I f*cking hate Toronto

That's right.

I've talked about it time and time again. I can't stand it here. There's too much ground to cover. I don't have enough time to do all of this. And that's just me chatting about all the pretty women here. ;) Shouts to Phar-REAL, Com and Rose Royce (I see you!)

But seriously Toronto. You spoil me.

This past Monday, we just had Common/N.E.R.D. come thru for a show. Shouts to my girl Sinah! Miss you (wo)man. ;)

But we're getting on bombardment of performances in the next 4 weeks. Which you ask??

Here we go:

Monday Oct 6th: Robin Thicke.



Some may recall the last one where there was a marriage proposal.

Thursday Oct 9th: RedBull Big Bang



This will be one big party. Look for AA chicks running around in neon tights, and me hanging in the cut with the cute ones. Lidell?? That will be the sh*t. say wrd.

Saturday and Sunday Oct 11-12: Digable Planets.



A reunion tour? All good. Well... Just show me where Lady-Bug is staying, ya ddig? With 2 'Ds' for a double dose of that xxxxxxx. Holla if you know how that phrase ends.

Oh... and I have no flyer for this one, and I'm still unsure if I'll be going, but your man Maxwell is here. Oct 12th - long weekend Sunday.



Opener, Jazmine Sullivan?? Hmmmm..... I in fact have tckts already but was MAYBE going to move them. Might go now that I see the opener. Oh yeah... it's my bday weekend. Shhhhhh.

Sunday Oct 19th: Little Brother.



Bananas. And no more SARS jokes either...

Friday Oct 24th: Zaki Ibrahim



Sin Duda. Also looking fwd to seeing opened TC.

Sunday Oct 26th: The Roots w/ Gym Class Heroes & Estelle.



Man, this is not real. Is it??

Nov 4th: Ill Bill w/ Sean Price



Jesus Price w/ the Devil himself? Say wrd. Love both. But why is IllBill headlining this one?? Hmmm... This should be a co deal. All love.

And finally but not least:

NOV 6th 2008: BLACK MILK & ELZHI & DJ House SHoes!



It's so official.

Compendium: 4 weeks. 9 shows. DIZZYING! So save your coin folks. This is almost excessive. F*cking Toronto. I hate you for real.

LOL. PCE!

H!

Rising Son: Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti

YYZ.

We are spoiled much more than words could ever say.

Tonight, Son Of Fela: Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 @ HRBRFRNT.







Many thx and all credit to Alessandro Di Francesco for the great shots from MTL show.

See you @ Queen's Quay.

Pce.

H!

More Beyonce, Less Britney: Kweli in Toronto, Aug 30th 2007.

More schools, Less prisons
More freestyle, Less written
More serious shit, Less kiddin
More history, Less mystery
More Beyonce, Less Britney!

More or Less - Talib Kweli

Fa sho Kweli!



SO Kweli is back in Toronto on Thursday Aug 30th 2007 @ the Phoenix. I think the last time he came to Toronto, he was scheduled to shoot his video for More Or Less. He also wanted to rawk a small show on a last second's notice. So the good ppl @ REMG whipped one up real good @ the Reverb, and it resulted in a Sept 2006 show that was phenomenal. Peep the footage below (again, shot with the Nokia N90).



This is gonna be a hot.

Kweli got a deep catalog now, and he's got some certified bangers - even though there are some that I never hear any longer (like 2000 seasons--> love that joint!). Looking fwd to this show, in fact I am trying to make it back in time from Sin City to make it (as well as get some real work done).

Do yourself a solid, and make it out to this show. You'll get to see how some emcees really put it down.

More Dilla Dawg, less wack sh*t,
More Jack Davey, less fake chicks,
More multi cultural, less segregation,
More broken beat, more inspiration.
More hair picks, less colored contacts,
More indie labels, less funny contracts
More partying, less lineups,
More originals, less mash-ups
More Madlib, more Liberation EP
More James Brown, Less Elvis Presley
More Spike Lee, less minstrel shows
More College Radio, less FLOW.

Freestyle - My Man Henri.

I'll never be able to write rhymes, let alone rap. My career's a wrap though. This took me like, all day to script - and it's still not tight. LOL.

Anyhow, I thougth that you should @ least get a sight & sound of the original work of art that is the "More or Less" vid by Hi-Tek and Kweli. As I mentioned, shot in Toronto. Styled by GetJanet, and features some TBG (aka Too Black Guys), rawked by none other than Talib himself. Say wrd.

See you @ the show on the 30th, and enjoy.



H!

Black Wednesday

Well, almost 9months to the day I've been trying to make this happen, it's here.



I wanna thank JD and all the ppl @ Red Bull for having that listening ear. It's going to be a great show! $ayer in the building!

RedBull Muic Academy is proud to present:

BLACK MILK w/ special guest TBA

Wednesday, July 25th @ Revival
783 College St
Doors @ 10pm, show @ 11pm.

$10 Adv tix available @:

Play De Record (357A Yonge Street, Toronto)
Rotate This (620 Queen Street West, Toronto,)
Slinky Music (442 Queen Street West, Toronto)
Ticketweb.ca (search for Black Milk)

Set up the Facebook group as well.

If you've not heard of Black Milk, you've been robbed of some good music.

As such, for some of the 1st timers or neophytes, I'm posting some music for y'all to peep.

Click Play and enjoy.

NXNE: Saturday Night Live (The Absolute Requisite)

For cats who know me, the list of consequential items in my life read like: family, mortgage (believe it), my clothes and accessories, my Mac, my ppls & my music/shows. On top of that, I try to keep my social calendar fresher than 8am croissants from Clafouti's oven - Dédicaces Olivier! As such, when I get excited about shows, pls believe that this is within reason (mine @ least).
Saturday June 9th, The Glastone Hotel may showcase one of the freshest shows that Toronto will see. NXNE has strung together a night which will feature the exceptional sounds of Illadelphia outfit Nouveau Riche featuring the ravishing Nikki Jean, & the BK/'Nati triumverate Tanya Morgan

I was 1st introduced to both Nikki Jean & Khari Mateen of the Nouveau Riche by a certain Jack Davey (of none other than J*Davey fame) whilst @ The 4th Annual Roots Jam aka their Grammy Party earlier this year (ask me about Brother J of X-Clan when you see me next, shouts to Kardi who was there). Khari had production credits on the last Roots LP Game Theory and has also been rumored to be working on the forthcoming J*Davey LP slated for late 2007. Nouveau Riche's sound has been termed as Post-Genre aka free of any real definition, w/ inspiration coming from more directions than a Garmin GPS. My friends will know me to describe it as fast, or for music lovers.

The Tanya Morgan trio was in Toronto for the 1st time during a benefit concert which unfortunately went unnoticed. Do not replicate this mistake of missing their set as it will be ceratin to relieve the hip hop discontent who keep asserting that hip hop has died (Nas included. Does someone have his cell #?). Hip hop is alive and well, and will be @ The Gladstone Hotel June 9th.
Nota Bene: on a side an mildly related note, Karl Jenkins, most well known as Dice Raw is a member of The Nouveau Riche. Do the math.
I'm so stoked about this, I plan on going shopping for a fresh outfit for that night. Toronto, pls stand up. I'll see you there. Lippo, me and you @ the bar my ninja. He knows wassup.
Go to NXNE for more info.

Cool Kids: A little more cooler May 24th, Toronto @ The Social

No doubt. ORD was in the building. Looked like ppl came from all around looking for that bass. Well, smack got served that night. A great turnout. My man from the Chi was like: "Toronto is Bananas my dude". Uh... ¡Sin Duda! The UN is looking for some slick cats like yourself. Let's do it again. Megapxl dissertaion in video and stills below. Shouts to my boy Shannon - welcome my ninja, Justin @ BSS (no doubt dude!), Cherry (killing me w/ skin tight leopard print long side a smoke grey suede perf Supreme fitted despite not telling me nuttin - but who's watchin?), Kim for rolling like a gangstress (where were you this weekend?) & Juan-Miguel DeJesus as always. Hizzla is out.

Mikey Rocks & Inglish rawk it out.



You can use arrows to flip thru pix. Say wrd to Lightbox2.

We Got It 4 Cheap: Clipse 'Hell Hath No Fury' Tour, Toronto May 19th 2007, Tonic nightclub.

I had not (thankfully) been to Tonic since the infamous exercise in grandstanding aka that BBL show. Wow, What a distant memory - and I would submit myself to shock treatment to forget it too. In any case, The Clipse were in town to essentially remind us how to VA ni**az cook that contraband. The main direction is to apparently stir vigorously. And stir they did. Fearing that they would show up with a Major Label attitude, i went expecting the worse. But they rawked the show with this indie artists zeal and hunger that I certainly did not expect - esp in light of having guys like the 'Tunes in their corner. The Neptunes?? Pshhhhh. But man, by the end Pusha-T an Malice were perspiring like they would have been after cooking that good batch - working the mic like it were a spatula over the stove. Crack cooking co-hort, high caliber carrying Ab-Liva was also in the cut, and kicked some verses over R-E-U-P G-A-N-G classics.

In any event, pix and videos are avail below. Man, Shouts to Q who always knew. Say wrd.