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, some artists who have participated in past years have gone on to achieve major success, including BET Freestyle Friday World Champions and Juno award-winners.

After skipping the month of September, MIXED BREEDS returned for its sixth showcase of 2023 with this special horror-themed edition for October dubbed Blood Moon, landing on Friday the 13th. This would be the final showcase for the 2023 season of MIXED BREEDS, featuring three new head-to-head matchups plus performances by several special guests, including members of Toronto-based group The Wolf Pack of Reel Wolf Records. It would also be the last Raw Dog Entertainment showcase of 2023, with their artists and extended family performing throughout the evening, starting with JDon kicking things off in traditional manner with a quick 3-song setlist of his own to warm up the crowd.

Returning as the host for the evening would be Mic Gutz, who would introduce the artists to the stage throughout the night and keep the crowd engaged between performers. Unlike past MIXED BREEDS events, the special guest performers would all rock the stage back to back, with the actual matchups taking place at the end of the night. The event had a very open mic feel to it, as the artists were all at different levels of developing their stage presence.

Stax set things off with a solid 2-song set, performing a collaboration with MIXED BREEDS alumni Young Stitch on the hook. Chris Thomas went up next and seemed to be shaking the rust off, performing in Toronto for the first time in a few years. He’d forget some of his lyrics but kept a good attitude and salvaged his performance by freestyling off the top, keeping things fun the entire way.

The next couple artists would pick up the energy, as Warrzone rocked some familiar joints after having won his own MIXED BREEDS matchup back in July as part of the group DNA. Songs like “Going Crazy” stood out, as he knew how to slow down his raps for dramatic effect before cranking up the energy for the hook. The next artist had to be one of the illest performers of the night though, as Ulysses came with both rapped and sung vocals, showing off impeccable breath control and staying perfectly in-pocket with his flows, not missing one word. After blowing minds with his mic and stage presence throughout his first two songs, Ulysses had the crowd with him by the end of his set, chanting along to the hook on “Reality.”

Next would be one of the headliners of the evening, Swann & Resin of The Wolf Pack, who’d rock the crowd with a solid 8-song setlist. With Swann having hosted a few MIXED BREEDS events this year, many heads in the building were already familiar with the hardcore style of rap him and The Wolf Pack bring to the table, their music fitting the Friday the 13th theme perfectly as they set things off with the hype “Carnage.” Other standouts included a few joints off of Resin’s solo albums featuring Swann, like “Zombi” and “Battle Wounds,” but the highlight had to be the end of their set when they performed “The Underworld (Cold North Remix),” inviting any emcees in the building to join them in a cypher spitting 8-bars each. Swann & Resin would give a shoutout to Reel Wolf’s 10th anniversary of their original “The Underworld” music video, promoting an upcoming concert they have with ILL Bill to celebrate the occasion on November 10th (tickets can be found here).

There would be a few issues and no-shows to sort out with the upcoming matchups, but in the meantime Mic Gutz would hold it down by performing a few of his own songs, captivating the crowd with a verse that uses wordplay to name-drop several Toronto legends, from Maestro Fresh Wes to k-os. He’d also promote his upcoming album Iron Mic by performing the single “F’d Up,” and would soon introduce what was meant to be the first matchup of the evening, Iron Wind vs. Nos Insidious. The matchup would have fit the Halloween theme perfectly, as it would be the samurai vs. the vampire, each artist in full costume for their performance, but unfortunately Nos Insidious had a health issue that prevented him from staying for the full event, giving Iron Wind the win by default. Iron Wind would still get to perform, showing off some incredible beatboxing skills on the song “Razor Sharp,” and rocked the crowd with the hardcore “Death Wish.”

Next would be the main event matchup of the evening, Oshawa’s own Zaze vs. Kingston’s Dirty Doc, who I’ve each seen perform at least once over my years of reviewing concerts. While both artists are veterans with plenty of years behind them, Zaze would set things off with a relatively newer song, performing “What I Love/Hate” with a ton of energy on the mic. Dirty Doc on the other hand would stick to throwbacks from 2016 for both of his song selections, first performing “Patiently Waiting.” After the first round I’d say Zaze had a cleaner vocal delivery on the mic, using the deep bass in his voice to bring out that raw aggression, while Dirty Doc had the crowd engagement going for him, interacting with the crowd better to turn the energy up.

The trend would continue into the second round, as Zaze pulled out a throwback he wrote in 2011 called “Only God,” spitting his verse raw with a ton of aggression and dropping the F-bomb in damn near every line. Dirty Doc would follow up with the more upbeat “Shooter,” which had a more melodic hook that got the crowd waving their arms and nodding their head to the beat. This was a tough matchup to vote on, as I felt that Zaze was sharper on the mic and had a better vocal delivery, but Dirty Doc’s actual songs had better written hooks that got the crowd engaged, and at the end of the day, the crowd seemed to be more behind him. Dirty Doc would end up taking home the grand prize at the end of the night.

A third matchup was meant to take place between two emcees who’ve been consistently winning every matchup they’ve had in MIXED BREEDS this year, Reapa vs. Kontex, but unfortunately Kontex couldn’t make the trip to Toronto this time, giving Reapa the win by default. Just as we saw him do at the August MIXED BREEDS event, Reapa killed it on the mic with some rapid-fire flows, nailing every word to every verse he spit. He would be followed by a hype performance by Raw Dog Entertainment artists Jeff Adams, Blaxxx Bossalini and Gov’Nah, each getting to perform a handful of songs to close out the night. I used this moment to gather my thoughts on how to vote on the prior matchup as they got the crowd hyped with their performances.

For the last MIXED BREEDS of 2023, we capped the season off with a bang. It looked like the biggest turnout of any of the MIXED BREEDS events this year, with much of the lounge filled with fans and artists alike supporting local Hip-Hop. While it was unfortunate that not all of the matchups could go forward, all of the artists involved did their thing and brought their own unique style of rocking the mic to the stage. MIXED BREEDS had a solid first season back after the pandemic, and hopefully things continue to get bigger and better for the 2024 season, as the caliber of artists continues to elevate with every event put on.

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