Written by Cristina Allen | Photography by Philip Litevsky
The Roots have had the reputation of being one of the best live bands and on March 30th at the Kool Haus, they lived up to their standing. As one of the few hip-hop acts that use live instruments in recording and concert, a factor that has had a substantial influence in their distinction. Their last show in Toronto at the Rogers Picnic in the absence of ?uestlove was somewhat disappointing, though redeemed with guest appearances from members of De La Soul and Lupe Fiasco. The show was nevertheless entertaining but their recent concert was a cut above.
Continue reading ‘The Roots @ Kool Haus’
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Published by phil at April 29, 2008
in News.
The Academy debuts a new, semi-regular concert series entitled Hometown Heroes this Friday, May 2nd at the El Mocambo in Toronto. This series is all about showcasing Toronto’s finest, and the lineup looks positively Heroic.
“The performers for the first concert are HERO (official Toronto launch performance for their debut album), Masia One (fresh of an Asia tour), Marvel, Anonymous Twist, and Focus. The deejays will be DJ Mensa and Rod Skimmins and the host for the evening will be Wan Luv.”
I strongly encourage everyone to come and show some love to our homegrown talent. We’ve covered Hero recently on Dope-A-Lot when they opened for Zaki Ibrahim and this NYC / Toronto duo are about to blow up!
The Academy has been kind enough to extend two complimentary tickets to Dope-A-Lot readers, so send a quick note to contest@dopealot.com with your name and e-mail address. We will pick a random winner and notify them at 12:00pm on Thursday. Click here to check out Cyberkrib United’s blog entry on the concert including tracks you can download to get a taste of what to expect.
See you Friday!
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Published by phil at March 12, 2008
in News.
Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky
I wasn’t really looking forward to The RZA’s show at the Phoenix last night. It was gonna be freezing cold out there and I didn’t want to have to traipse all the way down to the Phoenix Concert Theatre and deal with its martinet security guards and its wack-ass sound system if my only reward was gonna be the Wu-Tang mastermind dicking around. Not to suggest that I don’t love and venerate The RZA; he’s crafted some of the most delicate and artful beats in hip-hop. But his emceeing style is bizarre — he’s 100% gung-ho about being completely demented, taking the themes that Wu-Tang’s hyper-esoteric rap style introduced and mixing them all in a blender that whirs at 100 mph.
Continue reading ‘RZA @ The Phoenix (Canadian Music Week)’
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Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky
With this review, I wish to make it known that I am no mere mortal human being. Still less am I a fat white slob . No, for verily I am an initiate of that most fearsome of orders: the Army of the Mash Out Posse.Our leaders: the esteemed generals Sir William Danzini and Sir Fizzleberry of Womack. Our mission: To make any and all jive turkeys kneel. DO YOU HEAR ME?! I’M SORRY, I DON’T THINK YOU CAN HEAR ME, MOTHERFUCKER! BUKKA BUKKA BUKKA BUKKA BUKKA! BLAOW BLAOW GET THE FUCK DOWN!
Continue reading ‘M.O.P. @ The Opera House (Canadian Music Week)’
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What can one really say about HHK that hasn’t already been said here on Dope-A-Lot? Well, for one thing, how about motha-effin Saukrates showing up and busting a few? Or how about Korry Deez from IRS? Yeah, that’s right. One hell of a dope night, topped off by my main girls at MASTEES dropping a crazy new shirt! Peep all the madness here.
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Zaki, Zaki, Zaki. That’s all Toronto has been hearing lately. From the recent cover story in NOW magazine, to her packed performance at the Mod Club theatre which Dope-A-Lot happily covered. She has a timeless voice and energy and we all really hope Zaki Ibrahim gets the world-wide recognition and success she deserves. Opening for her were Toronto / NYC based Hero which The Cyberkrib recently introduced me to and they were dope as hell as well. Peep the rest of the shoot here.
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The Academy busts out one of the biggest hip hop DJ lineups to ever grace the dance floors of Toronto. EPMD’s DJ Scratch and Da Beatminerz (Evil Dee and Mr. Walt) rocked the Revival bar to a packed house of heads. Unfortunately, it was on the same night as De La Soul, so I was only able to catch the last, and (cue hater comments) arguably the best in the form of DJ Scratch. Sporting a Superman T, Scratch proceeded to manipulate the decks in a manner only fit for a true master. Peep the pics here.
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The Genius came through the former Docks nightclub, newly rechristened as the Polson Pier for one of their Sound Academy nights, courtesy of REMG. GZA was doing the Liquid Swords tour which basically involves him performing the entire album from start to finish and the hundreds of Wu fans in the club ate it up like a PB&J sandwich.
As soon as the infamous “When the MC’s came…” verse hit the speakers, the crowd went bananas and it was hard not to notice how much longevity the Wu brand has maintained. Dope show, start to cover of his late cousin ODB’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya finish. 
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Written by Sunset Davies | Photography by Philip Litevsky
Hip-Hop culture is youth culture. I’m not the first one to say that. But the level to which it is true surprises me more and more every time I go out. I recently happened upon a hip-hop night put on by and for the punk rock scene. It was indescribably bizarre to see a club full of people with their faces covered in piercings, wearing studded and spiked leather jackets, getting down to Black Sheep and EPMD with no trace of irony at all. I don’t know if this is a phenomenon unique to Toronto, but it sure hammers home the degree to which hip-hop has taken over.
Continue reading ‘De La Soul @ The Sound Academy’
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Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky
The Friday before last, I had the unique and valuable opportunity to witness Camp Lo open for Aesop Rock. I’m sure many purists would balk at the idea of even giving Aes the time of day, and his unorthodox style definitely isn’t easy to listen to, but on the real, whatever his flaws, I think a case can be made that Aesop is one of those mad-genius people who deserves to be remembered in the history books.
Continue reading ‘Aesop Rock w/ Camp Lo @ Sound Academy’
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