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

New Video: Price - Dreams To Reality

The visuals for emcee/professional soccer player Price's new single Dreams To Reality off his sophomore mixtape No Boundaries, hosted by Statik Selektah.

Samo's 2012 Toronto Hip-Hop Yearbook



Album: The Closers - Rich Kidd & Son Real

Mixtape: Cakey Pocket$ - Raz Fresco, hosted by DJ Holiday

Single: Syke - Rich Kidd

Anthem: Money Made Me Do It - A-Game x Luu Breeze

Video: Angels - P.Reign

Feature: Mr. Parker - Kardinal Offishall feat. Shi Wisdom

Performer: JellyTooFly

Producer: T-Minus

DJ: Lissa Monet

Host: Trixx

Manager: Addy Papa

Concert: Juicy J @ Opera House

Radio Show: Royalty Radio

Venue: Opera House

Breakout Emcee: C-Flowz

Breakout Producer: Wondagurl

 

Top 10 Memorable Moments in Toronto Hip-Hop This Year (Good, Bad & Ugly)

10. Reema Major signs to Brick Squad Monopoly

9. Lauryn Hill performs intimate concert for OnexOne charity

8. Back to back shootings at Young Jeezy concerts in Toronto/London leave many injured
7. Blake Carrington wears daughter Story around his neck during City on my Back Stylus Cypher
6. Lamar Taylor & Hyghly Alleyne win MMVA’s best hip-hop video for “The Motto”
5. Drake graduates high school and attends Jarvis Collegiate Institute graduation
4. DJ Lissa Monet becomes first female to win Stylus’ Toronto DJ of the Year

3. Raekwon and Ghostface close off NXNE by performing at Dundas Square in front of 25,000 people

2. P Reign releases “Angels” single/video in memory of Shyann Charles & Joshua Yasay killed in the Danzig shooting

1. 15 year old Wondagurl wins Battle of the Beatmakers

Year after year we hear it: "It's MY year!" Get familiar with some of the artists that really put on in 2012.

 Rich Kidd - The OG

Rich Kidd is a staple in the Toronto hip-hop community, a face recognizable to everyone in the city’s music scene, but this year, Rich has definitely outdone himself. Not only has he performed at the majority of Toronto’s 2012 hip-hop shows, festivals and events, but he dropped a mixtape, a beat tape and a collaborative album with Son Real. Don’t let his comedic personality fool you, he is a force that owns the Toronto market right now and is not showing any signs of letting up any time soon.

                                                                       JellyTooFly - The King

This year Toronto emcee JellyTooFly made them respect the female shit after dropping her well-received King mixtape. Jelly is in her own category and cannot be compared to any artist that has ever done it - 100% original and 100% entertaining. She most definitely holds the crown as King of performing in this city as stage after stage, she captivates her audience with an electrifying energy and a demand for the spotlight. She is an undeniable talent that Toronto is blessed to have.
                                                                      Bakers Club - The Crew

 7 artists and 22 projects deep, The Bakers Club have proved that they are impossible to ignore and that the young artists won`t stop until they`re paid their dues. Four of the members, Raz Fresco, The 6^th Letter, BriskInTheHouse and Brandon Chey all hail from the GTA and are putting on big for the city. Right now, there is no young crew that can touch the Club in terms of flow, style and originality and they are consistent with their quality and quantity, bringing the old school vibe to the new school era. Each member brings something unique and special to the mix and no matter what you`re into, they have something for everyone.
                                                                  JD Era - The Golden Child

JD Era, the Prince of Raekwon’s label IceH2O proved he deserved that spot when he released his banging mixtape “No Handouts” earlier this year. The Sauga spitter travelled and performed all over North America with the Wu Tang legend this year but was shown love every time he returned to the T.dot stage when peforming at events such as NXNE and 106 & York. It is undeniable that this was a great year for the young emcee but also obvious that there is more great things to come from him.

C - Flowz - The Grinder

C-Flowz wasn’t boosting when he named his latest mixtape, `Found My Lane`. The young emcee has done just that this past year as he opened up for artists such as Juicy J, Styles P, Jadakiss, Machine Gun Kelly and Smokers Club Tour. C-Flowz isn’t afraid to put in the promotional work himself as he and his Highway Gang make sure they are out at events personally handing out flyers and selling tickets to his shows. And the young emcee is quite the entertainer, who has his signature bounce and smirk while he performs, obviously happy to be in the moment. Him and his team know what they are doing and are making all the right moves.

                                                            Blake Carrington - The Personality

This was a great year for Blake Carrington and he hasn’t even released his Failure album yet. Carrington garnered attention from his `Colour Her 2` video and tour with Sneaker Pimps this year but it is the little details that make him forever relevant. In this year`s City on my Back Stylus Award cypher, he wore his young daughter Story to his chest while spitting his verse and received positive feedback for the bold move. When asked about it though, Carrington humbly stated that he did it for no other reason than the fact that he had his daughter that day. Also this summer, Rich Kidd`s NXNE was cancelled by the Toronto Police and Blake invited Rich to join him at this showcase. It is moves like this that make Carrington such a respected artist in the city.

Smash Brovaz

It was another live year for Toronto's most esteemed hip-hop duo as the Smash Brovaz released their digital debut album, Think It's A Game? with singles such as "The Kitchen" and "Paper Planes". Junia-T and Crooklin are staples in the Toronto hip-hop community, bringing us refreshing smooth and lyrical hits. They didn't stop all year, with constant traveling, collaborating and video shoots, but always made time to come out and support their local peers, proving that they truly are the brothers of our hip-hop community.

Click Photo For Highlights

Thank you to everyone interested in pushing our culture forward. It was a proper 2012 and I'm anticipating what is to come for the Toronto hip-hop community.

Interview with Miles Jones

The vastly talented DJ/Producer/emcee/songwriter/CEO of Mojo Records and Publishing, known as Miles Jones, has stepped outside of himself with his latest project The Jones Act Part III by creating a character through his music to deal with an emotional time in his life. Through struggle and reinvention, The Jones Act emerged as something beyond the boom bap hip-hop that Jones was previously known for as the emcee created a new sound for himself and a new lane with his new release, which includes not just his music, but the art of comics.
HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE GROWN SINCE YOUR LAST ALBUM RUNAWAY JONES IN 2009? I think my taste for music as a fan has changed a lot since 2009. That has created a new bar for me as a creator as far as challenging myself and not staying in that hip-hop bubble, which is so easy to do, for any genre really. I started experimenting and listening a little bit more to song arrangements and structure in other music and try and apply that to what I was doing when I was creating and writing.
WHAT WAS THE VISION BEHIND YOUR LATEST PROJECT THE JONES ACT PART III? It kick-started with the single that I recorded about a year after I dropped my Runaway Jones project in 2009 and it was a song called “All Lies” and I was singing on the hook instead of getting someone else to come and sing the hook and you can say it created the blueprint to the theory and concept that I had for this record where I wanted to be able to kind of step out of myself. I find that it is a lot easier for me as an artist and as a creator to not only have to be necessarily myself in the way that, the way a writer writes a script, or the way a director directs a movie, it is sort of creating this character or imaginative space where you can allow yourself to express all these different sides. I was going through a lot… My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was dealing with that and a few things career wise that were changing and I felt that music was my outlet during that time and I was able to use The Jones Act as an escape and you can hear that in the record.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WHEN PUTTING OUT THE NEW ALBUM? A challenge is always picking which songs that the industry wants to hear as your “single” or your hit and when you’re so close to a project and you’re so attached to something, it’s really hard to be objective and really feel what’s right for yourself and also what is right for your audience or for what the media is going to write about. I think that’s a constant ongoing challenge. For this project, we did something a little bit different. I had a comic book writer create an issue of a comic to a song called “Catch Me in the Rye”, which is track four on the record and it turned into an actual comic that we showcased at this comic convention and it spawned into this comic series. There is going to be other comic books written to go with each song on the record so it’s cool having the hit song and the music video, but I think for this record, I wanted to do something different and do something to make the listener think a little bit more and dig a little bit deeper than the traditional ways that we are told that we are supposed to consume music… It’s still a challenge to really push some of these ideas… My team and I are trying to figure out how to get these ideas to the forefront and inspire other artists to try these things as well.

On The Rise Interview

My interview with DJ Hotshot at On The Rise Radio CHRY 105.5FM on my personal journey and insight on the Toronto hip-hop industry.

Meet PRICE

Take in Price's mixtape Light Work at:
http://indy.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/15830/price_light_work.html