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 Toronto’s premier 420-friendly vape lounge, 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, May and June. Now in its fourth month of the tournament, the July edition dubbed Faded would feature four new matchups, plus performances by Toronto emcee Cuzzin Charlie and some special guests. While Raw Dog Entertainment’s JDon typically hosts every MIXED BREEDS event, this time he had Toronto emcees Dre Specz and Swann of Reel Wolf sharing the hosting duties with him, and also setting off the party with some performances of their own.

After each host got to perform 2-3 songs to start the show, they’d soon bring up the emcees competing in the first match-up of the evening, Julian Broderick vs. Ross Burns. Both of these emcees had previously competed and won their first match-ups in the tournament, each having a 1-0 record going into this one. Ross Burns would set it off with his song “Scottie Pippen,” delivering some sharp rhymes although his energy could have been higher. Julian Broderick wasn’t as technical with the rhyme patterns but he had more energy in his delivery and had better stage presence.

The match-up would have a little friendly chirping between the emcees, as Ross would crack a joke about how Julian ended his first song after one verse, being too short for the ladies. Round 2 of the match-up would see the competition get tighter, as Ross Burns got the crowd to join in on the hook for his song “Up Next” and displayed some ill rhyme patterns despite slipping up a few words. Julian would get the crowd behind him as well, getting everyone to bounce to his song “Grip” as he jumped around on stage and even ran through the lounge as he rapped. He may have lost some of his breath after all that running and jumping, but ultimately it was his energy, stage presence and showmanship that got my fellow guest judges to vote Julian as the winner.

Joining myself on the panel of guest judges were Raw Dog Entertainment artists Blaxxx Bossalini and Gov’Nah, and they would get on stage next to perform a 4-song set that included their newest collab released just a day prior, “The Meeting.” After them would be the next match-up, which unfortunately had a no-show, giving Valintino the automatic W just for showing up. Valintino still got to perform a 3-song set, and he had heads nodding as he delivered some dope punchlines in his verses. I didn’t pick up on the song titles but he showed diversity, spitting a rapid-fire flow on his first song, then going with more of a boom-bap style on the second, although some lines got cluttered with him rapping over his own vocals. His third track was much more clear, as he spit his raps raw with no backing vocals and still had the bars to captivate the crowd.

With two match-ups out of the way, the halftime part of the show got marked with what’s become a tradition for MIXED BREEDS. DJ Tictactic (who was holding it down all night on the turntables) played some classic Hip-Hop for us to vibe out to, and the hosts JDon and Swann pulled out a smoke gun to blast some weed smoke into the crowd, hot boxing the entire lounge.

Next would be one of the toughest match-ups we’ve seen at MIXED BREEDS so far this year, with the duo DNA (Warrzone & Phayze-Won) taking on the group N.L.M.G. (New Legends Music Group). It would be a difference of styles that set the groups apart at the beginning, as DNA set it off with a trap/crunk style of rap that brought a ton of energy to the stage despite a repetitive flow, while N.L.M.G. impressed with their more up-tempo verses, greeting the crowd with their hook en Francais, “Bonjour! Comment ca va?!”

While I would’ve gave N.L.M.G. the slight edge in Round 1 just because of their style of rap, DNA made it more competitive in Round 2 with their song “We Don’t Give A Fuck,” bringing that same trap/crunk energy but also spitting a rapid-fire verse that took them over the edge. N.L.M.G. followed up with a high energy track called “Switch Lanes” that had some dope flows as well, but the delivery got a little cluttered with them trying to keep up with their recorded vocals. One of my fellow guest judges, Uncle Kev of Master-Move-Rise clothing, put it perfectly: I’d rather play N.L.M.G. when driving around in the car, but DNA gave the better live performance on stage.

Another special guest judge, Markham’s own Mesci would perform a short set next, with his people handing out lighters so that we could light up the room during some of his songs. He would be followed by the final match-up of the night, which had another no-show, giving Cranberry Fever another automatic win. Cranberry Fever would get to perform a 3-song set, and while his flow and delivery could have been better, he probably had the most emotional performance of the night. For some of his faster-paced songs he would have his vocals playing in the track, and on the mic would only fill in a few words of each bar rather than rapping the entire verse, but he did put all his emotion into the words he did rap, giving a heartfelt performance in a song about depression and the loss of loved ones.

To close out the night, special guest Cuzzin Charlie would give a hype performance of a few of his songs, making a big entrance by starting off his set in the stairwell and performing from atop the bar. With a crew carrying stage lights and a camera behind him, Cuzzin Charlie eventually made his way to the stage during his first song, and continued the set with a sharp performance of his track “Homies.” He would close out the evening with an energetic performance of his 2011 throwback “Fly Like A G6 Remix,” getting the crowd to wave their arms to the beat as he nailed his rapid-fire flow.

Overall, this was another great display of the local talent we have right here in Toronto. Each artist who hit the stage brought their own unique energy, showcasing a diverse range of styles within our local Hip-Hop scene. The match-ups are getting tougher to judge as the tournament gets more competitive and returning artists continue to sharpen their skills.

MIXED BREEDS will continue with another set of match-ups taking place on August 11th, with Dusty Wallace as the special guest performer.

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