To start this one, we want to send condolences to the families and friends of those mentioned in this newsletter and not mentioned. Hopefully if this applies to you, your healing process is a healthy one that doesn’t find you fighting impossible odds, but if you are, win the fight. State Violence is defined by … Continue reading State Violence & Physical Bodies: A view of death in Toronto and Music
Author: Clayton Tomlinson
Diamonds Are Forever Like Family and Loyalty
Family and friends always play an important role in our lives, whether in childhood or adulthood, they will teach us things that remind us of the good and bad we can do. What we do with that knowledge is crucial, for many reasons. The least of which is that, from a young age, these are … Continue reading Diamonds Are Forever Like Family and Loyalty
Supporting Artists: Friends, Collaborators and Strangers
Kemba raps in “Exhale” off his newest album Gilda, “I feel more pressure from my n*ggas than my critics (uh).” This line relates to something we’ve been thinking about for awhile, if you read our last newsletter you’ll know. It this idea that how we interact with art is somehow important enough to be, almost … Continue reading Supporting Artists: Friends, Collaborators and Strangers
When is Enough Enough: Pleasing Audiences and Making People Happy When YOU Want To
Detox, Act II: Patents of Nobility, So Help Me God, The Cool 2, the list goes on for projects that we the listener have believed 'in the works.' Some were but never saw the light of day, and others feel more mythical than griffins, unicorns, and dragons ever could seem. Bodies of work are often … Continue reading When is Enough Enough: Pleasing Audiences and Making People Happy When YOU Want To
Toronto’s Complicated Relationship with Hip-Hop & the Black Community
A dark cloud loomed over the city, as Pusha-T was performing at Danforth Music Hall November 20th 2018. Terrence was anticipated to be ready for anything after his highly profiled beef with local darling Drake. Thrown drinks, bodyguards with 2x4’s, fists flying and a stabbing were all a part of the chaos as the night … Continue reading Toronto’s Complicated Relationship with Hip-Hop & the Black Community
Music, Independence & Gatekeeping
Music, Independence & Gatekeeping. The current era of music has been dominated by streaming, with Spotify and other platforms giving independent artists a direct line to a broad base consumers and audiences. This is a huge step for a community and industry that at one point made it almost impossible to reach large and broad … Continue reading Music, Independence & Gatekeeping
How to be a Man
In high school, my friend showed me a list of things from the web that every guy without a father ought to know. It had things like shaving in the shower to save time, tying your tie, cooking a good steak, the obvious date-related tips… I had learned most of these ‘lifehacks’ from my two … Continue reading How to be a Man
Newsletter #1: Chance and Vic
In 2013, Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper, two Chicago rappers in the SAVEMONEY collective, dropped breakout mixtapes The Innanetape and Acid Rap, respectively. Both were young, barely out of high school and aimed to encapsulate their worldviews, their Chicago upbringing – drugs, guns and gangs – musically. In 2014, when we were finishing our … Continue reading Newsletter #1: Chance and Vic
Top 10 List
Hey y'all, Sorry I've been so quiet lately, I just finished my term and started a new job at the LCBO. It's the only place to buy booze that's not wine or beer in Ontario, the province I live in. It's quite interesting, today I saw a woman steal a bottle of Hennessy and almost … Continue reading Top 10 List
London Calling
Sorry for such a gross headline, I just like The Clash, my dad liked 'em a lot, and I'm going to London for the weekend. I'm visiting a friend who's doing an MFA at Western, should be fun. I met her at Queen's, first did an artist profile on her and then interviewed her for … Continue reading London Calling
Clayton Tomlinson 