Along with an ease moving between hip-hop and R&B, this predilection for Jamaican patois seems to be a unifying factor shared among the latest wave of Toronto rappers-which also includes Roy Woods, whose newly-released debut album for OVO Sound, Walking At Dawn features the dancehall-inspired single “Gwan Big Up Urself,” and Ramriddlz, the Egyptian-Canadian rapper whose “Sweeterman” was co-opted a year ago by Drake.īut while there is clearly no Tory Lanez “New Toronto” without Drake, the most popular and influential rapper ever to emerge from Canada by a longshot, we also have Drake because of Kardinal Offishall and k-OS, Ontario rappers of Caribbean extraction (Jamaica and Trinidad, respectively) who were breaking through to international audiences during Aubrey Graham’s youth. Lanez going the yardie route is his way of showing that he can do exactly what Drake does - flex his connection to the Caribbean. On “Summer Sixteen,” Drake references the latest wave of rappers from his hometown with the line, “All you boys in the New Toronto want to be me a little.” Tory Lanez planted the flag for the New Toronto when he wore a T-shirt printed with that term in his video for “LA Confidential.” The two have a history: a then-unknown Lanez once called out Drake, offering him 10K to listen to his music, challenging the better-known artist in an effort to promote his Playing for Keeps mixtape, and even had to put to rest a rumor that he was related to Drake. While Joe Budden recently took blatant shots at Drake on two diss tracks, Tory Lanez and Drake have been going back and forth with more subtle jabs.
#Tory lanez controlla freestyle plus#
If you’re keeping count at home, Drake has two different “Controlla” versions, each of which showcase his embrace of dancehall: one with three original verses from Popcaan, plus the album cut with a sample of Beenie Man’s “Tear Off Mi Garment.” If the competition between the two Toronto artists keeps escalating in this manner, it might be time to call for a soundclash.
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Lanez, whose father hails from Barbados while his mother comes from Curacao (Lanez himself, while originating from Toronto, also spent time living in Miami and New York City), makes a clever move with his I Wayne homage, and patois-laden verses. In case you’re in need of a refresher, I-Wayne’s metaphorical lyrics about a lady needing more “wood for the fire” earned the Jamaican singer mainstream radio play in 20 while, at the same time, bringing awareness to the subject of prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases. Mi know seh mi chain shiny but why pree?” Through his heavily auto-tuned vocals, he references I-Wayne’s perfectly pitched singing on “Can’t Satisfy Her,” which naturally peaked to falsetto over the Father Jungle Rock riddim. His “Controlla (SWAVE Session)” freestyle sees him interpolating the melody from I-Wayne’s “Can’t Satisfy Her,” introducing the track with a promise to “get on some real yard shit,” before singing in patois: “No one gyal can satisfy me/Mi need more fuel for the lime green/Mi nuh know one gal cyan deny me. Lanez hasn’t necessarily one-upped Drake, but, with the much talked-about freestyle Lanez has become more relevant, adding his name to the long history of Canadian rappers who draw influence from the West Indies. A week after he was finally dethroned by California, the reunion album by popular ‘00s rock band Blink-182, Toronto rapper/singer Tory Lanez has followed suit by jacking the beat to “Controlla,” the dancehall-fused thumper that helped propel Views to dominance.
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Check It Deeply: Tory Lanez, Drake, Dancehall + ‘New Toronto’įor nine weeks, through July 7th, Drake’s Views charted as Billboard’s No.