Welcome welcome to the verb millennium truth seekers. And by that I mean, here are the final performers that have been chosen for the mixtape. The United In Flow team is super excited about all of these emcees, we were so excited in fact, that we could not all agree on the same ten people, so we made the pool MUCH bigger to include all the people that we wanted! Besides, more people equals more opportunity for more collaboration, and if you aren’t sick of that word yet…well…neither are we! Everyone brings something unique to the table- different styles, flows, ages, histories. (oh, and this is in alphabetical order…. HERE GOES!!)
This mixtape is going to be a diverse topographical map of the Toronto hip hop scene. It’s gonna showcase people who have been in the game since before reggeton hit the scene, to people who broke their hip hop teeth listening to Kanye West and Drake. Thanks to everyone who auditioned, the first year of United In Flow is going to be sick, I cannot wait to see where it goes. We are gonna make history ya’ll! twitter facebook
Happy Friday everyone! So I know the suspense has been killing all of ya’ll, so I will quit with the formalities and just let the cat out of the bag….
The 5 chosen by our panel of judges last Saturday are…. (click on them to watch the videos!)
But wait! That doesn’t mean that they are automatically on the mix tape just yet. It simply means they are also being considered. The final list of mixtape participants will be posted on Wednesday. Bet you can’t wait to see who it is can you!
Have a great weekend, come back and check up on Monday for all the exciting news!
Just here to give you the quick run down of what went down at the United In Flow Final Five Live Audition on Saturday. As you can see from the picture above, the team was out in full force.
This audition day was a bit different than our last one. We had artists come in and instead of doing an audition for the camera, (they were there of course) we had people do auditions in front of a panal of judges, including one from Canadian Rap Battle League, King of The Dot. Everyone was judged according to presence, flow, delivery, voice, rhymes, content and creativity.
We had some wicked talent out on the day, and even got a run by freestyle!
Watch the website this week to see the video footage and find out who made it into the running to be considered to be a part of the mixtape. We are getting down to the wire now! If you didn’t make it, or didn’t get a chance to audition, don’t worry, there is always next year!
Seems like a dramatic statement no? It very much is, but that does not make it untrue. Tomorrow is the last opportunity that you, Toronto Hip Hop artist have to be a part of United In Flow (the mixtape and live event anyway).
Think about this. United in Flow is giving you the opportunity to be a part of something much larger than yourself. It is taking hip hop back to what it was meant to be. A musical movement that moved people to change for the better. So much of hip hop has become skewed- people become caught up in the look, the image, acting a certain way and saying certain things.
Hip Hop was created to give artists a medium to be different, and yet, so much of it today is convoluted cookie cutter garbage. United in Flow strives to be different; harnessing the power of the rapidly changing hip hop community in Toronto towards a positive change. The spotlight is on our city. The world is waiting for us to show them what we got- so lets do it. Hip Hop is the voice of change, use that voice to fuel something powerful. Be apart of something positive. Come be a part of United In Flow.
The last day to audition, as I said, is tomorrow. Come down to Euphonic Sound between 11am and 5pm and do a verse, show us your dance moves, whatever it is that you do, come do it for us, and do it well.
Whats up party people in the place to be (the internets, of course)?
The United in Flow team has been hard at work this week. The audio dudes are tracking for the mix tape, designers are a-designing, and we are getting the studio on lock down to prepare for all the Toronto talent that will be coming through these doors on Saturday (August 14th).
All that being said, you know you want to be a part of all of this, right? How could you not be? We are doing this to show the world that Toronto has what it takes to be the next hip hop mecca (Watch out New York!) – because as you are all well aware of, hip hop ain’t dead, it just lives in the North. (oh yeah, and its all for Charity too, and a dope one at that- Unity Charity) Well, if you aren’t part of the movement already, but you want to be, this Saturday is your last chance. If you are a rapper, singer, beatboxer, emcee, dancer or poet, come down to Euphonic Sound Studio (2238 Dundas Street West) between the hours of 11 am and 5pm, for your chance to be part of “United In Flow: Celebrating the World of Hip Hop.” 5 people from this day are GUARANTEED to be put in the final pool and a chance to be on the United In Flow Mix Tape (to be released on Broken Window Records), and part of the live show on Oct. 21st!
There will be a panel of judges here on Saturday to rate the performances, including some of our boys from Canada’s premier battle league King of the Dot.
Get at us on facebook, twitter, or good old e-mail e-mail if you have questions.
In the mean time, check out the promo video below. It’s pretty extreme.
There’s never really been a better era, in terms of Canadian hip-hop, then right now. Canadian rappers like Kardinal Offishall, Drake and K’naan have finally been able to break into mainstream and commercial success not just in this fine country of ours, but in the United States as well. I think a lot of people take for granted the fact that the hip-hop world never really even took notice of Canadian talent up until the last few years.
Hip-hop was born in New York in the late 70’s, and took off as a mainstream genre shortly after. America had artists like Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and LL Cool J carrying hip-hop and its culture into the popularity it has today.
Canada never really had that, at least not until ‘Northern Touch.’
In the 80’s there were few Canadians making waves in the hip-hop world. Among the artists to achieve any sort of real success were Maestro Fresh Wes and the Dream Warriors. Maestro was the first Canadian rapper to bust through to the Canadian Top 40 and the American Billboard charts with the classic ‘Let Your Backbone Slide’ and the Dream Warriors made their name with ‘My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style,’ but unfortunately there wasn’t much else going on worth mentioning.
The 90’s didn’t fare all that much better. There were still no urban radio stations, and the popularity of American hip-hop dominated that of Canada.
And then 1998 hit.
The Rascalz had managed to make a name for themselves with their 1997 album ‘Cash Crop.’ Cash Crop won a Juno Award for the Rascalz, who famously refused it. The award wasn’t presented on the tv broadcast, due to either the lack of mainstream interest in Canadian rap, or, according to the Rascalz, racism on the part of the Junos. Written as a single soon after the completion of Cash Crop, ‘Northern Touch,’ featuring Kardinal Offishall, Checkmate, Choclair and Thrust. It won the Rascalz a Juno award in the 1999 ceremony, and was preformed on stage. Northern Touch was, and pretty much still is, Canada’s hip-hop anthem. Even 12 years later.
What Northern Touch led to was a resurgence of interest in Canadian hip-hop. Three years after its release, Canada got its first urban radio station, Flow 95.3, finally providing a medium for Canadian rappers to get their material out to the masses. The early 2000’s gave way to hits from Kardinal Offishall, Classified, k-os and Swollen Members and saw Canadian artists beginning to get some much-deserved respect from the States.
The last few years have seen Canadian artists breaking into the American music charts and being taken just as seriously as anything the States have to offer. Kardnial’s 2008 hit ‘Dangerous’ with Akon was huge. Degrassi’s own Drake, with the help of the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z, has been making the charts with hit after hit. Back home, we have artists like Classified, k-os, DL Incognito, Buck 65 and Shad dropping albums that are not only good in their own right, but are completely Canadian in style.
So where are we headed? Commercially, Canadian hip-hop is really only posed to grow in popularity. As more of our artists break through into the American markets, it will only increase the level of interest in Canadian music. From there, the fans of hip-hop will hopefully begin to dig into our underground scene where there’s an insane mount of talent waiting to be discovered.
Who knows? Maybe they stumble on United in Flow.
Don’t forget about the United In Flow Final Five Live Audition Day this Saturday (August 14th). It is your last chance to be considered as a performer or to be put on the mixtape.
As you may or may not know, the United In Flow team hit up two major events this past weekend. King of the Dot Presents: WORLD DOMINATION and SPEAKout Poetry Summer Slam.
I (Emma) hit up World Domination with Chadwick and Tronic. I’ve been before, but let me tell you something, this event was one of the coolest things I have ever been too period. Last time was fun, don’t get me wrong- but a KOTD event changes dramatically the more you know about rap battling and the battlers themselves. There are so many levels to each battle. When you begin to understand the backstory and context, the battles become more than just witty word play, the rhymes themselves become an on the spot oral history of battle rapping, the relationships between battle rappers, and the story of the battlers themselves. Besides, the people are just cool. Ryan Pvp, Avi Rex, Organik, (just to mention a few of the organizers) are a) super motivated, forward thinking passionate people and b) really cool down to earth dudes. The battlers are awesome too- one battler from the bay area asked me if I was a “Unicorn”. I asked him to explain. He told me that female fans of rap battles are like Unicorns, you’ve heard of them, but you never actually see them!
Beyond all that, KOTD has some kick ass talent flown in for the event. I would show you some of the video I took, but I’m going to leave that up to the boys over at King of the Dot. Keep an eye on the website for the videos. One of my favorites was a promo done by Charron and Tricky P.
The Speak Out Poetry Summer Slam event was attended by James and Sean Siriani. Both first time poetry slam attendees, both thoroughly blown away by the talent and spirit at the event. Video is coming soon. For now check out this Speak Out poetry video highlighting their Kitchener poetry slam.
by Duke
Late last winter I was sitting in on a recording session with Studio 2.0 artist Chadwick that Shawn Daley was running, with James kind of overseeing. We’d had a few emcees come through & were working with a lot of them through Studio 2.0, and the natural thing to do – it seemed to me – was to put together a mixtape. So I said so.
What happened next took all of about 20 minutes. In throwing ideas around, we went from “mixtape” to “massive charity event & CD with a contest to find the best emcees, dancers, slam poets & graffiti artists in the GTA.” Looking back, it all makes perfect sense.
United in Flow isn’t just about the dopest Hip Hop CD to hit the GTA this year, or raising money for Unity (although those are both integral to it). One of the defining characteristics of both Euphonic Sound and the Hip Hop Movement is community. The combination is only natural. Euphonic Sound has been fostering community-building among independent musicians for years. Hip Hop’s collaborative nature requires a strong community; a house divided can’t stand.
Toronto’s Hip-Hop community is a little different from what you might find elsewhere. First of all, being based in one of the most culturally diverse cities on Earth means you’ve got people from every corner of the world claiming the T-Dot as home; this means big musical variety, lyrical (and vocal) diversity & a whole truckload of different stories to tell & hear.
Second, this city seems to instinctively understand the power of the collaborative hustle. Yes, we’re the Screwface Capitol of the World. Yes, it’s possible that there are “more haters per capita” here than anywhere else. But there’s a growing section of the populace that knows – has always known – that there is strength in numbers, that no single player wins the title alone.
As a testament to this, United in Flow is living proof. We’ve reached out to King of the Dot, Unity, and all the independent Hip Hop artists we can find in this city. The response has gone well beyond anything I could have expected, with Negativity being conspicuously absent from the equation.
But why are we doing this? Everybody in this thing has their own reasons. At the end of the day, I can only say this: I’m doing this because I have to. I’m doing it for the simple love of the music. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be at home wishing I was.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you haven’t auditioned yet, it is NOT too late. General submissions have closed, yes. But on Saturday August 14th, Euphonic Sound Recording Studio is hosting United in Flow Live Audition Day: The Final Five. It’s you’re last chance to get in on this thing. If you miss it, years down the road you’ll end up looking back on 2010 with serious regrets.
One of the most respected emcees in Toronto, Adhimu Mindbender Supreme Stewart has been defying (and resetting) hip hop standards since 1996. Far from hiding the city he lives in (as was once the standard for TO if you recall), Toronto features prominently in his lyrics – as do biting examples of social commentary & a vocabulary that is not to be f@#ked with.
See what I mean?
Since 2006 Mindbender has been a source of mixtapes & albums (including the experimental acapella album “The Invisible Rhythm Showcase”). He’s also been covering coast-to-coast hip hop with Pound Magazine, delivering interviews with Prince Paul, Twista, Kool G. Rap, Young Buck & others.
He’s been giving back through various volunteer organizations, including our friends at Unity. If you were at Dundas Square last weekend, you saw him co-hosting the big Kickoff.
He’s also a regular supporter at King of the Dot’s Toronto division; even if he ain’t battling, you see him.
Be sure to check out his new album JUPITER. No joke, it’s dope as devil-weed.
See Also: Mindbender’s MySpace (but don’t leave messages there if you wanna hear back).
…and his FaceBook Fan Page for more on this creature too rare to die, to weird to live.
King of the Dot, our friends and partners are celebrating their two year anniversary on the 6th and 7th of August with an event called “KOTD Presents: WORLD DOMINATION“.
Why World Domination? Well it seems only fitting considering how far King of the Dot has come in the past two years. Canada has for a long while been known as the “hip hop hinterland”. Regardless of Toronto native Drake’s airplay presence recently, Canada is often overlooked. King of the Dot is on a mission to change this perception. The sheer volume of talent in Toronto, and in Canada in general is astounding.
King of the Dot was founded two years ago by a battle rapper Travis Fleetwood a.k.a Organik. Organik was an avid battler, who won competitions all over the place and recognized a problem with the Toronto Hip Hop scene, organiztion. He eventually was able to establish coherance within the battle rap scene and thus KOTD was born. KOTD volume one went down in an alley in down town Toronto, now they are packing fans in with their live events, and have one of the largest youtube channels in Canada, “everyday we have between 80 – 100 new subscribers” Avi tells us. What started out as a couple of people with common interests has exploded. It’s not just about battle rap anymore, it is about moving the hip hop scene in Canada into a global position. It is not just clever rhymes anymore, it is now a movement. The proof is there- the fan base becomes more diverse and dynamic everyday. Check out the video flyer below!
The cool thing about KOTD is their wide spread mass appeal. Head of promotions Avi Rex says “It’s not just your average hip hop fan or hard core rap fan”. Because rap battles tend to be humor oriented, with fans expecting clever well thought our punch lines, it draws in not only a very eclectic crowd, but an eclectic group of battlers as well. They have to be the whole package, not only impeccable flow, but clever verses, well thought out jokes, and the confidence to back it up. Alex Larsen, a.k.a “Kid Twist”, one of the first KOTD champions, got his degree in literature from York University. Cliche is definitely not a word used to describe the fans or battlers of KOTD.
This weekend is just a testament to how far they have come. KOTD is bringing in some of the best battlers from around the world. KOTD is going global, don’t you want to be able to say you saw it all go down? Come down to club XS on Richmond this Friday night (doors are at 6) or Saturday afternoon (doors at 1). The United In Flow crew will be there, come join us.
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