Kid Ink in Toronto

Toronto’s Guvernment nightclub was a zoo when Cali’s Kid Ink hit up the city, presented by Frontline Entertainment.

Underage fans were herded into the small second floor that overlooked the main venue, far from the stage and the madness below them. The DJs were on point all night. DJ Scratches, Charlie B and Wikked each took turns to spin a set as the audience danced, screamed and… drank from the time the doors opened.

Crazy Chris and Canada’s funny man, Trixx, hosted the event and turned the crowd up immediately by handing out shots of tequila, vodka and Hennessey and tons of free merchandise. Trixx played host and bartender as he poured drink after drink to the hype crowd. It did the trick. The crowd became severely intoxicated early on in the night while waiting for Kid Ink to hit the stage. Drunken fans squished as close as they could to the stage waiting for their tatted idol to perform, and as a result, tensions began to build.

Opener Jerzee “The Icon” and his entire entourage, video crew and group of background singers hit the stage to open up the show and did so with an undeniably entertaining set. As he performed his single “I Can’t Breathe”, his hype man handed out lit sparklers to the crowd, which was visually appealing, but a real danger to those in the crowd surrounded by intoxicated individuals whipping sticks of fire around. Obviously, there was no thought of those who used hairspray to get ready before they came, but thankfully no one was lit on fire and the show continued.

Kid Ink finally hit the stage performing tracks such as “I Just Want It All”, “Time Of Your Life” and “Hell & Back” to fans, as they danced to his live show. A pair of drunken break dancers in wife-beaters attempted to dance all through the venue, but continuously fell all over the alcohol-soaked floor.

At one point in the night, a fight broke out in the middle of the venue. The crowd separated and created a large gap in the middle of the floor where two fans scrapped before security jumped in and dragged them out. Throughout the venue, people were taking “turnt up” to a whole new plateau. It wasn’t actually the tatted rapper’s short set that made the night memorable. His performance was rather basic and even his opener outshined him. It was, however, a night not soon to be forgotten… unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons.

Culture Shock 2012

The rain didn’t stop supporters and music lovers from attending a day jam-packed with local talent at the 8th annual CultureShock at the Weston Farmers’ Market presented by the UrbanArts Community Arts Council in August.
UrbanArts is a non-profit organization, which engages youth through the arts in the Weston-Mount Dennis community through multi-arts programs throughout the year.
Comedian Trixx and hip-hop legend Michie Mee hosted the event and had the crowd hype all day, despite the miserable weather.
Michie Mee, who is from the Weston area, says that it was only right for her to give back to the non-profit organization that does so much for the youth and arts community. “It lets [the youth] know that there is something else that they can get into. That they can vent, they can speak freely; they can meet other people in the community. The fact that we can all get together through the arts is the best thing.”

The CultureShock event featured reggae, hip-hop, R&B, spoken word and dance from some of the best local talent in Toronto. As the rain showered off and on throughout the day, the performers took turns entertaining the crowd who came out despite the dreary weather.
Singer Obidiah, accompanied by a band and his backup singers, The Sweetness, opened up the show before Enuma and her guitar took to the stage and performed through the rain.
Dance groups Bootcamp, Bootcamp Juniors and The League all livened up the crowd with their routines and Yusra and Rolling Stone brought the element of spoken word to the show.
The rain made way for a giant double rainbow in the sky while reggae artist Smuggz Holiday performed before Toronto emcees Church Chizzle, Jaek Delarge, Erik Flowchild and Supreme Swiss all took a turn on the stage to spit their hits, all with vastly different flows.
Savannah Ré, Tamara Madison and 2Z brought the element of R&B to the show, belting out tracks with soul, as their voices echoed through the Farmers’ Market.

Savannah Ré, who performed her hit “Paranormal” and a new track “Geet Weh”, which features peer Tamara Madison, says she has been involved with UrbanArts before and supports what the organization does for the community as an artist. “[UrbanArts] brings a positive light. There are a lot of negative things that people correlate to this area, so it’s good that they have something that anyone can come to no matter what you do – art, spoken word, rap, sing, whatever it is, you can come and do it,” Ré said.

As the day turned to night, Trish and Shi Wisdom headlined the event with their unmistakable star quality performances. Trish killed her performance with a unique vibe of dance and Shi’s goose bump worthy voice captivated the crowd with her hits such as “Take the L” and “Easier”, before the majority of the crowd jumped onstage to dance along to “Mr. Parker”.
It was an entertaining day, which drew awareness to not only the talented artists who performed, but also to UrbanArts and the work it does to support these artists and the youth in the area.

Stylus Awards

The 7th annual Stylus Awards was presented at the Danforth Music Hall last Monday to a room full of DJs, artists, producers, industry heads and supports of the culture who came to Toronto from all over the country to celebrate the talent and accomplishments of the DJ through the premiere event recognizing the work of the DJ in Canada.

During an energetic night, hosted by comedian TRIXX, the talent of the Canadian music industry was undeniable with enthusiastic performances by The Airplane Boys, who opened up the show, and A-Game, as well as soulful pieces by singers Kreesha Turner and Dru.

Highlights of the night included a tribute to the late MCA from the Beastie Boys by Canada’s oldest b-boy crew, SUPERNATURALZ Crew, and a performance melody by the legend, Michee Mee, who was inducted into the Stylus Hall Of Fame.

The big winner of the night was The Weeknd who received awards such as Canadian R&B Single of the Year and Artist Mixtape of the Year. Breakthrough DJ of the Year was awarded to Toronto’s Charlie Brown, Keith Dean won the award for Montreal DJ of the year and Lissa Monet became the first-ever female to take home the award for Toronto DJ of the Year.

DJ James Redi, who five years ago was a volunteer at the Stylus Awards, was nominated for Breakthrough DJ of the Year at this year’s awards. Although he didn’t take home the award, Redi said what the nomination of a Stylus Award stands for is an even greater gift than winning the actual award. “Canada has the best DJs in the world and to be recognized among them is truly one of the greatest joys a DJ can ask for. It’s less about the actual award itself and more about the recognition among peers who are the greatest in the world,” he says.

Events like the Stylus Awards help make an imprint of the Canadian music industry on an international scale, says Redi. “Toronto and Canada is very much on the come-up right now and having things like Stylus it’s just [saying] hey, we are here and we recognize the people that are doing good and it builds that sense of community.”

This year, for the first time, Stylus showcased videotaped rap ciphers throughout the evening which involved emcees from Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto with artists such as Rich Kidd, Adam Bomb, Sese and Blake Carrington to further acknowledge Canadian talent and the relationship between the artist and the DJ.

Toronto rapper/producer Blake Carrington who presented the award for Breakthrough DJ of the Year and participated in the cipher series with a memorable verse, spitting while holding his baby daughter, says that artists such as himself must pay homage to the DJ for breaking records and getting music heard. He adds an opportunity such as the Stylus Awards for artists, producers and DJs to network is just a plus. “DJs break records and to have a DJ award show is genius, especially if you’re an artist that’s invited.”

Photos by Michelle Green

Kama Sutra Comedy Event

In early February, well-dressed couples and singles alike attended Jay Martin’s Kama Sutra What’s love got to do with it? event at The Vue venue in Toronto to celebrate Valentine’s Day with food, music and comedy.
Tricia Trotter, from Sherwood Mortgage Group, who has been sponsoring Jay Martin and his events for the last six years, said that events such as Kama Sutra are unique and very important. “A lot of people don’t want to come out anymore, with all the violence and so forth, so what Jay Martin has done is an amazing thing,” said Trotter. “He wants to bring comedy and entertainment all in one… But it’s to bring back unity and to bring back couples and to appreciate one another and it’s Valentine’s.”

The night started with the packed house having a chance to mingle while enjoying eats catered by Island Mix Restaurant and desserts provided by Georgie Porgie’s Grill. DJ Malachi Streets spun on the 1s and 2s, before Jay Martin opened the show, singing with Omar Lunan of the Chicken N Waffles band who comedian Trixx later referred to as prison inmates. Singers Owen “O’Sound” Lee and Grace took to the stage next, warming the crowd with R&B talent.
Grace performed Jill Scott’s “A Long Walk” and D’Angelo’s “I Feel Like Makin’ Love”. The soulful singer stated that an event like Kama Sutra is important to bring artists with different niches together to provide quality entertainment. “Just being able to socialize, especially in these times where many things are happening. People are not really collaborating together to see that we can really accomplish things like this and talk about love and just have a good time. It’s very important,” she said.

At the event, it had been announced that Whitney Houston had passed away. O’Sound altered his set to provide a tribute to the legend with a version of “My Love is Your Love”, which the crowd sang along with. “It kind of put a damper [on the evening] but everyone’s laughing, everyone’s rejoicing so we’re turning it from something to mourn about into something to rejoice about,” he said.
Dwayne Morgan changed up the mood with his sexually charged poetry which lifted the audience’s spirits before comedians Jay Martin, his nephew Torvil Martin and Trixx hit the stage to provide side-splitting humour.

Jay Martin had the crowd in tears with his stand up set and cover of Drake’s “Headlines”. The Vue was erupting with laughter at Trixx’s hysterical set, as he cracked jokes about Rick Ross, camping and dominoes.
“Kama Sutra is usually a pretty dope event that Jay puts on every year around Valentine’s Day. He asked me to be a part of it and I said ‘Hell yeah,’” explains Trixx, who started his career working with Martin.

“The first year of my career, I used to do a lot of shows with Jay, and then I kind of branched off and sort of did my own thing, but Jay is like a big brother, so every now and then it’s kind of cool to come back together with him and do shows.”
The night was filled with many emotions, but it was very fitting to celebrate Valentine’s Day, because isn’t that what love really is?





Photos by: Priya Ramanujam