Thank you to the good people at The Substance Group, and dear Mahsa, for this link. Michael Jackson forever. Don’t forget, the MJ movie ‘This Is It’ comes out Wednesday! Track list is after the jump!

Today marks the official launch of the “He’s The King, I’m The DJ” mixtape project and UNDRCRWN is honored to have loaned thier influence to the latest creation by Philadelphia legend DJ Jazzy Jeff.

By blending popular favorites and rare gems-Jeff has masterfully created a new and exciting tribute mix that honors the King Of Pop. The music takes listeners on an emotional journey by opening with slow grooves like “Lady in My Life”, followed by a smooth transition into more uptempo classics. Included in the mix are exclusive remixes by Jeff!

UNDRCRWN was on board to add their signature caricature style to the mixtape cover art. Clever, nostalgic and from the heart- the artwork inspiration comes from the iconic Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith album “He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper.”

DOWNLOAD: DJ Jazzy Jeff & Michael Jackson – He’s the King, I’m the DJ Mixtape

SHAMON!

2009’s most successful Toronto producer celebrates his bornday at Club Embassy with the ATF crew, and the rest of city that he represents so lovely. It will be nothing but good times. Be there.

Just a thought: Is that two years in a row Toronto has had the hip hop song of the summer? (Kardinal with ‘Dangerous’ in 2008 and Drake with ‘Best I Ever Had’ in 2009?) Maybe. But I digress. Come dressed to impress the best, cause this party is going to be severe. Congradulations to Boi-1da, Drake, T-Rexxx, 40 Shebib, Foots, and the whole damn crew. Keep raising the bar, family. Toronto is right behind your historic rise, every step of the way.

In case you forgot the heights of Canadian hip hop history has been made in 2009, here’s another look at ‘Forever’, produced by the birthday boy (1da).

“Last Name: Ever/ First Name: Greatest/ like a sprained ankle, boy I ain’t nothin’ to play with…”

It’s a celebration, b!tches! Happy birthday, Boi-1da. To many more years of success…

facefull of coke steez

Today, history is officially made. “Only Built For Cuban Linx Part 2” (the retail version!) is available to the world. It’s been 14 years in the making, a lifetime and a half in hip hop chronology. But the righteous ones live forever in music, and Shallah Raekwon is nothing short of an Older God and Grandmaster MC in these martial/language arts. Fuck the new jacks who don’t know the name brand or game plan. And while you’re at it, fuck all the bullshit that has accumulated in rap culture that people talk about, which essentially has nothing to do with the quality of words, thoughts and visions in an MC’s mind. All that matters is that which helps them manifest destiny’s masterpiece. Some will, some never will come close. Carrying on tradition is the ultimate immortality, and Louis Rich Diamonds is still the motherfucker not to fuck with (ask that former Def Jam rapper who shall remain nameless). Above and beyond all the motherfuckin’ ruckus in modern day rap, peace to everything else the eternally amazing Wu-Tang Clan collective has done, and will continue to do. But let it be known: this particular CD is truly special beyond explanation. Considering the cinematic magic of the first ‘Cuban Linx’ album severely influenced more MCs, producers, crimies, drug dealers and bank robbers than almost any album in hip hop history, the fact that this one is now officially done, and ready for the world, and not another one of the infamously mythological unfinished rap fantasies of the Wu-Tang Clan, is nothing short of a miracle.

I have the purple tape. I was there in ’95 when Raekwon released the first album. I remember spending the summer playing it back and forth, from the “Can It Be That It Was All So Simple” remix on side A, to the “Heaven and Hell” remix at the end of side B. Over. And over. And over. (Whatchu know about flipping over cassettes? Dying for auto-reverse? Sheeeit. Do the knowledge, God.) I remember them days. Like ODB said about the ’36 Chambers’ sessions, I don’t remember them very well, due to the all the drugs and alcohol injested, but I remember them. And I’m glad I’m alive to see one of the most anticipated album sequels of all time finally be released to the world. Motherfuckers today need to understand the levels, the chambers, the dimensions and the depths of this artform, and stop fucking around so much. But if they don’t get it, like Raekwon says: fuck ‘em. Your enormous loss, fool. Go play that ringtone hipster rap bullshit and pretend it’s classic material. In two years, when that trend is played the fuck out, you might be ready for this hellafied real and creative martial arts Mafioso rap Shaolin Island genius shit. But if not, it’s okay, Raekwon already knows it’s not for all of you. This sequel was only built for Cuban Linx niggas.

Quick fast, we reflect like the sky be blue, true: Wu-Tang saga continue.
Pop in that purple disc, and enjoy this meeting of the minds.
Politic, ditto.

Mindbender: I saw that thing you did for Caribana weekend, just bigging up the City of Toronto, a lot of people don’t know but some do. What have you seen over the years as you have come here?

Raekwon: I definitely see a community that is like out to grow. People is out here really trying to get their life together and make moves and maneuver for better, you know what I mean? It reminds me of home. One thing I learned about out here, is that you can go to many different parts of Canada and not realize how big it is. But everywhere you go, you got a different place that looks like where I’m from, which is New York. You got spots that look like Chicago out here, that look like L.A. out here. Different places, so that’s what I see out here. The environment is almost identical.

Mindbender: Some cats gotta realize that. Cause they don’t know how good they got it here.

Raekwon: You know, at the end of the day, people is just oblivious to where they have never been. So when you think of Canada, you think of a real strict, strict strict place that may be hard for everybody to get in, depending if you got a criminal record or whatever. But at the end of the day, it’s the same world. The same poverty life, the same strive for perfection, everything.

Mindbender: Hey, do you know if Ghostface will ever be able to make it here? I heard he had a warrant and it breaks my heart, but I know they fuck with Wu trying to get in.

Raekwon: Yeah, I did hear the same thing that he did have a warrant. But you know, at the end of the day he gonna find a way how to get in here and make it happen, so all we can do is just hope they let him in. Sometimes, it depends who you meet up here. But they will let him in eventually, word. I believe they will let him in.

Mindbender: So, let’s talk about the album, cause I have a purple cassette. I been riding with the Wu most of my life. It means a lot for me to see the day where the sequel to Cuban Linx is finally coming true. This is a major event in hip hop history, forget these new school kids who don’t know how big this moment is. The creation process… you put out mixtapes, you been doing nuff songs. How did you choose the album?

Raekwon: Well, you know, first and foremost, I had a lot of stuff that I was holding on to, nah mean. Where I wasn’t really allowed to touch them things cause I knew them was for particular reasons. But I made sure I kept the powerful shit over here and keep the semi-shit over there you know. One thing about me is, with the album, I wanted to come with a powerful beat selection. That’s my thing, I’m the type of MCs that really looks at beats as something important to help the people understand where I want to go with it. and we wanted this shit to just be super hard. So I made sure of that, that we kept it in the street. Made sure we gave y’all the signature storytelling that everybody really love me for, and its just production, man. When you’re sitting around a whole team of producers that want you to win and you know what direction you want to go in as far as taking it back to make a person reminisce and still move forward, it was almost like a gift and a curse situation. Me wanting to go back, but still trying to move forward and give you some kind of production that is different from a lot of cats tho, so. I really think we did a good job and met that criteria right there.

Mindbender: I like how you said that at the concert: fuck the first week sales. Fuck that bullshit. Back in 95, nobody gave a fuck about the first week sales.

Raekwon: Yeah. Yeah.

Mindbender: It was ‘Does your shit last forever, or not?’

Raekwon: Uh-huh.

Mindbender: Nowadays, even a legend like you, nobody can get around it. Soundscan, is it getting played here or there… what is your strategy in not giving a fuck, but still having to deal with first week sales, and new kids not understanding the importance of Wu and shit?

Raekwon: I mean, you know, this album is more or less for the cats that really know where it came from, and less for the new jacks. Like I said, for me, when I think of me making an album, everybody from ‘95 is the same people from 2009 that’s fiending for it, so this album is carved out for them. Hopefully the young G’s or whatever will be able to catch on sooner or later and say “yo, you know this is something authentic”, but this is straight for my dudes. Like how we name any of our albums, when we named that album, we felt like it was particularly built for a few! When we say that, we mean that. Cause really, honestly, I rhyme to the drug dealer niggas, I rhyme to the street niggas that make moves, hustle, trying to get their life together, escaping from here to there without a cut, without bruises. So, everybody ain’t gonna be able to understand the lingo. So you know, at the end of the day, we gonna keep doing what we do though, cause we trendsetters, and trendsetters they have they own cult that recognizes them for what they do, so that’s what this album is. It’s for the people that are looking for this shit they haven’t been getting in a long time. You heard all the other MCs do they thing, but it’s been a while since dudes heard me. So I’m just coming with a whole new flavor kit again.

Mindbender: So if you don’t mind, let’s talk a bit about the family. Shit’s been going on since 8 diagrams, whatever but… even if it takes 2, 5, 10 years, there is another Wu family album in the heart chamber, right? A family album?

Raekwon: It’s gonna happen, but we gotta take our time, cause there’s a lot of things that gotta get dealt with respectfully and businesswise. Before, we was young, so we were vulnerable to be able to do all kinds of stuff, but now? Cats is really more hands on with the business side of it. and like I said, when we fall, then we form back together, we may be taking pay cuts because we’re trying to keep what we started together. But it’s hard for a man to do that when he know that he got his own life and gotta provide for him. To come together to do that, it would be real hard. But at the same token, we do it for the fans, cause that’s what y’all want. You know what I mean, so you know. Maybe it’ll happen next year, maybe it’ll happen… a couple of months from now. We never know. At the end of the day, we still gotta sacrifice for y’all, but we still gotta do what we gotta do for each other, as a man.

Mindbender: I wanted to tell y’all that I think Wu-Tang is the only crew in hip hop that will have multiple dynasties. Most crew have one good season in the sun.

Raekwon: Word.

Mindbender: Bad Boy, Death Row, Ruff Ryders, I respect them all. But I think Wu-Tang is the only crew that had a rise, has gone through some turmoil, but can have another rise and remain leaders like before. Y’all are very different than most other crews, fundamentally.

Raekwon: People pay attention to the outstanding ones in the game, and they know that everything we did allowed us to still be here today. It’s all about how you respond to the people when you see them. Wu-Tang has never been the ones to really be out there and be at every party or whatever whatever, but you know, we still here though. Cause people were still able to see brothers, and get that energy. It’s young kids all over that’s just familiar with dudes and want to get next to cats. So we gonna make it our business to still go out there and tour the world. For me, I never really did a major world tour though. So we look forward to doing that for Cuban Linx 2, word.

Mindbender: So there’s two albums, I want to know about two albums. There’s a rumor about an album between you, Ghost and Meth. What’s the word on that?

Raekwon: Yeah yeah, there’s a rumor about that, but there’s still more to talk and discuss cause you know, distribution is everything. The way I’m moving right now is, I’ve created my own situation that allows me to own my masters to what I do, so we’ll see how Def Jam play. You got Ghost and Meth over there. Really, it’s about to be right, it can’t be lopsided. It’s gotta be where I know it will help the family as well.

Mindbender: And the ‘Shaolin vs Wu-Tang’ album. That’s one of the powerful rumors out there. What up with that?

Raekwon: Yeah…

Mindbender: I saw RZA on his 40th birthday when he was out here for Rock the Bells. I love the brother to death.

Raekwon: Mm-hmm.

Mindbender: I’ma tell you how real it gets: my twin brother in my group put out a dis song to me two days ago.

Raekwon: Hah!

Mindbender: So I tell motherfuckers, I learn from Wu. They may fight, but they family. It’s brothers.

Raekwon: Yeah, you gotta let ‘em be who they are. You gonna have your brothers every now and then, but you gotta let ‘em know that they your brothers.

Mindbender: Word. So is the ‘Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang’ album, you think you might put together that album?

Raekwon: Yeah it’s coming. you know, but it’s not on the front burner. At that time, we was speaking on it cause we all felt a certain kinda way. But like I said, I could be mad at my brother, but I can’t be mad at him forever.

Mindbender: Of course.

Raekwon: It’s not my thing. I’m not caught up in no shit like no broad. We can still sit down and really kick it and go do lunch and talk about moving forward, you know what I mean? That’s the most important thing. You don’t have too many groups that stick together for 14 or 15 years. We going on 16 years, nah mean? You think everything is going to be fucking sweet? Ha ha. It’s not gonna happen. We get the best energy sometimes when we away from each other, and then come back together to do whatever we do, because it gives us a form of missing each other. You know, I could be mad at nigga, but once I aint seen him in so long, once I see him it’s like, that’s my nigga I miss you, you know what I mean? Like I said man we just keep it real with ourselves and brothers may be going thru a lot within they own lives, nah mean? Like I said, cats grew up in this shit. When I came in this shit, I had no kids. I got three kids now. So a lot of things changed in my life, and I understand how important it is to go out there and be the best you can be and not put yourself in situations where it aint gonna help you, so everyone out here just trying to get they weight up. But you see Cuban Linx 2, you see the cover of that album right there? That cover describes the lifestyle of where we going with this shit, man. You see that shit on my face? That’s coke on my face. That’s the bag in my hand and all that shit. Shit’s splashed on it.

Mindbender: Who’s the other cat layin? That’s not Ghostface is it?

Raekwon: Naah.

Mindbender: I kinda thought that was like that picture of god reaching down to that artist reaching his hand up, the Michaelangelo one.

Raekwon: you talkin about the famous one?

Mindbender: Yeah.

Raekwon: That look like two fucking biscuits pointed at each other!

Mindbender: I saw that part. Ha, yeah. I thought that was the Wu-Tang take on it.

(weed carrier): I thought it was what he said, right away.

Raekwon: Oh, Michaelangelo shit.

Mindbender: Is that the official cover?

Raekwon: That’s just one of the covers to put you in that zone. Crazy. Just with the Roman Numeral II on it.

Mindbender: Yo, there’s one of the things you said yesterday that blew my mind. You said “RZA built Wu-Tang, but ODB built RZA.” Can you expand on that?

Raekwon: It’s the truth. One thing about RZA is that all his life, he was a shy dude. He was mad shy, he would come outside, he wouldn’t hang with the drug dealers, he would prefer to do something else. He would rather study lessons. He didn’t want to be out on the block, nah mean? But at the same time, also, he was a DJ, and he loved to cut. I remember being in they spot when these dudes would be just fucking with the turntables all the time. Like, Dirty had helped make beats. Dirty helped make Brooklyn Zoo and all that. A lotta people don’t know that though. He was definitely a producer too. But he gave RZA wings. He gave RZA the ability to feel that, “Yo, this shit is dope.” Don’t matter what nobody tell you, your shit is dope to me. At the same time, Dirty was doing his own thing at the time. He was like a threat to RZA in his own little way, but that was his cousin, so RZA was smart enough to pull him in and let him create what Dirty wanted. Whether he felt, yo I’m trying to make a beat like this or whatever, RZA would listen to what he felt. So at the end of the day, he was RZA’s battery, like I told you.

Mindbender: That’s amazing. Cause I talk to [the mother of ODB’s fourth child] and [ODB’s son] Ason Unique, they’re around.

Raekwon: He looks just like his pops. He with RZA right now, though.
RZA’s holding him down. That’s a good thing you know. They first cousins. I feel like he should be keeping with him. Let him live with him. Just hold him down, cause he’s growing up by himself. He got brothers and sisters, but they are young. That kid move just like Dirty. It be scaring me, to be honest with you. It be scaring me when he be moving like that. Cause he wants to emulate his pops so much. But I always come back and tell him like yo, your pops is an entertainer. All this shit is just part of entertainment, but don’t fall into that situation that you think you can do something crazy and your uncles aint gonna say nothing, nah mean. We’re constantly on him, and we’re letting him know, I ain’t always gonna be here to make you smile, nigga. I might make you cry. Like you outta character. We don’t smoke weed together, we don’t drink together. It’s like c’mere, what are you doing. We be constantly thinking about his pops. His pops is aiight. He’d want to see us make it happen. So you know, just me knowing that, that allows me to still go out there and rep Wu to the fullest, nah mean? Cause he died for this shit right now, the way I feel. And the crazy shit is that he ain’t have to die. It’s almost like some Michael Jackson shit, you know what I mean? That was his way of getting away from his pain, was take medication. But when he went away into the G-building, it was like… he came back fuckin’ twisted, like shaking… he wasn’t the same dude. You know, you take medication for that, the shit will add on to your shit, nah mean?

Mindbender: Word. Thanks man. I was wondering, would you mind tell a story about Dirty?

Raekwon: He’s definitely an entertainer, but he’s a person who moves off his own actions. You know, his thing is that, he’s one of the cats that always want to win. Even when he’s not subjected to win, he has to win in his mind. Whether he makes a statement, whether he says something, whether he’s got his boys behind him, or whatever, he never has a problem facing the offence, cause he been an unpriviledged child all his life, so when he actually had an opportunity to get something, he ran with it. he loved the limelight, he loved to get on stage and make y’all laugh, he loved to get on stage and tell jokes, and tell you he’s the best. All that had a lot to with dudes being who they are today, cause he repped us like we were the MIGHTY Wu, more than just the group the Wu-Tang Clan. The father took him first cause he seen all the shit we was dealing with one another, so… but he aiight tho. All I remember is that when that shit happened and I went down there to see him, it’s like he had that face like he was ready to go to heaven. I’ll never forget that face. That face was like, like ‘I gotta go’, you know what I mean? That’s gonna stick with me for a long time. Cause I remember that face. You know how they say the dead leave a smile on they face to let you know how they was feeling, you know what I mean? Like another one of my mans got killed and he had that face like he was mad, like “I slipped. The fuck I did?” So you know, everybody got a different face to things, but he’s here with me… he helped me build this great album, Only Built for Cuban Linx Part 2, The Purple Tape. Get ready, the album is fire! You know what im’ saying, you got a long strong songs on there. If you a real hip hop head, you know what it is. You know that we gonna come with nothing but raw hip hop.

Raekwon: You got Blue Raspberry on there, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Beanie Sigel, you got Lyfe Jennings up there for a cut with me and Dre, my brother Busta Rhymes helped me do so much this year, it’s like, he helped me on the project, so I wanted to make sure he gets blessed tho. But for the most part, it’s here it’s done, you’re gonna get it in a few weeks. And you can listen to it and blast it and learn the rhymes and you gonna be good. You gonna see me in a minute, come out here and do that shit.

Mindbender: Come get that house in Toronto, brother! We’d love to have you here, man.

Raekwon: Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’m trying to get all my immigration shit and all that good shit, and all that good shit. Make it happen. If it happen I’m bringing the rest of mine out here though. Get ready though. Chef love you like cooked food, real talk. September 8th though, Cuban Linx 2. Peace!

Cuban Linx 2: only dope shit.

So, I now present some photos of a few more of the wonderful things that happened in Toronto in 2009. I hope you were there in person to witness some of these amazing days…

Awesome Moment to Remember Number 5:

DJ Nana, DJ L'Oquenz, and DJ Son of S.O.U.L.'s smokin hot Michael Jackson tribute... it was blazing hot up in there!

it's too dark and sweaty to see that it's Saidah Baba Talibah killing us softly with a MJ dedication... but please believe it's her!

Michael Jackson lives in our hearts forever and ever

It was so hot up in there, the electricity went out a couple times! But that couldn’t end the vibes. People couldn’t stop til they got enough, and the spot was full of great Toronto people, music lovers and music makers alike.
Most of the night was spent playing MJ’s best, from old 70’s jems to the biggest and best songs of all time, and it was just a great night. Even though the rain was pouring like crazy outside, it was nothing but a hot box sauna of love and dancing on the inside!

Peace to everyone involved in that delightful event. It was necessary. MJ forever.

~~~

EVENT NUMBER SIX: THE FIRST ANNUAL ‘SAUGA BEHAVIOUR FESTIVAL: 2009

ill as fuck. all done live!

Frostimus Prime: A TORONTO KING AND B-BOY SUPREME

gyeah!

the day was perfect!

Toronto's b-boys and b-girls, reppin' hard for love and good Behaviour

just in case you didn’t know:
THE MANIFESTO (no pun intended, ha ha) OF THE FIRST BEHAVIOUR URBAN ART FESTIVAL

“This massive marker in the history of Mississauga will cater to not only the 18 to 30 age bracket but also gear toward the interest in youth of all ages and from all regions of the GTA. It will draw upon the collective talents of alternative musical bands, visual artists and Hip-Hop culture. “Behaviour” will cross boundaries of genre and create a backdrop story for determination and an artistic revolution.

~HOSTS
Mindbender, Mak, The Identity Crisis
~DJ’s
Frequency (L.O.D.B.) & Zedvantz (W.L.E)
~3 on 3 Breakin’ Showcase Tournament
Ground Illusionz, Maximum Efficiency, Floor Assassins, Fly Antics Crew
~Judges
Crazysmooth (C.F.M. / Breaks Kru / Dynasty Rockers, NYC)
FreshFX (Ground illusionz / U.N.I.T.Y.)
Leftelep (Albino Zebrah, Conscious Soles)
~Performances by
OlaRoks, We The Fire Makers, DJ J-Tec, Slakah The Beatchild, Boogie Brats, Last OF a Dying Breed, The Vibrasonic sessions
~Art by Slon, Phade, Akira, and Skam
Venders, workshops, giveaways, mentalities, possibilities…

p.s. the live percussion session that Slakah the Beatchild invited people in the crowd to come up and participate in was phenomenal! The entire event was amazing. Thank you to Marcelino Frost, the City of Mississauga, and everyone who came thru to support! The day was truly perfect, from the sunshine to the entertainment… thanks to everyone there. Next year’s event will be even bigger and better!
~~~
I love all the good people in Toronto who keep on keepin’ on.
We are the future of the culture. Let’s show the world.
Mindbender

b-boy stances on lock

DJ Dopey and Notes To Self came game tight with solid rhymes galore and top notch tag team energy. What might have lacked in stage presence was compensated for in good hip hop energy. Roshin was clearly the top MC, murdering the delivery of the syllable-heavy verses he repeatedly sprayed the audience with. Jay-Z needed to hear his rap on the ‘D.O.A.’ beat to take note on how to murk a banger. And Bronze One and Swamp Donkey jumped all over ‘Kinda Like A Big Deal’ in a serious way. DJ Dopey also had a nice segment where he displayed his world-class cutting skills, which the crowd enjoyed immensely. The Michael Jackson ‘PYT’ slicing was excellent, nobody could deny the skill. And the acapella shellshock from Roshin’s grand finale was just marvelous. The crowd chanted along at every request, and they got off the stage before the De La anticipation could overwhelm them. A perfectly short and sweet set.

Roshin and Dopey: two of Canada's finest

So DJ Maceo comes out, grinning from ear to ear, and everyone goes bananas, of course. The show begins on time, as the nearly-full Phoenix capacity crowd gets ready to witness history all over again. The live band that has been accompanying De La for a lot of their ‘20 Years High and Rising’ Tour was not present, but that wasn’t that much of a problem, since I bet De La is so talented, they could cold rock a party even without turntables or a microphone. They got right down to business, sparking the show with the undeniable banger, ‘The Grind Date’. Posdnous came out to a shower of screams, and dove into his verses without hesitation. Minutes later, Trugoy came swaggering out, letting his jolly and gully energy hold down the other side of the rhyme equation. You knew it was gonna be a great night from the first song that was played.

Trugoy the Dove: a certified fan of Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles

Before the show was ten minutes deep, Maceo got a microphone and started barking party orders at the crowd, and loving the moment to the fullest. He was so overflowing with fun energy, he busted out the Flava Flav dance, bobbing and swinging his arms left and right with reckless abandon. Its little things like that, that sets De La apart from the rest of the rap world. When your DJ is a better MC than most group’s MCs are, you know you need to step your rap game up. They jumped into the ever-amazing joint ‘Ooh’, where Maceo owned the chorus that Redman laid down so greatly years ago.

I wanna hear you say 'Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!'

Then came the part of the show that a seasoned rap veteran like me would say is the only part possible to respectfully criticize. There are a few transitions and segments of a De La show that haven’t changed over the years, and a new twist or update on them might be all they need to turn their Top Ten Performer status into possibly Top Three, if not higher. They play Bob James’s Nautilus, and “take it back” to the beginning… but they almost always do it like this. Even if they played Mardi Gras or Apache or something a little different each time, it would perfect the moment. But I digress.

They go into ‘Potholes In My Lawn’, which is always fun.
‘Ego Trippin’ happened next, and that is simply hip hop heaven to hear. One of the best songs of 93, for sure, to see it performed is hilarious and enjoyable. The lines are full of character and great rap references, and to see De La interpret them, with their inside-joke wit and ways, is just plain fun. Then they slid into ‘Much More’, a regal jam if they ever did one. And before they usually bring out a big gun like this, the J Dilla produced, 3-bar bliss bringer ‘Stakes Is High’ was unleashed. When they say “vibe”, you scream “vibrations!”. The stakes are still high, people. The lyrics are still relevant, over a thirteen years later. Holy shit, has it been that long?! Rap is outta control.

get a drink, it's hot as hell in here tonight...

The timeless joint ‘Pease Porridge’ came next, and with those maracas clicking and little horns bumping, an old school head like me just had to stand there, starry-eyed in amazement, at how a song like that can still bring happiness 20 years later. They don’t make rap like that anymore.

Then their most egregious crime was committed, but they are as innocent as they are guilty. Posdnous took stage right and Trugoy took stage left, and shouted “is the party on this side?” or “is the party on that side?”, which is the same divide and conquer tactic they have been doing since 1993. Honestly, I find it a bit disconcerting when an audience is made to fight against each other, as much as it can incite some very excited individuals. Seeing as how I started the show on the other side, besides homies like Dan-E-O and Kornflake Saymore of Double Soul, I didn’t feel good about cussing them cause the were on the other side of the venue. I’ve seen COUNTLESS rappers do this to get the crowd hype, and I find it pretty played out, to be honest… but to be even more honest, De La Soul was the FIRST group I ever saw do it, way back in 93. It still works.

De La then thanked the crowd for the blessing of 20 years of support, as the living legend photographer who shot De La Soul’s FIRST CONCERT in New York City came through the crowd. Toronto might not have known it, but the enormous Aboriginal man who got on stage and took pictures of De La in the middle of the concert was hip hop’s #1 photo documentarian, an amazing man by the name of Ernie Paniccioli.

on the right is the legedary Brooklyn photographer and humanitarian, Ernie Paniccioli. RESPECT DUE!

De La stopped the show for a second to express shock and appreciation of Ernie’s surprise attendance to the concert. His amazing book ‘Who Shot Ya?’ is the ULTIMATE ‘who’s who’ in hip hop picture book and historical document. The man took not only Biggie Smalls’, but Big Pun’s very LAST photo shoots while they were alive on planet earth. These are things worth knowing.

Ernie was the keynote speaker at the First Words Aboriginal Hip Hop Conference that was at the Harbourfront on Saturday afternoon. I moderated the panel, and it was historic to learn from a man of such infinite wisdom and compassion. He showed a movie of his called ‘The Other Side of Hip Hop’ (which you can download at www.ourgangitvnet.com ), which I highly recommend you check out. It was Ernie’s first time to Toronto in his life, and he was amazed at all the beauty and culture and kindness us Canadians had, as well as the intensity of the hip hop shows we have. And yes, pictures of a teenage Busta Rhymes is in his book as well. Ernie told me he hasn’t gone to a hip hop show in a long time, but the good brother Che Kothari of ManifesTO brought Ernie to De La, and when I saw him swim through the crowd to give me a pound, and take pictures of De La killing it, I couldn’t believe it. Good times.

Ernie Paniccioli capturing legendary moments with De La Soul

De La said “we know it’s Sunday today, but we think it’s time we celebrated like it’s SATURDAY!” and continued with the eternal jem (A Rollerskating Jam Called) ‘Saturdays’, which ALWAYS is hype as hell. Then took it to ‘Me, Myself And I’. Not as many old songs were played at this show as one might think, but it didn’t matter. It was electric.

Posdnous rhyming while walking through the crowd

Then Trugoy got on stage right, and channeled James Brown something hilarious.
He growled “Maceo!”
Maceo says “yeah!”, on some Eddie Murphy ‘Delirious’ shit.
“You feel good?!”
“Yeah!”
“You like Toronto?”
“Yeah!”
“You hawfurk^lworhunh*?!”
Maceo, perfectly responds “…..yeah!”
“Toronto! You hurfuc*#furlhuna?!”
the crowd hilarious screams “yeah!!!”
Excellent. This is what sets them apart from everyone else, these little bits of personality and history. Dove then goes: “You are ALL hip hop, if you’re here with us tonight. I don’t care what you listen to! Whether you listen to 50 Cent or KRS-One, you are hip hop. If you listen to Soulja Boy…”
then the crowd went “Boooo!”
and Dave hilariously rebutted: “Hey, that kid is doing something! Better that than out there robbing someone. He’s 17 and doing his own thing, and I ain’t mad at him, he’s hip hop too.”
then the crowd hushed a bit… before Trugoy added: “……I would never buy Soulja Boy’s shit, but that’s just me!”
Mad laughter and applause.
Then they said “we’re gonna do a record that we feel is the embodiment of hip hop energy and power. If you don’t like this one, then fuck you, ha ha!”
‘Rock.Ko.Kane.Flow’ was unleashed, and it was song armageddon. That shit was a fucking megaton bomb, and the energy Posdnous brought to his one stunning verse (performed three times, mind you) was totally undeniable.

if they performed this whole song, AND had MF DOOM with them? it's over.

By the third time, they fell over dead from exhaustion from rocking this Jake One banger so hard. The crowd went fucking psychotic every time Maceo wheeled it back.

Then after the third time, they got up, thanked everyone, and bowed out gracefully.

Pos on the left, Dove on the right

Amazingly, the last thing Trugoy said on the mic was “Ayo, what’s up with those ‘NOTES TO SELF’ t-shirts? Those are dope, I gotta get one!” before he walked off stage. Wow. Praise from Caesar.

But, it ain’t over. You know an encore is coming. You just don’t know what kind of encore is coming. I promise you, it’s not the average…

They come back to the stage after five minutes of STRAIGHT “DE LA! DE LA! DE LA! DE LA!!” screams, and they are beaming with pride. The obligatory “say hoooo!” chants spark up the second set, and then the Long Island Trio launches into “Itsoweezee”, a cherished little De La ditty. A couple other loved numbers get run, before they stop the show and say to the audience:
“We have to say, Toronto, this is the BEST SHOW so far on the whole tour! NYC was great, Vancouver was really fun, Dallas was nice, all over has been good… but Toronto is the best show yet!”, which ignited the crowd beyond belief. And sure, they could have been just saying that, but what happened next might have been the ultimate proof that they weren’t just shitting us to stroke our egos.

any way you cut it, they can kill it for rilla

‘Buddy’ dropped next, and everyone jammed hard as hell. The party was frothing with satisfaction and fun. And like that, the MCs Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove floated away into the curtain of memories past. The rapping was over.

But… the crowd just wouldn’t leave.

A good 500 people remained glued to the Phoenix floor. More chants of “DE LA! DE LA! DE LA!!!” kept coming. And coming. And coming. Non-stop.

You’d think that after an hour and change of amazing hip hop performance, a solid encore, and countless moments of satisfaction would be enough to get one’s money’s worth so the people could go home happy, right? Wrong. Not in Toronto, not tonight.

The cheering was so damn unceasing, that about ten full minutes later, DJ Maseo walked out, perplexed and curious to see what the all the fuss was about. The crowd erupted again. Then, he said “do y’all mind if I just play some records I love?” And everyone roared in approval. So the SECOND ENCORE happened, which was simply DJ Maseo playing golden era hip hop records for damn near an hour! That shit was motherfucking amazing.

That’s what made me believe them when they said “Toronto was the best city on the whole tour.” That kind of love doesn’t happen all the time, especially not in Toronto, nor in every other city I’ve been to, to see hip hop concerts. This was a truly memorable experience.

But I have two last thoughts/observations:

1) Why in the name of Rakim Allah does De La Soul NOT perform their immaculate record “Breakadawn”? Not only is it one of the nicest sounding songs of the early 90’s, it was, to my knowledge, the VERY FIRST SONG to legally sample Michael Jackson (I think it came out a few months before Nas and Large Professor’s classic hit “It Ain’t Hard to Tell”) in hip hop history! In what alternate universe does De La Soul not pay tribute to the immortal Michael Jackson by running “I Can’t Help It” for a minute, then getting Maseo to cut in “Breakadawn”?

Thankfully, Maseo started his set with it. I almost knocked someone out running to the dancefloor to jam to this, praying to the hip hop gods that Pos and Dove would come out with “the instamatic focal point bringing damage to your borough”, but no. Just the instrumental was all I was getting that night. I’ll take it.

2) Maseo said something of great importance at the end. He goes “I want to give a shoutout to 3 cats: DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Kid Capri, and DJ Red Alert. Why? Because they are all older than me, but they are still doing their thing. I’ma be a DJ forever, man. I’ma do this until death.”

The crowd went fucking crazy.

Now that’s how you guarantee yourself another 20 years of love and life in hip hop. De La Soul can come here every year until they are no more, and get the praise they got on Sunday. It was heavenly.

If Busta Rhymes gave us more of his classics, he would have gotten the same kind of unstoppable encore devotion at the end of his similarly energetic show. THIS is how you cement 20 years in the game.

De La Soul are one of the best things to ever happen to hip hop. Peace to everyone who came to the show and let them know how true it is.

even though we say 'throw your hands in the air', we never can say goodbye...

I love hip hop. Thank you to De La Soul, Ernie Paniccioli, REMG, and everyone in the audience for making this an amazing show.
One love, Toronto.
From Addi “Mindbender” Stewart

I must say, seeing where these high energy MCs are at in 2009 was an enlightening experience. I’ve seen both of the acts a few times each over the years, but watching them both up close and personal at the Phoenix highlighted the similarities, and some glaring differences, between each of the living legends.

JB and Michie Mee representing Toronto to the fullest

(Peace to the good people who got this great footage for you:
http://www.cityonmyback.com/?s=busta+rhymes )

Busta’s show on Wednesday started with a hardcore street-hop introduction by JB. His short and strong set was straightforward and serious. Street bangers were tightly interspersed with stripped down selections, but the highlight was the invaluable introduction of the Queen of Canadian Hip Hop, the eternally amazing Michie Mee. Their back and forth control of the stage, and Michie’s fiery presence and wordplay was clearly the highlight of the opening acts. JB did his thing, paid respect to Michie, and then gracefully bowed out. If only the next act was so wise and lucky.

DJ Boogeyme'n and T-Rexxx holding it down

A hype dude named DJ Dave, proudly wearing a “Hip Hop Aint Dead, It Lives In The North” t-shirt got the crowd all ready for the main event, dropping a bounce beat and screaming “Are y’all ready for Busta?!” And the crowd certainly was, frothing at the mouth to growl with the Dungeon Dragon. But what happened next?

live and learn...

3 amped-up white MCs come running out on stage, and start to do their thing. The DJ made the dangerous mistake of completely deceiving the crowd, while he was doing his job. The group was decent, rocking some tag-team rhymes, but the crowd wasn’t having it. Furthermore, you can’t force Toronto to do anything, much less make noise, by screaming “make some nooooooise” if they aren’t fully into your set. Even when you rap on old classic Gangstarr breaks and deliver good energy rhymes, if you can’t gauge the crowd and see that they are not receptive to you, it’s best to keep it moving as much as possible, before it gets ugly. And it did.
Peter Jackson did ‘Warm It Up Jackson’, a twist on the jem by Big Daddy Kane (who rocked the same stage a few months earlier), and he rocked a Neptunes beat, and as well as his Royce 5′9″ collaboration with his homies, but before it was over, the angry anticipation overflowed, and the “Busta!!! Busta!!!” chants came crashing down over the sound of the opening act’s raps. One dude valiantly tried to get one last song off, but could barely speak into his mic, as the audience vocally demanded Busta come out, chanting Bus’s name endlessly over the music playing. One of the MCs threw a towel in the crowd that nobody reached out to get. Cold. Then the respect levee broke, and I saw a water bottle come flying through the air and land right at the feet of the MC at center stage. Uh oh. Done the show before more bokkles start flying, yo. It started off decent, but the end of Peter Jackson and Co.’s set was pure early 90’s Screwface Capital madness. I felt nostalgic.

Hustlin’ by Kardinal Offishall was a good touch to play after that. Can I get a “yow”?

The big homie T-Rexxx hosted the affair as well, and did good getting people involved. He had better luck than the last act. And of course, introduced “the song of the summer”, our boy Drizzy’s ‘Best I Ever Had’. Proper. But what wasn’t as satisfying was the DJ only playing intros and choruses of songs, and not enough verses. It’s a bigger problem especially the song selection is so good. ‘Liquid Swords’ is great not only because of its intro and chorus… the verses are good too. DJ Wristpect is sick as hell on the 1’s and 2’s, but he’s not the only one guilty of this unfortunate crime… to all modern club DJs: please play at least the first verse of certain classic songs, and let your Serato chill for a minute, fam!

I digress. Like I said, I love this shit too much. The more you love, the more you have to express…

Side note: I have to big up T-Rexxx for hilariously coining the term “Go-Go Gadget Patois”. Okay, showtime.

DJ Roc Raida comes out, sets the tables. The capacity crowd is screaming like crazy. Spliff Star enters, wearing a hometown label, Concrete Guerilla. Big up! Then, Busta Rhymes swaggers out, and the place erupts. He soaks in a deluge of applause and cheers for a good 30 seconds before he even speaks.

lovin' the love

reppin' hard

I’ll breakdown the playlist (as many songs as I can remember), with a few asides, to show how great (yet somewhat disappointing) this show was. Trevor Smith started with:

So Hardcore (half of it)
Ante Up (his verse on the remix, and two choruses) <- This was a highlight of the night.
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See (beat)
crowd chatter...
I Know What You Want (with a Mariah Carey-part crowd singalong)
...then he spat some patois at the audience, which you know always goes over well in Toronto. Then:
Respect My Conglomerate came next
Give Them What They Asking For
Kill Dem <- Another high point of the night, hearing Busta's first full dancehall ditty
then he played another song off his atrocious new album 'Back On My Bullshit' (honestly, it's his worst solo album out of all eight. It's tragically unhip) and he started plugging the album ('cause I know it's not selling).
People started screaming out for other songs, and Busta chastised them, stating: "I been doing this for 20 years, son! Let me do my show."

And that's my only problem. For someone 20 years deep in rap, to only do songs from your last decade is disappointing. No Leaders of the New School, no classic crew track jams, no Flava In Your Ear remix verse... and another heartbreaker we'll get to in a minute.

He jumped into Make It Clap, which was dope, also because of Spliff Star's amazing verse on it... then what does he do next? His verse from Lumidee's 'Uh Oh' remix. Really, Bus? Okay, I guess, if you insist. Then comes 'Light Your Ass on Fire' and 'Touch It', which makes sense. But then he decides to perform 'Wait Til You See My Dick'. Word?? Is it that important we hear this song tonight, out of all your hits? Wow.

pause. no homo

If this was your first time seeing Busta, you’d love it. He’s got insane energy, he’s a monster of a man, and he’s got that million dollar grin. But if you’ve been in the game for a couple decades, which some of the attendees were, then you might be a bit… perplexed, at parts of this event.

He cut off Spliff Star from speaking to the crowd to declare to a guy in the front row who kept grabbing his shoes: “Why do you keep touching me? Unless you’re gay, and that’s no disrespect to those people, you’re supposed to fuck clean pussy! Stop touching me, you’re a man! I don’t do that. I’m not disrespecting nothing gay or homo, but I got kids and I need to fuck pussy! God bless everybody!” Of course, the crowd was screaming like mad. Homophobia and hip hop go together like police batons and Black men’s skulls. Still.

So then, Spliff Star says: “We’re gonna take you back in time! We’re going to the year: nineteen ninety…..”
And me, in the front row, screams out “ninety ONE!”, silently praying to hear one verse from ‘Case of the PTA’ or something. What happens?
Spliff Star says “FUCK THAT! NINETY -SIX-!”
My heart crumbles.
The DJ throws on ‘Woo-Hah! Got You All In Check’.
I smile.
BUSTA ONLY PERFORMS THE CHORUS, THEN SHUTS IT OFF.
I cry.
WTF? Rap is outta control.
Then, to add insult to injury, they throw on ‘Scenario’. This is hip hop nirvana, hearing Busta do his timeless verse. SO WHY DOES HE STOP RAPPING HALF WAY THROUGH IT? He does the chorus, the entire venue is east coast stomping to paradise, and… Busta kills it at “follow me, uh! As I come back!” I damn near faint. Since when do people not actually perform all of their hit records? You think Snoop Dogg stops performing ‘G Thang’ after he says “1, 2, 3, and to the 4…”? I’m not a hard man to please, but DAMN, HOMIE. Shit was insane. It continued to be so.

rhyme animal

Busta performed:
What It Is Right Now
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See (with Spliff Star turning Busta’s vocal levels up and down with an invisible knob beside Bus’s mouth… which was dope as hell)
Fire It Up
Touch It
Gimme Some Mo’ (but only the chorus!)
… then when the crowd audibly let out a burst of disappointment and a few hisses since he wasn’t going to perform all of that song (amongst all the others he cut short), he justified it by saying: “Don’t you dare boo me! Yuh nah go’ boo meh! I was only contractually supposed to perform for 30 minutes! Anything I do over that is a blessing.” Ha. If he came to Toronto and only performed for 30 minutes, he’d get cussed out til he reached the borderline. He spent enough time talking that he coulda performed 2 more records of his. But then what did he do soon after? ‘Arab Money’. Of course.
But ‘Pass the Courvoisier’ came, all was well. That record is fun, and Bussa performed it properly (drenching the crowd with a spraying bottle of champagne), before having a personal moment with the audience.

real talk

He revealed:
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years. But people didn’t know, my father’s only sister lives in Canada. She’s a 42 year old Jamaican lady, and I’ve been coming here to visit her since I was 5. I got love for the T Dot.”

Mad cheers.

louder!

He even addressed the ever-present border patrol problems, and wisely told the booing crowd to cheer the border guards, cause he added “one of you fools probably gonna throw footage of us booing the border guards on YouTube, and once they see that, they’ll never let me back. So yay to the border patrol! Cheer for them!” Which got mostly cheers, and still some ignorant boos. Some people just don’t get it.

Roc Raida has his moment after, and he tore it up… but he’s done that LL Cool J/”Ninja of Rap” scratch routine many times, even on the same Phoenix stage. I can’t crossfade with my nose or belly button, but… an upgrade is in order, brotherman. It still is ill to see, though.

Busta then said “thank you for being a part of this experience.” to which the crowd exploded, as they sensed the night was coming to an end. “Damn, the Toronto, T-Dot, whatever you call it… the T-Dot love is amazing!” True.
Spliff Star then announced his female clothing line, Yum-E, which apparently is Japanese for “princess”. As Busta smoked a cigarette on stage, and then said “hell yeah, I’m smoking a cigarette, I can’t smoke no weed up here”, he compared the concert to the forces of nature, and said “thank you”, and left.

To use a Nas line in a new way, I’d say the show was “half mad/ half amazing.”

I spoke to a homegirl at the De La Soul show, who summed it up even more succinctly than I did here. She said “there was no cohesion or logic to the show. He jumped around from song to song, and only did parts of certain things. It was hype but it was weird….” That’s exactly it. The timing was strange, the sequencing was odd, the selection was erratic, but the impact was undeniable. Even at his worst, Busta would still one of the best performers in hip hop, and I was glad to see him do his thing. But being a fan for 20 years and knowing how many other great songs he didn’t do, old and new (what happened to ‘New York Shit’, ‘I’ll Hurt You’, ‘Everything Remains Raw’, ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’ with Janet Jackson, ‘In The Ghetto’ with Rick James, ‘It’s A Party’, ‘Victory’… the list goes on and on and on), I left the party both energized and exhausted. Like I said, new school heads and first-timers would have probably loved the show. But for those who have been listening to rap for 20 years, or have seen Busta before, it was an interesting and unexpected experience.

It was hilarious when Busta noticed our beautiful Toronto women and screamed: “shit, I might fuck around and make a Canadian baby tonight!”

Woo-hah!

it would have been better if it was a Leaders of the New School reunion though, LOL

I love this shit. Peace to Busta Rhymes, Spliff Star, Michie Mee, JB, Peter Jackson, Mahsa, Andrew, and the Substance Group for putting this show together. Good times, for real.
Sincerely,
Addi “Mindbender” Stewart

Next up: De La Soul.

Her name is Shianne-Mariah Phillips. Her voice is powerful magic. Keep an eye and ear on her artistic development, she's going places...

Katelynn Dawn. A country-folk-pop singer with serious pipes and strong stage presence. She was good.

Katelynn Dawn, singing her heart out

The gracious and underrated Ivana Santilli spoke as well, informing people about the work of World Vision, and brought a spokesperson out to tell her amazing story to the audience. A beautiful sister named Teriano from Kenya told us how she was the first woman from her village to ever attend university, which just happened to be a humble little campus of higher learning called Ryerson U. The crowd showered her in praise and appreciation, and Ivana and World Vision did a great job in showing people how they could help sponsor a child and how it actually changes lives in a tangible way. Much love and nuff respect.

Ivana and Teriano are here to let you know: "just because you can't change the world doesn't mean you can't change a life".

Mel Boogie and Tasha Rozez held the crowd down with nuff lovely tunes during the intermission, one of which was “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” by K-Os, featuring Saukrates, Nelly Furtado and produced by Rich Kidd, who was in the house, chillin. That was a good look.

Shugamai - Liv, Esie, Gigi and Shameka give an impressive performance dance piece

You don't see that every day...

Jaclyn Kenyon's 'Watcha Gonna Do' was pretty damn fierce, and her band backed her up with tight instrumentation

The next event in my ~almost perfect~ Honey Jam 2009 experience was the most heartbreaking moment of the night. Toronto’s own superstar-in-the-making, the multi-talented phoenix named True Daley performed. But where was I? Outside, networking with a nice young lady from Niagara Falls. I was telling her who and where to meet people in Toronto, and during that time, I was saying “Pardon me, but I think I hear my friend performing… I might have to go inside…” She was so happy to meet someone from Toronto, she didn’t let me leave her side. All the while, I was hearing this sick ass reggae beat bang out the speakers, but I wasn’t sure if it was DJ Mel Boogie spinning or not. So I run inside, to see the stage being cleared for the next artist. My heart BROKE.
The last time I saw True Daley do her thing, it was at the Phoenix, a few years before she moved to Asia. And she TORE. SHIT. DOWN. LIKE. NO. OTHER. As tears were pouring from her eyes, she sung her soul into the sky like it was her last song. I’ve seen hundreds of shows, but I will never forget True Daley at Honey Jam a few years ago. To miss her grand return to Toronto is going to be one of my biggest regrets of the year. So to True, please accept my apology for missing your show. I saw every single other performer at Honey Jam ‘09, but to miss you felt like missing half the show. I know you were phenomenal, sister. Mad love. Never stop.
I was especially mad to miss her because she was the only MC of the night!
Can’t leave rap alone, the game needs you, True!

Alysha Brillinger and Co. - People felt her ode to apologies, 'Sorry'

Leah Daniels and two guitarists did a performance with much energy and emotion

Next up was Elise LeGrow. YOU NEED TO SEE HER PERFORM. Words cannot express enough awe at her ferocity and her passion to sing. She SHOULD go all the way to the top.

Elise LeGrow. Holy sh!t, she was stunning.

Elise had the feel of a Southern 40's rhythm and blues belle. She owned the audience.

if picutures could sing, you would be melting to the sound of this sight

Next up was Natasha Waterman. You should know her name by now. If you don’t, you NEED to catch up to your world-class Toronto vocalists. This woman is on Jill Scott-levels of amazingness. Thank the stars she is still making music.

Natasha Waterman: superstar

see Yoav on the left there? Ha ha! That guy is the best. He’s done like every Honey Jam since the first one, dammit. Sa-LUTE!

Natasha can SANG. Not sing. SAAAANG.

feel it

Then came The Shocker. I should put it in all capital letters. Her name is Lori Nuic, and SHE’S FUCKING MINDBLOWING. An uncaged lioness on stage, this woman came blazing through the Mod Club on a mission. With one song, she left a hole in the hearts of every music lover listening. All I can say is WOW.

Lori Nuic. See her show. ASAP.

blazingly amazing.

Lori Nuic is the TRUTH. Listen when she sings. I'll never forget her.

Rez! and peace to Solitaire

Cityonmyback’s own Rez Digital came thru on the hosting tip for a sec, with the Black Jay’s silent assassin Solitaire to give a prize out to a lucky performer. Peace to them for contributing their time and good energy to the event.

And the winner is... Toronto itself, for having another Honey Jam!

Give Rez a pound, yo. Props, homie

It wouldn’t be complete without a State of the Union Address from President Ebonnie Rowe. You know how you have teachers you looked up to, guidance counsellors, neighborhood homies and homegirls, that wise older cousin, your young Uncle or Aunt that was mad chill, or even that best friend of yours that just said all the things you needed to hear at the most crucial crossroads of your life? Well, that’s the quality of person that Ebonnie Rowe is. She lives and breathes her best at every opportunity, and has been a pillar of strength and faith at all times, putting in more work than any of us will ever know to provide an avenue for independent women to express themselves, in the face of unmoving music industry ignorance, racism and sexism. Some things never change, both good and bad. One of the good things that seems to never change, is Ebonnie giving timeless wisdom and empowerment to every single smart soul that will listen to the words she shares. Not enough love can be given back to her, but we can certainly try our best. Ebonnie would have it no other way, God bless her unstoppable heart and infinite soul.

Queen Ebonnie Rowe. Utmost respect is due, every single time.

This is why these events are important: MASTER T WAS IN THE HOUSE! Another Canadian legend to respect FOREVER. The accomplishments and obstacles overcome by this man can never be forgotten, much less overstated.

Master T and Mindbender should be the new hosts of RapCity on MuchMusic ...FOR REAL THOUGH

Tia Brazda did her thing with her talented band

KG. She's freakin awesome. With or without a guitar.

Tara Keith: solid country singer, but not my cup of tea...

They saved the best for last. I can’t express in words how explosive and jaw-dropping Saidah Baba Talibah was this year. She did a song called (S)Cream, and it was… otherworldly. Transcendental. Heart-melting. Hypnotizing. And HEAVENLY. This is the beginning of something the world needs to hear. Now.

Saidah Baba Talibah is the motherfuck!n sh!t, case closed, game over. Get her autograph now, while it's still free. She's a supernova.

Saidah OWNED everyone in this moment. Nothing else in the universe mattered except hearing her music.

gangsta.

(S)Cream is going to be one of the best albums of 2010. Mark my words.

I was done. It was a long night of amazing music, hard-working stagehands overcoming technical difficulties, and lots of great hearts pouring out their melodies. It was a sweet Honey Jam. I honestly could not handle any more music after hearing Saidah, and I heard Trish doing her thing as I walked out the venue. She had a big stage show and a pretty professional look and vibe, but I didn’t hear it all. I was satisfied beyond expression with the night, and I wanted to just float home on that energy. Peace to everyone who supported Honey Jam, and I look forward to next year’s developments. Peace to Phem Phat!

love,
Mindbender

Thanks to Universal Records (big up mans like Click, Jody and Ivan), MuchMusic, Factor, Flow 93.5 FM, CIRAA, SOCAN, the Toronto Arts Council, Exclaim!, myspace.com, and anyone else who hasn’t given up on the dream that great artists like Jully Black, Michie Mee, Tara Chase, Nelly Furtado, Eternia and Masia One have made for the city of Toronto and the country of Canada. There’s a lot more that must be done to help expose Toronto talent to the world, but this year, a lot WAS done. Namely: survive “the recession”. Peace to Ebonnie Rowe for bringing an amazing outlet to the women of Toronto in a year where even Canadian Idol was put on hiatus. Now THAT’S supreme commitment. A standing ovation is in order.

I’ve seen quite a few Honey Jams. I’ve seen them in the Reverb, at the Phoenix, and now at the Mod Club. To be honest, this year fought through more technical difficulties than I normally remember Honey Jam dealing with, but as they say in show biz: the show must go on. Valiantly solving problems left, right and center was Yoav, one of Toronto’s silent soldiers, holding it down for the audience with the rest of the stage technicians, solving the myriad problems that come to life when you have over 20 performers, all with different set-ups and configurations, from acapella ballads to full six-piece bands with instruments as diverse as keyboards, acoustic guitars and banjos (!).

And as you should well know by now, when it says “Showtime: 8 o’clock” on a Honey Jam flyer, that means SHOWTIME IS AT 8:00 PM. Not 8:02, and definitely not 10:19. Ebonnie Rowe and Co. continues to maintain a level of professionalism and respect for the audience that ALL artists, managers and individuals should aspire to achieve.

Hosted by Sarah Taylor of MuchMusic, her sharp, sexy and positive attitude kept everyone abreast of the event as it unfolded, sometimes more smoothly than others. Regardless, the essence of the talent at the show was, for the most part, undeniable. With only one song to perform, the vocalists often came with guns blazing, with the majority of them leaving the stage with the audience wanting more. I took a few pictures and made a few comments about the showcase itself, set in three segments, with intermissions by the immaculate Ivana Santilli, and cityonmyback.com’s own Rez Digital, as well as super-producer Solitaire (he really produced ‘Bacardi Slang’? Damn, homie).

Honey Jam 15. It’s been a wonderful journey over the years. Peace to those sacrificing all they can to take Toronto to the next level. It’s an infinite journey, but the only way we’re going to make it to the top as a city, is travelling together.

Here are some performance moments. Peace to all the lovely ladies of Honey Jam, y’all are killing it. Never stop doing what you love.

Honey Jam 15 @ The Mod Club: Sunday August 16th, 2009

Sarah Taylor, lookin sharp

I see you on the left there, Emily Mills! ha ha

this young singer on the left, Faith Antoine, has some serious pipes. keep an eye on her...

she knows how to put on a show

She was hitting high notes like crazy...

Janelle Monique impressed with her style and her eclectic instrumental ensemble

this is Tamala Mai. she tore it up

Lynzie Kent and Sarah Taylor chatting up the crowd

Lynzie Kent's song 'Find the Words' touched the hearts of most of the crowd, who audibly showed how much they could relate to her pleasure and pain

part 2.1 to come soon!

I have to get ready for this Busta Rhymes concert tonight.

Don’t let anyone tell you Toronto doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of amazing events for you to enjoy!

love,
Adhimu “Mindbender” Stewart

Over the next week or two, I’ll give a Summer 2009 review of the 9 of the best shows to happen in the city, and reflect on where we came from before we go forward to the higher level we are all destined to achieve together, screwface hate be damned.

1. Raekwon the Chef and Covert Ops @ The Sound Academy
On Saturday night, the good people at REMG fought valiantly for the city of Toronto, and overcame an unbelievable obstacle (the border police still have the power to crush our little cross-border rap dreams with one negative word), and brought the god Shallah Raekwon the Chef to the Sound Academy for one of the most explosive hip hop shows to happen in 2009, I shit you not. But first and foremost, I must big up mans like Marvel and Arcee and DJ Lil Jaz for slaughtering the opening set as Covert Ops.

Covert Ops in full effect

The crazy underappreciated mixmaster DJ Lil Jaz held down Arsizzle and Marvizzle like a straight jacket nailed to the ground, providing a perfect boom bap backdrop for the two brothers to tag team the mic with witty back and forth wordplay poured over some of the most bangin’ beats you’ve heard in ‘09.
The microphone Arcee had was a bit too low for half the show, but I could still hear him spit sick lines like “if I walk while I’m smoking weed, does that count as exercise?” Ha ha. It should.

Covert Ops in full effect

I don’t know what the name of the artist was, but when Arcee said “Are there any Filipinos in the house? You will love the next song.” and a tropical flavored funk sample started in a foreign language, one out of every thirteen people there went “AYYYYY! Woo-hoo!!” and started jamming hard. I don’t know what song they sampled, but it’s a like a ‘Macarena’-sized hit overseas. That song was bangin’, and the way they handled the presentation of it was hilarious! Stage presence is something that you don’t just achieve overnight. Arcee and Marvel’s playful energy and motion kept most heads satisfied while the suspense of “Is Raekwon coming?” lingered quietly in the background.

Arcee looks like he's wearing a Green Lantern ring, ha ha

“We been rapping for a minute.” That’s right, and anyone who knows their Toronto shit should have some Marvel and/or Arcee in their music collection. They had a song with some awesome Canadian references, but I didn’t catch the title. It also needs to be said, it’s nice to see that the old stuff sounds as great as the new stuff. When Arcee drops songs like “Super Educated” and Marvel unleashes jems like “Throw This Ball” and “Words Of…”, real heads should be nodding in utter delight. “Skankin’” still bumps!

bang bang boogie

What is Covert Ops? They explained in song form. Excellently.
“You’re holding on to a beer, and that shit disappears… that’s Covert Ops!”
“You might be watching some porn/ but clear the history before your wife comes home… that’s Covert Ops!”
Ha ha!
You all need Covert Ops music in your life. Can’t wait til that album drops. Canada keeps killing shit, I hope you’ve been noticing.

MARVEL WAS WEARING THE BEST TIE EVER, LOL!

Marvel’s tie said “Mama Said” and then had Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston in that classic stance. Ha ha! LL Cool J would be proud.

okay, it's nice you love Wu-Tang, but love your local rap heroes, too

these kids were energetic, but needed to be taught patience and manners, cause they were chanting “Wu-Tang!” over the Covert Ops set, at the end. They were also saying “Raeee-kwon” which surprisingly sounds a lot like “Braaaave Hearts!” from Nas’s jam “Made U Look”. Just a funny little thought. Still, next time guys, go out and smoke a spliff if you don’t care to hear the opening act kill shit. Especially if it’s some veterans like Marvel and Arcee and Lil Jaz. These guys were keeping hip hop alive in Canada before you were even old enough to play with G.I. Joes and Transformers, boy. Respect the Toronto architects.

I was kind of impressed with their chants for “Pur-ple Tape! Purr-pull Tape!” That’s a good one. But still, STFU until Covert Ops is done, ha ha!

Peace to Marvel and Arcee and Lil Jaz for tearing shit up something lovely.
and peace to the bredren who got this concert footage:
http://www.cityonmyback.com/2009/08/16/marvel-x-arcee-covert-ops-live-sound-academy/

Raekwon the motherfucking Chef, cookin up a lovely show for T.O.

I could go on and on and on about how intense, exciting, jaw-dropping, historic, classic, mindblowing and entertaining this show was, but it would NOT give you the same feeling of miraculous ecstasy I had when Raekwon bursted through the doors and the security guards to jump on stage, when most people thought he wasn’t going to show up. He’s been here already this year, I have no idea why the border patrol was messing with Rae. Still, it was CHUUUUCH. Hip hop in its most holy form. Pure motherfucking Wu-Tang bliss. The DJ came down and tested the turntables on the spot, as Rae was checking the mic. Let it be known: a DJ can drop ONLY THE FIRST NOTE of a classic like ‘C.R.E.A.M.’, and make a crowd go fucking wild. Unreal to witness.

I’ll just give you a track listing, and you can wipe the drool off your mouth when you’re done salivating:
C.R.E.A.M.
Can It Be That It Was All So Simple
Daytona 500
Ice Cream
Heaven Or Hell
Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuttin Ta Fuck With
Glaciers of Ice
Incarcerated Scarfaces
Rainy Dayz remix (yes. the fucking REMIX. you don’t hear that jem every day!)

Raekwon was loving Toronto so much, he was like “yo, I don’t just want to live out here, I want to bring MY MOMS out here too! Open a restaurant and shit with me in the kitchen, serving y’all! Cook some Jamaican food, nah mean?!” The crowd lost their minds. Repeatedly.

Then ‘Wu Ooh’ floated out the speakers, and even more madness erupted. Rae did it in pieces, including spitting Ghostface’s verse acapella. Only Wu is magical enough where it’s amazing to hear them doing each other’s verses. It wouldn’t be very dope to hear other more regular rappers doing each other’s verses, but with Wu, it’s fucking magic.

Just like it was magic when Raekwon said “Fuck the first week numbers of Cuban Linx 2! I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit. When we first came out, it wasn’t about radio. It was only meant for a certain few who understood the slang and the science…” Preach.

Then he fucking dropped ‘Eye for an Eye’, which should make anyone who knows their east coast classic hip hop lose their fucking skullpiece. And if that wasn’t enough, he then unleashed fucking ‘Verbal Intercourse’, and had everyone performing Nas’s lyrics as well as Ghostface’s.

Gotta love the Ghost Deini lyric update that Raekwon did: “Thousands of cracks bagged up inside the shoebox/ don’t keep jack in my lap/ REST IN PEACE, Tupac!”

See, I could go on and on. Shit was phenomenal. And there’s nothing I can even say about the Joe Buddens shit. This says it all:

Oh, except later on in the show, he said “yo, I only battle people who made classics. You make a classic first, THEN come see me.” Blaow.

On a final note, Raekwon said one of the illest things I’ve ever heard, before he sparked a furious “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”/R.I.P ODB singalong session. He said:

“RZA built Wu-Tang, but Old Dirty Bastard built RZA!”

Wow.
Think about the depth of that observation and revelation.
And then think about how real shit is.
Cats think shit is just music, entertainment, whatever.
It’s more than music when Raekwon can bring damn near 500 people to the god-forsakenly distant venue from the city Sound Academy, and have people losing their minds from the first moment until the very end, even without any hits on the radio, or videos on TV, or any of the typical hypenitis bullshit that people think is necessary to validate an artist.
Cuban Links 2 is coming out September 8th. I heard some of it at the listening party that didn’t happen cause of Raekwon’s border issues. That shit is more powerful, pure and proper than well over 85% of the hip hop coming out these days. Fuck the music industry. Wu-Tang is here forever, motherfuckers!

Oh yeah: speaking of that, when Raekwon said “y’all know ‘Triumph’?”, and every single motherfucking mouth in the venue started screaming in unison “I BOMB ATOMICALLY/ SOCRATES PHILOSOPHIES AND HIGH PROPHECIES CAN’T DEFINE HOW I BE DROPPING THESE MOCKERIES/ LYRICALLY PERFORM ARMED ROBBERY/ FLEE WITH THE LOTTERY…” it was fucking phenomenal beyond explanation. Raekwon was like “Ha ha, okay! Chill, chill…” like he believed us when we showed and proved how much we believe in Wu. Toronto is like Shaolin Island North, fuck the bullshit. Hip hop ain’t dead, it lives in the north for real.

Peace to the God Shallah Raekwon, Covert Ops, REMG Entertainment, and everyone else involved in making that show happen. It’s events like that, that make Toronto one of the best places in the world.

Now come open that Jamaican restaurant up here, Raekwon!

and the Michael Jackson “Thriller in Vanilla” shirt Willis made (many, many months before MJ’s mysterious rebirth, I’d like to add) is fucking phenomenal. Appreciate Peter Franco Sneakers now, while it’s still relatively local. Cause once it goes global, who knows if you’ll be able to get some of these anymore…

the ‘Don’t Litter’ one is priceless, isn’t it? Pure Toronto.
(The Garbage Strike may be over today, but the gear will be fresh forever.)

http://pfsisalive.wordpress.com/