Beer enthusiasts and music lovers unite once again for Toronto’s Festival of Beer (TFOB)! The weekend-long festival has become a staple in Toronto’s summer festival season, always pairing a well-curated set of artists to perform on the Bandshell Stage with the hundreds of breweries from around the world pouring beer samples throughout Bandshell Park. It’s always been a great way to enjoy the summer weather with cold drinks and great music.

TFOB has especially been consistent over the past several years with their selection of Hip-Hop artists performing on the Friday night of the festival, booking artists with proven longevity and a legacy worth celebrating. Past years’ headliners have included artists like Nas, Public Enemy Radio, Ludacris and Method Man & Redman, who all have decades of music behind them and a fan base old enough to enjoy the beer responsibly. This year would be no different, as TFOB would honour Hip-Hop’s 50-year anniversary by booking two emcees who are each arguably one of the top 5 GOATs from their respective regions: Atlanta’s own Big Boi and Los Angeles legend, Ice Cube.

Both of the festival’s Hip-Hop headliners for the Friday night have had a significant impact on the history of Hip-Hop. Big Boi is of course one half of the multi Grammy award-winning duo OutKast, who broke barriers in the ’90s for Hip-Hop artists from the South to be accepted on a global scale, and who also have arguably the greatest discography of any Hip-Hop artist or group to ever come from Atlanta. After six straight platinum-certified, critically acclaimed albums released with the group between 1994 – 2006, Big Boi has gone on to build up his own respectable discography as a solo artist in the 2010s and ’20s. This would be his first time performing in Toronto since OutKast had their short-lived reunion tour in 2014, where they co-headlined Drake’s OVO Fest that year.

Ice Cube on the other hand has a career that goes back to the ’80s, with his former group N.W.A. now being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after having their legacy celebrated with the critically acclaimed 2015 biopic, Straight Outta Compton. He helped put West-Coast Hip-Hop on the map and has maintained longevity over the past 30+ years, with 10 albums released as a solo artist, plus his work with groups including N.W.A., Westside Connection, and most recently Mount Westmore. Also achieving a similar longevity as an actor and filmmaker, Ice Cube is one of the first to bridge the gap between Hollywood and Hip-Hop culture. While we saw him perform an epic, intimate nightclub concert up in Kitchener this past February, this would be Ice Cube’s first time performing a show in Toronto in well over a decade, as much of his business here in recent years has either been for his film career or the 3-on-3 professional basketball league he founded, BIG3.

My crew showed up to Beer Fest just after gates opened, and we took our time exploring the festival grounds, getting some food and sampling some beer. Unlike past years where a general admission ticket would get you started with 5 tokens upon entry, which can be used for any type of beer sample, this year GA festival goers received one special Bet99 token that was good for one Carlsberg Light at the one Bet99 booth, which may not have been worth the wait with the long line that developed there. Plus considering all the better beer options there were, most were better off buying a 20-pack of tokens and making their way to all the beer tents instead of waiting for their one free Carlsberg Light. Besides this one negative change, everything else was all good fun as we remembered, with the Beyond Beer section being expanded and more prominent to serve up all the delicious cocktails for those who don’t necessarily want to stick to beer, and plenty of global options you don’t always find at your local LCBO or Beer Store.

After enjoying the hot summer weather with our cold dranks, we made our way to the Bandshell Stage in time to catch Big Boi, whose set would start off with a video montage of his album covers and a narrator listing off his accolades. Joined by frequent collaborator Sleepy Brown, Big Boi would bring that Atlanta heat to the stage, coming out to a new joint off of his and Brown’s 2021 album together, Big Sleepover, teasing the song “Sucka Free.” They’d then immediately get into several OutKast hits, Big Boi nailing all his verses while fluidly skipping over Andre 3000’s as he performed classics like “ATLiens” and “Rosa Parks,” getting the crowd to wave their arms to the beat. Things would only get more hyped as he moved into the year 2000, performing hit singles off of Stankonia including “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson,” getting the crowd to sing along.

While Sleepy Brown was effective at covering some of Andre 3000’s sung vocals on these OutKast songs, you know Big Boi had to let him shine with his own music. They’d do a couple more songs off of their Big Sleepover album, including the slow groove “Can’t Sleep” before cranking the energy up with an incredible performance of OutKast’s “GhettoMusick,” with Sleepy Brown covering Patti Labelle and Andre 3000’s vocals and Big Boi showing off impeccable breath control to nail the speedy rap verse. Next would be a segment to highlight Big Boi’s solo albums, as he gave a shoutout to the late Pimp C of UGK with the song “In The South,” and got the crowd to clap out the beat before dropping his 2010 hit “Shutterbug,” with the music video playing on the screens behind him. He’d do a couple more songs off of 2017’s Boomiverse, getting the crowd to dance to the EDM-influenced “Chocolate” followed by “All Night.”

Getting back to the OutKast classics, it was time to take it back to 1994 for the day-one fans. The crowd was definitely ready, as they joined in and enthusiastically sang along to the choruses as Big Boi and Sleepy Brown performed the title track off of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, along with the iconic single “Player’s Ball.” They’d then take it to 1996 with “Elevators,” with the beat transitioning to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” for the latter bit of the song. Big Boi would use this smooth transition to get the crowd to count down, and cheers erupted as fans started to recognize the beat for “B.O.B.” While Big Boi and Sleepy Brown gave an energetic performance of the song that got the crowd bouncing, it didn’t quite hit the same skipping over Andre 3000’s iconic opening verse and instead starting off with the chorus.

Big Boi would next move into some of his biggest accolades, performing the Grammy award-winning song “The Whole World,” once again getting the crowd to help him and Sleepy Brown sing Andre’s chorus. He’d follow this up with his single off of OutKast’s Album Of The Year Grammy-winning, diamond-certified Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double-album, “The Way You Move,” this time with Sleepy once again getting to perform his own vocals while Big Boi nailed his verses. The crowd was into every bit of it, with plenty of fans dancing, waving their arms, or capturing the moment on their phones. Some might think this would be the high note to end off the set, but Big Boi pulled out a surprise by performing his Purple Ribbon All-Stars song, “Kryptonite,” nailing his verse and having the crowd join in on the hook to capture that ATL Crunk energy.

Big Boi and Sleepy Brown would leave the stage, but the crowd was hyped after that performance and chanted for an encore. The DJ would bring them back by playing UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You),” letting Andre 3000’s verse play in full through the speakers before the beat dropped and Big Boi came back out to spit his verse. Even after this special moment, the crowd chanted for one more song, and Big Boi obliged, giving a hype performance of OutKast’s “Gangsta Shit” before giving a final salute.

With a bit of a break between performers, DJ Levi would hold it down on the turntables, playing some early 2000s Hip-Hop. She’d keep the crowd grooving, chopping up a particularly dope mashup of Ludacris’ “Stand Up” over a hype EDM beat. Pretty soon her DJ booth would get moved to the side of the stage, and after hearing a “Yay yay!” from backstage, an intro for Ice Cube would play on the jumbo screens with the beat from “I Got 5 On It.” Similar to how he’s been known to start his shows, the intro would transition into that famous bomb drop, and he’d kick things off with a hype performance of “Natural Born Killaz.”

Joined by WC as his hypeman, Ice Cube would perform routines very similar to when we saw him in Kitchener. He’d get the crowd chanting “you scared!” to the beat of “Go To Church,” and we all cheered when he said the famous words “I started this gangsta shit… and this the motherfucking thanks I get?!,” which led into a hype performance of “Hello.” Cube would take some time out to acknowledge the tough task it was to follow Big Boi on stage, speaking on the doubters who might not think he can still wreck the mic. To summarize what he had to say to the doubters, he got into a performance of “Check Yo’ Self (Remix),” the crowd rapping along to the lyrics “you better check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self, ’cause I’m bad for your health!”

With this being the Friday night of Beer Fest, it’s only right that Ice Cube rocked the party with the song “Friday,” getting the crowd to bounce as he nailed his verses with footage of his 1995 film playing on the screens behind him. Cube would often have funny interludes with WC between songs to hint at what he’d be performing next, and the crowd cheered as they caught on to the riddle hinting that the next song would be “Bop Gun (One Nation).” The westside party vibes kept going as Cube rocked the track, and he’d next ask the crowd if he could get into some old school joints, doing a medley of AmeriKKKaz Most Wanted and Death Certificate-era tracks. Between “Steady Mobbin’,” “How To Survive In South Central,” “Jackin’ For Beats” and “What Can I Do? (Remix),” Ice Cube definitely brought back those early ’90s vibes and had the crowd bouncing as he rocked one verse from each track.

After moving the crowd with another ’90s hit with “You Know How We Do It,” Cube would take a moment to reflect on Hip-Hop’s 50-year anniversary, speaking on how his favourite aspect of Hip-Hop is being able to make your voice heard, and being able to push a meaningful message and shed light on the truth. Telling those who weren’t ready to hear the truth to go get another beer, Cube would move into an aggressive performance of his 2006 hit “Why We Thugs,” the beat getting heads to nod as he ripped through the first two verses and abruptly ending with the first line of the third verse, “I can’t take the pressure!” with a volcano erupting on the screen behind him. Cube would then move into his 2008 album Raw Footage, with the intro “What Is A Pyroclastic Flow?” playing as the volcanos continued to erupt on screen before getting into a performance of the single “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It.”

WC would next get the crowd hyped by asking if we wanted to hear some day-one N.W.A. songs, and Cube would hype it up, telling WC and all the fans that if he did these songs that we were all witnesses. Before we knew it, the Dr. Dre intro “you are about to witness the strength of street knowledge” played, and everyone turned up as the beat dropped to “Straight Outta Compton.” Cube would rock his iconic opening verse and would also do his solo track from the N.W.A. album, “Gangsta Gangsta,” before getting into a speech reflecting on his time with N.W.A.

He’d speak on writing the first single “Dopeman” for Eazy-E, going on tour as a teenager, to leaving the group over money issues and getting dissed by them. This would of course lead into a fierce performance of his diss track “No Vaseline,” which Cube would follow by saying he’s glad time has passed for him to be cool with all of his former group members. Speaking on the historical impact, Cube would make the claim that “No Vaseline” is the greatest diss record in Hip-Hop’s 50-year history, giving shoutouts to 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” and Nas’ “Ether,” but ultimately claiming the crown for being able to take out a group of 4 artists plus their manager.

After the aggression from Ice Cube’s early years, it was now time to lighten up the mood. Taking us full circle from going to war with his former group to now being grown and at peace with everyone, Cube would next perform a track off of his latest album, 2018’s Everythangs Corrupt, the song “Ain’t Got No Haters” speaking for itself. He’d then do a song for the ladies, taking it back to ’99 with the club banger “You Can Do It,” getting the crowd to go wild like it was ’99 again. Announcing that he had one more song before his time was up, Cube would do one just for Beer Fest, singing the lyrics “yo, if you’re fucked up, put your cups up” before bringing the beat back for “Go To Church” and performing the song in full.

Rather than play any games and pretend to leave to get an encore chant, Cube would do one last interlude with WC to get the crowd hyped for his real closer. Asking the crowd if they knew why they had a good time tonight, the answer of course had to be because “It Was A Good Day!” Everyone waved their arms to the mellow throwback, with many fans pulling their phones out to capture the moment as Ice Cube closed out the show with the positive vibes from his 1992 classic. The video screens would show throwback footage from when DJ Crazy Toones, WC and Ice Cube were all younger, each one of them getting applause from the crowd as they said goodbye. Saying peace and goodnight to the crowd, Ice Cube left the stage with a few minutes to spare before beer taps closed off for the night.

Overall, this was yet another epic Beer Festival that we’ve come to expect. For many Toronto Hip-Hop fans, especially those who didn’t make the trips to Kitchener, Orillia or Windsor to see Ice Cube back in the winter, it’s safe to say that it had been around a decade or longer since we’ve seen either of these headliners perform live. Big Boi & Sleepy Brown absolutely tore up the stage with their iconic OutKast hits and their party records, while Ice Cube took us on a journey through Hip-Hop history, showing firsthand how his discography has maintained relevance from the ’80s all the way to today. We survived the heatwave with cold beverages, the rain held off, the music was live and in conclusion, “today was a good day.”

Beer Fest continues with Third Eye Blind performing on Saturday July 29th, and T-Pain performing on Sunday July 30th. Tickets and info can be found at beerfestival.ca!

Check out this playlist of concert videos from all the times I’ve been to Beer Fest over the years!

Check out the SYpherSights Youtube channel for more concert videos.

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