MIXED BREEDS is a monthly competitive concert series put on by Raw Dog Entertainment and Raw Dog Apparel that features local Toronto/GTA-based artists performing songs in head-to-head matchups. Similar to a Verzuz matchup, the artists take turns performing their songs live in front of a crowd at Planet Paradise, and a panel of judges selects a winner based on their live performance. Artists can win a wide range of prizes as they progress through the monthly tournament, from promo and merch down to cannabis goodies provided by the MIXED BREEDS sponsors. While the monthly event showcases local, up-and-coming talent who may still be developing their craft, artists who have participated in past years have gone on to achieve major success, including BET Freestyle Friday World Champions and Juno award-winners.

So far in 2023, the tournament has returned for the first time since the pandemic, with events taking place in April and May. Now in its third month of the tournament, the June edition dubbed Strictly Business would feature three new matchups, plus special performances by Toronto vets Dax Flow, Mic Gutz, and Casper Marcus.

The first matchup of the evening would be a tight competition between JV and Kontex. In the first round JV would perform his song “That’s Crazy,” followed by Kontex performing “Speaking To The Dead.” As one of the three judges on the panel, I personally would’ve gave JV the slight edge in Round 1, as he had a slightly cleaner vocal delivery on the mic. Both artists did have their recorded vocals playing on the tracks they rapped over, and while it was slightly more noticeable for Kontex, both had their tracks mixed well enough for them to easily overpower it on the mic, making it a non-factor. While it was neck-and-neck in Round 1 with both artists spitting incredible flows, Round 2 is where Kontex put himself ahead, as he was able to get the crowd behind him to chant the chorus to his song “All Night,” that crowd participation giving him the edge for the judges to vote him as the winner.

The next matchup was supposed to be Ronin 705 vs Konan Doyle, however Ronin was a no-show, giving Konan Doyle the victory by default. Konan would still get to perform though, rocking a three-song set that got the crowd moving, including the tracks “High Horse,” “Don’t Overthink It,” and “Gassed Up.” Like the other emcees who performed so far, Konan gave a sharp delivery as he nailed all his flows, and spit some punchlines that made him stand out.

Hosting for the evening would be Raw Dog Entertainment’s JDon, and he’d bring out some special guest performers between the matchups, including fellow guest judges DaxFlow and Mic Gutz. Each artist would get to perform three songs, and there would be a surprise appearance by Raw Dog’s First Lady, Shizzy The Empress, who brought some soulful RnB flavour to the stage. The headlining artist of the evening would be Casper Marcus, who rocked the crowd with a track that featured him rapping over Papa Roach’s “Last Resort.”

The final tournament matchup of the evening was supposed to be Jeff Adams vs Lyve Kaos, which would have been dope except we had another no-show. Being the only one who showed up, Jeff Adams would get to perform three songs and take the win by default. He’d move the crowd with some weed-oriented tracks which fit the vape lounge environment perfectly, lighting up his own joint as he spit his verses word for word, and getting the crowd to chant his hooks with him.

Overall, this was a dope display of Toronto’s local talent, although it would have been great to see more of the head-to-head matchups actually happen. Having seen some of these artists open at other concerts over the years, I was expecting to see more of that Hip-Hop competitive spirit. The one matchup that did actually happen was a close competition, and all the emcees who performed throughout the evening delivered sharp performances that displayed dope lyricism, flow, and stage presence.

The MIXED BREEDS tournament will continue with another set of matchups taking place on July 14th, with Cuzzin Charlie as the special guest performer.

Check out the SYpherSights Youtube channel for more concert videos.

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