Dope-A-Lot

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.

Written by Sean Ward | 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.

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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.

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BCC storm the Opera House on November 24th, 2007 to shake the walls of the aging venue with that raw Duck Down shit. Pretty much everyone showed up including Buckshot of Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, and Heltah Skeltah (Sean Price & Rockness Monster). Sick, grimy and for true heads only. Sean Price was promoting his new record, so he the majority of stage time, but you still got to hear everything you ever wanted from a BCC show including Who Got The Props? and Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka. Click on the image for more. Word.

Zach Slootsky of TakeMorePhotos covered this event, which is a first in a series of collaborations between our sites. It is also the first all black and white feature on Dope-A-Lot and the pictures are absolutely stunning. Although I couldn’t personally attend, I heard the event was great with Percee P stealing the show from Madlib, and Peanut Butter Wolf providing sick beats in the back.

Written by Noah Goodbaum | Photography by Philip Litevsky

There’s something about Method Man. Every rap fan knows it. There’s something about him that makes certain extra-scuzzy similes seem like they don’t belong in any rapper’s lyrics but his. Something about his charisma that allows him to insert his trademark flecks of grime into R&B jams and mainstream crossover attempts and still come off classy. Something that means he carries the essence of the 36 chambers with him even into the depths of Hollywood-sellout territory.

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Written by Sean Ward | Photography by Philip Litevsky

Everybody knows that Toronto has a reputation as a complacent audience. We go to a live show and we mostly stare at it like it’s television, clapping politely and maybe even whooping a bit in all of the right places. It’s hard for an artist to get interaction from the audience throughout the song, or to show any appreciation for the artist beyond. I remember when DJ Premier spun at Revival, and he was trying to get the crowd to chant “Claaaaaaa…siiiiiiiic….” over the song he was spinning but each time, the crowd stopped when he did. No doubt, anyone who is a part of Mos Def’s entourage would likely attribute Mos’ reception on November 14 at The Phoenix in Toronto to our frigid notoriety. But I have always believed that it is not the audience’s responsibility to go crazy for the performer; it is the performer’s responsibility to give the audience something to go crazy over.

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Little Brother perform at the Mod Club as part of a tour promoting their recent album, Get Back.

I always love seeing Little Brother perform live. The Durham, North Carolina troupe caught my ear a few years back with the Chittlin’ Circuit mix tape and then the follow-up debut The Listening. 9th Wonder’s production was superb and Phonte and Big Pooh’s lyrical mastery was a story-telling rap fans’ dream come true. Get Back still offers a lot of the basic formula, and 9th’s absence isn’t terribly felt, but can be noticed nonetheless. Either way, the show was off the hook – I just wish they played more of that early mix tape and Foreign Exchange business rather than asking the crowd if they heard their album from “way back” called The Minstrel Show which was actually a sophomore release from way back in 2005.

Click on Phonte’s smiling face (or here) to see the rest of the set.