.
Nylo, the night’s headlining performer, hailing from Chicago, wowed the Hard Rock in a white lace dress, with her trained vocals and incredible range.
Toronto blogger, Jordan Hayles, also known as Mr. STiXX, says that this month’s Known Unknown stood apart from others. “Because there are more industry people here, it’s like everyone is bringing their A game and the selection that they had, although they have the returning visitors like Juvon Taylor and WolF J McFarlane… there’s a lot of good talent,” he says. “… The fact that so many people come out to see the unknown talent that we have here is a good sign.”
Giving talent a stage to perform on is already a commendable act, as so many artists lack the opportunity, but to offer them a microphone and an audience consisting of fans and industry alike is a change that evolved many of the artists on the bill from taking their skills from a hobby to a career. Although it’s unknown what is to come for many of the artists, with the amount of talent showcased at this month’s event, what is known is Toronto got next.

Andreena @ The Known Unknown

Tika Simone and The Remix Project presented January’s The Known Unknown with a “Naked and Stripped” show at Toronto’s Wrongbar, welcoming the return of Andreena from her hiatus to the music scene and the showcase of other relatively new Toronto talent.
The Queen Street venue was crowded with music supporters who escaped the deep chill to partake in a night of local talent.
An interactive board with a live Twitter feed created an opportunity for those in attendance to tweet their thoughts on each performance and engage with others not only in person, but also through the social network, creating a multidimensional cyber event.
The packed house mingled in person and online as DJ Lissa Monet and Starven Marvin spun hip-hop and R&B hits, before host Marlon Palmer began inviting the performers to the stage to display their talents.
The Remix Project, which celebrated the graduation of its 9.0 class in November, worked with Tika to incorporate some of its talent such as R&B crooner Vanessa Lu and hip-hop artist Never.
Highlights of the night included performances by soulful singers, Juvon Taylor and Owen “O’Sound” Lee, as well as up and coming rappers John River and Sola.
Toronto’s most recognized hip-hop music enthusiast, Mindbender was in attendance to show his support for the city’s music scene.
“Toronto is probably the best talent treasure chest of music, dancing, skill, artistry and creativity maybe in the world right now,” he says. The devoted hip-hop head was most looking forward to the return of Andreena, as a loyal fan and peer. “Anyone who knows what good R&B, soul, music, singing, performing, dancing, power and strength is, they should know the name Andreena Mill, straight up.”
The Known Unknown founder and long-time friend of Andreena’s, Tika Simone welcomed the talented singer to the stage, sharing that, “It is difficult to watch somebody peak and fall and not get the support from her backend that she deserves and I wanted to make it my mission to ensure that nobody forgets her name, that nobody forgets who she is, and we all remember that she is from here and she represents Toronto to the fullest,” she said, before handing the mic off to Andreena.
In a two-part set, Andreena reminded the packed venue of her skill level by belting out tracks from her upcoming album Naked such as “Boss Bitch” and “My Boo” with her band and accompanied vocals by O’Sound. With an undeniable voice, stage presence and hit after hit, it was undoubtedly apparent that Andreena is back with a vengeance and The Known Unknown was just her first step in securing her takeover.

The Return of The Known Unknown

In an oversaturated music market, the key to success is originality and finding your own lane. Toronto’s own multi-talented artist Tika Simone has done just that with the comeback of her “The Known Unknown” showcase series that returned Sunday night at the Crawford and featured two up and coming Toronto artists who will headline the event, Derek Wise and Jelly Too Fly.

Jelly has become a staple in the Toronto hip-hop scene and is continuing to create a buzz throughout the USA with her new project King and an unmistakable stage presence that is hard to forget. It is safe to say the Toronto femcee kills every stage she performs on, so to kick-off the new “The Known Unknown” series with Jelly is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Toronto artist Derek Wise is creating quite the buzz online as well with his latest project Vacay and was approached by Tika to be a part of the event. As his first ever performance as an artist, Derek says he is humbled by the opportunity.
“It means a lot to me, because it lets me know that I’m on the right road. It’s definitely a good look,” he says. “[The event] does what it says. I’m unknown. I’m a new voice so this event will let [Toronto] know who I am.”
Tika took time away from the event series to rebrand it as a spotlight for up and coming Toronto artists. The event, which began in 2010 as Intimate & Interactive grew into something that Tika never even, expected. She returned with a bigger and better series for the city.
“Our mission is to prove that in Toronto, we actually have support for our own and are capable of supporting our own and not just our own on a large scale but on a small scale where people are generating their own attraction in the city,” Tika says.
“It’s really turned into this magnificent thing and I needed to figure out a way to not only showcase artists, but to bring it to Toronto on a bigger scale. We decided we are going to show the actual process that we go through and we are doing that through a reality web series.”
Tika says this web series will air weekly and will feature viral auditions, showcasing artists vying for a slot on the bill of the next event.
The multi-talented Tika humbly states that she is proud of her work on the project, the fruition of the event and every artist that she has gotten a chance to work with during the process. She says she hopes the series will take place monthly, along with seasonal larger scale events.
“I’m more of an idea person, I’ve never been really successful at the cultivation, but this is one of the few things that I can say I really worked my behind off on it and it came to be something very lovely and very close to me,” she says.