Toronto, Where Is The Love?
Posted on August 19th, 2009 by Gedi Dabakaeri in Column, Food for Thought, tags: Agile, Boi 1da, D-Sisive, DJ Grouch, DL Incognito, drake, k'naan, k-os, Kardinal Offishall, marco polo, muneshine, Rich Kidd, Saukrates, Tone Mason
I’m lucky to live in one of the best cities in the world. However, the hip-hop scene in Toronto while not lacking in talent is still struggling in some ways. Granted we have dope artists like K-Os, K’naan, Saukrates, Kardinal Offishall and Drake making noise. But outside of those five on a international level, its a hard sell in this city. Drake’s phenomenal rise in the last year is an interesting example. He’s been making music in the city for a good number of years through his mixtapes. Maybe the stars were aligned, but he definitely had the perfect storm of factors in his favour. He had a hit record, crossover appeal, good timing, and a co-sign by arguably the biggest star in hip-hop; Lil Wayne. Affiliating himself with Lil Wayne definitely solidified his position as an artist to watch for. Instances of that kind are the exception and not the rule in Toronto. Even Kardinal has seen his biggest impact aligning himself with Akon and his Konvict Music imprint. Not to say that Kardinal wasn’t making good music, but did he really break the US market until he dropped “Dangerous”?
The stigma of not being an American city makes it worse because we have almost have to have that superstar affiliation or take the alternative route to be taken seriously; see; K-Os and K’naan. Every year the major labels on average sign something like three to four new acts in Toronto. Of those three to four they’re indie rock acts. So as a hip-hop artist it’s a tougher sell up North. We have one urban radio station that’s been around since 2001. So it still feels like breaking urban music into new market. Ironically, in a city of six million or more and culturally diverse, you’d think it wouldn’t be as challenging. Bottom line, the national support isn’t available where a Canadian artist can break the US market that easily. While urban radio as whole has its own issues, it still makes a difference in terms of underground radio programs for an audience that may not be hip to your music. If it wasn’t for the blogs, would you really hear about D-Sisive, Muneshine, DL Incognito or DJ Grouch?
The support for local talent is also an uphill battle. In Toronto it just feels like we’re waiting for acceptance from the US when it comes to our own artists before we feel compelled enough to support it locally. Basically, if your own city can’t get behind your music how exactly does one convince a label to potentially get behind it? So many of artists go the independent route and create the music they want and still make a decent living. Touring and opening shows for major artists with hopes of getting a look. I just don’t think there is enough done to develop and grow talent in the city. Fortunately, the internet has evened the playing field so one can get their music heard. I also think the Drake’s success can be a good thing if it brings more attention to my city in terms of upcoming talent. Canadian producers are also beginning to get more shine up here whether its Rich Kidd, Boi 1da, Tone Mason, Agile and obviously Marco Polo who’s been doing for a while now.
There’s a great underground scene here in the city, but we still have a ways to go in terms of exposure on a national scale. While I’m happy for Drake’s success, the city needs to get behind local talent while its bubblin’ not when Hot97 decides to give it their stamp of approval.
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You mean Mindbender hasn’t saved you all yet? He totally promised he would.
Side note: if it wasn’t for the blogs, we wouldn’t hear about very much. Most careers are carried by fans with websites these days, at least until they can afford banner ads and wrapped vans.
So what’s the real problem? The city “not being behind” local music is too ambiguous to mean anything. Is it a radio problem? Is it a venue problem? I know here in the midwest, there’s a number of cities that won’t support their local scene, but that’s because for them, hip hop and rap is something that you dance to in a club when a DJ plays it…not something you go to see live. There’s just no culture for actual shows, and getting around that is an uphill struggle.
It might be that the actual demographics of Toronto hip hop fans are too young, too broke, or just too small to make local hip hop a viable bet for local promoters, venues and radio. If that’s not the case, then you’ve got something else in the signal chain going wrong.
Possible solutions:
Is there a website for the scene? This approach is more than a symbolic step — it really makes a difference. Fake Shore Drive set Chicago’s scene on fire. The Madison Hip Hop site is another great US success story, which I’m only familiar with because I’ve got friends who do hip hop there. Get everyone on the same page and create a single, central forum for fans.
Is college radio untapped? It’s unreal how often this is case, even in established scenes.
Is it the culture of the scene itself? Too much competition is not a good thing. If all your local acts hate each other, they’re all equally fucked. Someone needs to step up and start booking gigs, building bridges, making peace.
It’s baffling to me that Toronto of all cities would have this problem. You’ve got a massive population base, a constellation of established artists and a long history of Canadian grant money for local musicians. The key is somewhere in the economics and demographics.
But it’s definitely not “the fans” fault.
With artists like Eternia & MoSS working on a brand new album called “AT LAST,” which you don’t mention or support, despite the fact that their content is elsewhere on the internet – both are Canadian, in Toronto & the producer (MoSS) is DJ Premier’s production partner – it would seem that Canadians (fans) do not support their own enough. That said, all the artists you mentioned are down with them, according to tracks I’ve seen and articles online. You should look it up, because I’ve heard snippets in their videos and they are good! D-Sisive is dope and DJ Premier plays his music STEADY on his radio show, so ppl definitely know who he is. Its up to us, the fans, and bloggers like you to dig for music and to help people find good shit. If we stick to the radio, we’re all fucked lol. Tona’s album just dropped and its really good, as well. Promise – he’s dope. DONT SLEEP, Canada has some dope shit poppin off, just get your search on
Justin, it’s the Hate in the City for any artist. We’re the self proclaimed screwface capital for a reason.
@DJ Multiple Sex Partners Mindbender…lmao!
Thanks for the comment.
1ne.
Good article! In Toronto and other cities in similar situations (see: Boston’s hip-hop scene), it really is important to establish various methods where artists receive the support they need and deserve.
No diss, but if you’re not part the solution, you’re part of the problem. Drop-A-Jewel is on point. It’s great to discuss it but it’s even better to do something about it. If enough people do, people south of the border will take notice eventually. Don’t worry about at home, the web is worldwide.
“Is there a website for the scene? This approach is more than a symbolic step — it really makes a difference. Fake Shore Drive set Chicago’s scene on fire. The Madison Hip Hop site is another great US success story, which I’m only familiar with because I’ve got friends who do hip hop there. Get everyone on the same page and create a single, central forum for fans.
Is college radio untapped? It’s unreal how often this is case, even in established scenes.”
We are your answer to both questions (no promo).
http://therealfrequency.podbus.com/blog/
I think this drum has been sounded way too often though. You are right, this whole article is right, but it’s the same song, you know?
It’s about making a movement though, progressing, and helping out. With this, it’s sort of like you drove by a car accident and told your friends about it, when instead, you should probably either get out and help, or be a part of something to limit those type of accidents.
Not to say we don’t tell our friends about an accident, because we do. I’m sure most Torontonians have told others that Toronto is a pretty un-friendly hip hop nation. But, there’s plenty of outlets that can stop and prevent this (which would’ve been heavily useful to include in this particular rant).
While Toronto’s exposure is low in hip hop, fuck it, just expose as much as possible then, you know?
I love this city too, and I love this blog. So of course, it’s just a friendly post at the end of the day.
Here’s some cites that are doing a great job of representing the city on a worldwide basis.
http://www.cityonmyback.com
http://www.hiphopcanada.com
http://www.kevinnottingham.com
Didn’t realize Kevin Nottingham was from Toronto. That’s one of my favorite hip hop sites, along with this shit right here.
Kev is not from Toronto, but my man Sean Deez above, who contributes to the site, and has spotlighted countless Toronto artists is.
yo, peep toronto native element! in this interview he speaks a little about the toronot hip hop scene from the perspective of an up and coming MC and producer(not a cheesy blog plug, this is relevant)
http://benzandabackpack.com/?p=806
@Justin Boland As Sho said, the support in this city is missing in action. If had to break it down to few factors I would say;
- the fans not supporting locals acts until they get US acceptance (wanting an established artist vs. helping establish an artist)*
- minimal hip-hop exposure outside of the internet, which may contribute to why folks don’t support live shows
http://www.hiphopcanada.com/ is definitely a dope central place to find all that local talent and whats happening out there. http://therealfrequency.podbus.com/blog/ has a New North series where they spotlight four Canadian hip-hop artists on one original new track to showcase local talent which is then made available on Itunes for purchase.
Thanks for the comment.
1ne.
@Drop_A_Jewel I guess my underground hip-hop card’s been revoked for not mentioning Moss and Eternia…lol I’ll look into getting it reviewed on here.
We definitely support Canadian content on this blog, along with hip-hop from all over the world unfortunately everything can’t make it on our blog. That Tona album is pretty good.
Thanks for the comment.
1ne.
@Deez I should’ve included possible solutions in my article, thanks for pointing that out.
Thanks for the comment.
1ne.
To be honest, I don’t really see a problem here. Our success ratio is pretty good given the amount of talent, local market, and population. Granted, I think anyone who make a living off a music nowadays is a success. We can moan about Saukrates never blowing up like we though he should, but 13 years after Hate Runs Deep both him and Marvel are still making tunes and still got people’s ears.
As far as exposure on a national scale, we got to keep in mind that Toronto the city isn’t shit to the rest of the country. Audiences outside of the GTA can be expected to give their own acts love before any of ours, and that’s a good thing. Its like we’re expecting them to want us by default. Also, by and large, Canada as a nation is not nearly as hip-hop loving as Toronto is, or the US for that matter, which explains why are indie rock bands and country bands tend to fair better than our MCs.
The landscape has really changed significantly, and I think both artists and fans have to reconstitute what exactly “success” is. We have a tremendous amount of talent making good fucking music. Maybe not enough people are catching on right away, but that music is forever, so there’s plenty of time for it to be discovered.
Are you guys kidding me? I’m sorry but welcome to the problem in every city. Atleast you have international acts. Dallas has Symbolyc One….. end roster. Local scenes don’t support anymore, no one has money, clubs are shutting down nationwide, etc, etc, etc. Welcome to the state of MUSIC in the USA. Not just hip hop.
Oh side note: Maybe no one supports because its too much of a hassle now. 1) You have to dig through the other 50,000 people in your city who make beats and rap 2) Its a chore to support. 3) Its a chore to get people to support 4) It costs money. The oversaturation of the market has made people care less and less because they have seen it all now.
Oh and FYI DFW is one of the largest metroplexes in the world. So the lack of people or a scene is def not a problem. We have more people then most cities ever could imagine.
@ear2ear “…The landscape has really changed significantly, and I think both artists and fans have to reconstitute what exactly “success” is.”
I think you make a great point because the music industry in a transition period. What we deemed as successful 5-10 years is not the norm in this digital era.
@Objektiv One “… The oversaturation of the market has made people care less and less because they have seen it all now.”
With pretty much every artist available to download or stream I can’t really disagree with that either. Music is way more disposable now than ever. An artist’s live show has to really be an experience nowadays because if not there is youtube footage the next day.
Thanks for the comments guys.
1ne.