Love for Toronto

Whats good peoples? Brevner here. I recently visited Toronto for the first time, and I have to say that it definitely is all that its cracked up to be, and there is a very apparent reason why Toronto seems to get much more media attention then the cats on the canadian westcoast. Dont get me wrong, I love my province. it's molded me into the artist that I am today, and provides me with constant inspiration, and good times. On the other hand, however, as a rising hip hop artist in the Vancouver scene, it became quite obvious to me rater quickly that our city just doesnt have the info-structure ( along with other things ) to nourish a blossoming artistic sub-culture. I also believe that because of this, west coast cats feel that there is less room, or "limelight" to share amongst each other, which creates tension and negative rivalry between artists and crews. When I stepped off the plane in Toronto, however, the vibes were contagious. Artists out there seemed to re-enforce a positive and healthy working environment for themselves, and every single person that I had met with was down to collab and do work. This was a strange new way of thinking for me to be completely honest. On april 10th,2010, at the Chic lounge in yorkville, the PHS crew ( artists such as Choclair, G-vine, Oli ) threw down a dope party night. I had recieved an invite from a mutual friend, Rick Eazy Rick Skakum; a lover of hip hop and a supporter of the scene. As soon as I had stepped in the door, the vibe was electric and positive. After a few quick drinks, G-Vine ( PHS producer, singer, and general manager ) invited me back to the camps studio, without even hearing my music to come check out how they do things. In my head, I was thinking that this truly is what Van city is lacking. Aside from the media towers, and the sheer number of people, Van is lacking the general love and respect for fellow craftsmen, artists in arms fighting the same good fight. Its a shame how easily we forget that true strength lies in numbers. Two days later, G-vine invited me down to the studio once again, to do some work, grab some food, and smoke some spliffs. How could I refuse that? It was definitely inspiring to be able to pick the brain of an artists the calibre of Choclair. Hes been killin it since I was in grade school, and his music was definitely motivation for me as a youth. We had some sushi, I introduced some of the boys to wasabi and chopsticks... which was dope haha, and just shot the shit about life, brother to brother. Not only did we bang out a monster track for their new mixtape, we also NETWORKED ACROSS COUNTRY WITH EASE! thats the whole point as an indy artist, isn't it? Nothing's gonna be handed to you, so go get it. Cross promotion.

Much Love Toronto! from b-sharp to PHS