I first ran into DJ Wristpect (blog), aka Shez Mehra, partying on a random Thursday in Guelph.  Guelph is about 45 mins north-west of anywhere near Toronto, but has one of the busiest party scenes in Ontario due to the University in town.  Guelph is traditionally rich in musical talent, with notable exports such as The Constantines, Royal City, Gentleman Reg, and the kids who run (ran?) Kazoo.  Toronto music faithful will have some familiarity with most of these acts.  And anyone who gives a shit about the state of Toronto’s DJ community will have also heard Wristpect and the great work he’s been doing with Little Brother(!), Just Blaze(!!), and AZ(!!!).   More recently he’s been doing great things on tour, such as parties with DJ AM and MSTRKRFT.

Rock the Bells

The highlight of Shez’ career for me0 has been the Bridging the Gap series of mixtapes – bridging Toronto hip hop with artists from the U.S., specifically North Carolina, New York, and Chicago. These are all available for download on his blog. If you’re only going to grab one tape, check out the HipHopDX co-branded Rock the Bells mixtape, which is party music at its finest.  If you’re going to grab two, check out the aforementioned collaboration with N.C.‘s Little Brother.

Bridging the Gap Vol. 3

Now, as far as reaching for collaborations with American hip-hop superstars, nobody has reached harder than Drake (myspace).  I don’t know how much money that kid and his faithful invested in the relationship with Lil’ Wayne: if you’re putting out tracks with the Greatest Rapper Alive and running with Young Money, the pressure is definitely on. Once again, the recent mixtape is very strong, well reviewed, and available for free download (see a pattern emerging yet?)

(This video is for Lindz .. you the fucking best)

My favourite Drake collaboration is actually with Alabama’s Rich Boy (put some d’s on that myspace) – the track Must Hate Money, which I remember from last summer.

So Far Gone Mixtape

It’s good to see these two get together sometimes. “I Run T.O.!”

More to come.

Toronto’s urban population, be it black, white, asian, or whatever, is financially better off and generally more educated than the similar demographic in the U.S., so why is that  not giving us an advantage?  Maybe I just answered my own question – but I seriously doubt that the ability to make good hip hop is tied to poverty and the lack of a high school education.   On this tangent, Famous (myspace) has a track 4th Biggest City, released early last year.  The theme is:  we’re in the fourth biggest city in North America, VideoFact gives you $40k, and the CRTC will make sure your song gets played at least 30% of the time on any urban station; carpe diem.

There is always the one notable exception:  Kardinal Ofishall.   Sure, there are K-Os and Shad-K, both of whom have the university crowds buzzing, but Kardi kills it for the city.  He is the epitome of Toronto hip-hop ambassadorship.  He rose far above that framework that Choclair, Saukrates, and the rest of the Northern Touch crew laid out.  Bakardi Slang might as well have been an advertisement for a newer, more bloodclot English language that Plies could slur, but the album died a bad label death when MCA folded.  He put out Not 4 Sale, a pretty pop-friendly album (stream it here), for which he caught some heat from people who care – but someone has to blaze the trail of Toronto to the main-stream, nes pas?

But here I’m trying to focus on the non-Kardi Toronto hip-hop world, which feels much smaller and harder to know.

To me, recently, Famous and Luu Breeze have been the standout MCs who  have the chance to take a stand in the mainstream.  Maybe not in the profound hip-hop megastardom way, but rekindle hope amongst listeners: the way Black Milk (myspace) and others brought new light to post-Eminem Detroit, or P.O.S. (myspace) gave hope to black kids in Minneapolis who want onto Rhymesayers.

In Ain’t No Use Famous discusses the shortcomings of being the rapper he is, as he’s trying to play catchup with the influence of those who told him to tuck his pants to his socks, obey his thirst, and wear white T’s.

This kid Luu Breeze (myspace) has an album dropping soon, so I’ve been told by every conceivable media tidbit about him.  The mixtape was sleek, you can download it here.  Charge It to the Game is obviously going to be the single, is a banger, but after two high profile videos, I’m not impressed with L&G Films.  A Yatch? At least be excited to be on a boat.

More to come.