The last time I was at the Air Canada Centre for something other than a Raptors game was for Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour back in December. This time, I was here mainly to see Linkin Park, arguably my first favourite band I discovered when I was around 11-12 years old. I know this is primarily a…
Concert Review: Cam’ron at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto
Finally, Cam’ron has been able to get his business straight and cross the border to go on a Canadian tour. Starting in Montreal the previous night, Cam’ron touched down in Toronto for the first time at the Danforth Music Hall. Dubbed The First Of The Month Tour, Cam is out to promote his new series…
25@25: The Top 25 Most Influential Albums On My Life
A few months ago I saw something very similar to this going around Facebook, where people would post their top twelve albums that have stuck with them through the years. I posted my own list, but I wanted to go deeper and longer (pause) just for fun for my 25th birthday. So here are 25 albums…
Concert Review: Rakim at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto
Often considered the greatest rapper of all time, your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper’s favourite rapper, The God MC, Rakim has returned to Toronto. While I didn’t grow up on his music, I studied his work years after I got into hip-hop, with my first couple times hearing him being on Eminem’s 8 Mile Soundtrack and…
Concert Review: Apathy, C.L. Smooth & More at The Cookout Festival in Hamilton, ON
The Cookout is a relatively new festival to emerge from the Steel City, Hamilton, Ontario, featuring barbeque cooking and live hip-hop music. In just its second year, the 2014 edition of the festival featured D-Sisive, Saukrates, Apathy, and was headlined by C.L. Smooth performing his entire 1994 album, The Main Ingredient. On top of these four…
Concert Review: Juicy J & Run The Jewels at the 2014 NXNE Festival in Toronto
North By Northeast, or NXNE for short, is one of the biggest music and art festivals in Canada. On top of the many wrist-band concerts and shows put on throughout Toronto every June, there is also a set of free concerts in Dundas Square, with different days dedicated to different genres. I’ve previously attended their…
Concert Review: Classified & Maestro Fresh Wes at The Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, ON
The Sound of Music Festival has been one of the biggest music fests in my area for decades, and surprisingly this was only my first time attending as an adult. Many Canadian artists get to perform across ten stages by the lakeshore in Burlington over the course of a week; the free event I chose to…
Concert Review: The Roots at The 2014 Luminato Festival in Toronto + DJ Questlove at Tattoo
The Legendary Roots Crew, simply known as The Roots, have returned to Toronto for the first time in I don’t know how long. Those who follow me on Twitter already know I was really excited for this show. The first rap concert I ever went to was the 2009 Rock The Bells Festival in Los Angeles,…
Artist Profile + Album Review: 50 Cent – Animal Ambition
“Damn, homie, in high school you was the man, homie…. The f*** happened to you??” –Wanksta That quote pretty much sums up how I’ve felt about 50 Cent. I’ve gone from thinking he was the coolest rapper when I was twelve years old, to the lamest rapper when I was around seventeen, and now I…
Concert Review: Hopsin at the Kool Haus in Toronto
Hopsin is one of the better rappers to come out in the past five years. He’s been able to grow his fan base with his critically acclaimed 2010 album, Raw, his “Ill Mind Of Hopsin” Youtube series (with over 37 million views on Part 5), and most recently, his new Knock Madness album. He’s been…
Concert Review: The LOX at The Sound Academy in Toronto
Sheek Louch, Jadakiss and Styles P have each been to Toronto many times before, but this was surprisingly their first time performing here as a group. I had previously seen Sheek Louch perform in this same building a little over a year ago when he was on the Wu-Block tour with Ghostface Killah, but it…
Concert Review: Maestro Fresh-Wes & More at The Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto
This show came up last minute, but it’s hip-hop and it was free, so of course I’d check it out. I may be putting myself in an embarrassing position here, but going into this show I had not heard any full-length albums by any of the artists on the bill, with the exception of listening…
