The Stylus DJ Awards...

So its that time of the year again where DJs from across Canada meet in Toronto for the Stylus DJ Awards. Starting in 2006 the Stylus Awards have become a major event in the hip hop/urban music scene supporting and recognizing the amazing pool of dj talent the nasty north got. Bigup to Click, Mike Z and Scratch for getting this started. Each year young cats get to meet and learn about the foundation soundcrews that made the leap from funk to hip hop, making hip hop possible in Canada. Back in 2007 they inducted into their hall of fame the Killowatt soundcrew.... check out their trophy pictured above. Killowatt was very influential in laying the foundation, and opening the doors to the ladies (Lady P and DJ M&M) in the early 1980s. The awards go down tomorrow with legendary soundcrew Maceo being inducted in to the Hall of Fame...more on this after I interview Maceo...

Maestro still pioneering...

Veteran entertainer Wes 'Maestro' Williams celebrates 20 years of success

Had to pass this article around...for all my Scarborough headz

http://www.insidetoronto.ca/article/62252

Motion --> Emcee, Poet, Author

This month Motion, one of the founders of the legendary Masterplan show (alongside DTS, JohnBronski & Power) released her 2nd book of poetry. 40 Dayz is a follow up to Motion in Poetry her debut book in 2002. Love to see positive moves from some of Toronto's hip hop legends...check out her new joints as well @ www.motionlive.com

Read the reviews, order a copy https://www.womenspress.ca/motion.asp?siteid=100366&lgid=1&menuid=5376&cat=9869&prodid=120172

Toronto's First Emcee...

In the early 1980s the legendary Sunshine Soundcrew put on a young braggadocios Butch Lee. Butch Lee was Chief Rocka number 1, keeping the show live all across Toronto. Long before record deals, label drama and mixtape clout Butch was doing it big with Sunshine. Butch came by the Masterplan show 89.5fm recently and kicked it. Stay tuned to the Masterplan show saturdays @ 8:00pm for more interviews from T-dot Pioneers....peace

8 hours and 45 seconds!!!!!

When talking about pioneers the name D.O. (defy the odds) should be mentioned. Back in 2003 my man set the Guinness World Record for the World's Longest Freestyle. At the Markham fairgrounds, outdoor nonetheless, D.O. ripped it for 8 hours and 45 seconds! For those young cats that be spitting practiced freestyles take notes. If you check the video, D.O. is rhyming about people passing by and whatever comes to his mind. Rather than trying to be the 'king of his city' my man took on the world, grabbing the guinness record. This was nothing new for a cat who was eating emcees at the Source Unsigned Hype competition in Detroit years ago. Today, D.O. is rockin' crowds alongside Slakah the Beatchild as the Art of Fresh duo (http://www.theartoffresh.com/).
D.O. hit me off with a copy of the Guinness plaque, it's pictured above.
Also, check D.O.'s catalogue, it is deep--> www.doyall.com.

The Manifesto Documentary

This past summer I was fortunate enough to work on the Manifesto documentary, it has been the catalyst behind the Tdot Pioneers project. I had the pleasure of working with JohnBronski, one of the founding members of the Masterplan show, Son of S.O.U.L, Mindbender, Ty Harper and many more hip hop luminaries. In interviewing people like Master T, Rumble, Farley Flex, Ron Nelson, DJ Mastermind, Motion, Lady P and nuff other people, I learned a whole lot about the origins of the hip hop in Toronto from roller skating jams to Boogie Down Productions' connects to this city. Back in September we did a community screening of the rough cut and people showed love. We're still working but I thought I bless ya'll wit the trailer...