Best Of Big Ticket

The monthly hip-hop hub The Big Ticket celebrated its “best of” event earlier this month at The Velvet Underground, where artists who had left a lasting impression on the city could come back and wow music lovers once again with their beats and rhymes. The night, designed for the hip-hop community, shone a light on Toronto emcees such as Perfeck Strangers, Twelfth Letter, Scott Ramirez and SepTO, who all took a turn to vibe with the packed house and celebrate the culture of rap. The beauty of The Big Ticket event is the respect it shows for the professional business of hip-hop and the art of the culture.
Tommy Spitz returned from his musical hiatus, performing alongside MC T.R.A at the talent-packed event. The self-proclaimed “top 5 in Canada” says his relationship with Big Ticket founder Chris Jackson has stretched past 20 years and that the intimate Big Ticket event acts as the summit of hip-hop culture in Toronto right now.

“[Chris has] kept a certain status with respectable artists performing. He keeps it an environment that anyone can come to. It’s a real hip-hop culture vibe. It’s more about culture than trying to put people on. It really feels like hip-hop in the building,” says Spitz.
A fresh, interactive element to the seven-month old event was added this time around. Citizen Kane’s Spade and Perfeck Stranger’s Dan-e-o interacted with the crowd to present the first ever hip-hop court, where they acted as lawyers, presenting arguments around the question of who won in the highly publicized Nas and Jay-Z beef. They used tracks such as Nas’ “Ether” and Hova’s “Takeover” in their statements and asked the audience to weigh in as the jury. Through a Twitter verdict, hip-hop heads in attendance named Nas the winner of the beef.
Interaction continued throughout the night between performers and audience members, which added an intimate feel to the event and is something KemiKAL enjoyed about performing. The young artist, who is also known as a talented producer, displayed his artistic capabilities as he performed tracks off his recently released album Elevator Music Going Up.

“A lot of artists, they don’t look at the crowd. They don’t say anything to the crowd,” he explains. “You have to give off a vibe that you’re a person like them, you’re just there to entertain for the time being. A lot of people look at it like a play and they have to come up and play their part and they have to stay in this character… and stay in this one dimension. You need to be connecting and let them feel you and let them know that you’re really doing this.”
In a short timespan, Jackson and supporters have left a profound impression on the Toronto hip-hop community, with a monthly event aimed to support local talent and bring professionalism in hip-hop to the forefront.

The Big Ticket

There are numerous monthly events and venues that showcase talented hip-hop artists in Toronto, but what the community lacks is professionalism in its field. This is according to industry heavyweight Chris Jackson, who plans to bring about change with his monthly showcase, The Big Ticket. Jackson, the brainchild of The Big Ticket, has been in the music industry for over 25 years and has seen the evolution of Toronto hip-hop for decades. He has hopes for what is to come in the future. “We need a foundation, a base, a blueprint and I was around back in the days in the ’80s and early ’90s and helped establish that foundation in hip-hop,” he explains. “We got lost at one point, we are still a little lost, but hip-hop in Canada is starting to find its identity again and that’s what Big Ticket was designed as, to help support artists, give them a place to perform on a regular basis and give them a venue and event that is on a professional level.”

On the second Friday of every month, hip-hop heads and tastemakers can be found at the city’s The Velvet Underground enjoying a night of music from local emcees, DJs and beat makers who are interested in the future of the hip-hop community in Canada. The event, which was birthed in July has already made a large impact on the city’s music scene, and has welcomed artists such as Perfeck Strangers, Raz Fresco and Masia One to its stage. Toronto emcee, The 12th Letter, who recently dropped his album Hear No Evil, Music To My Ears, celebrated its launch by performing at last month’s edition of The Big Ticket. He says the event is a dynamic asset to the Toronto hip-hop community.

“In the early ’90s, you had the Lyricist Lounge and places like that which spawned a lot of great talent and that people could come and see it. I feel that this is that same kind of hub where artists can perform and the fans can come out and see and get a taste of what the music is like and support it. We haven’t really had things like that in the past that have been consistent and this is a monthly event so things like this are vital to the city to grow the culture and prove that hip-hop has staying power in the city,” he said after his performance. At the next Big Ticket event on January 11, Jackson hopes to bring the best of Big Ticket and feature his favourite acts that have helped the showcase evolve.

Photos By: Fitzroy Facey