TORY LANEZ
Tory Lanez has been known to sample everything from TLC to Ginuwine’s Pony, so it came as no surprise when Say It, his debut single for Interscope, was built around Brownstone’s seminal 90s R&B ballad If You Love Me.
The word the 23-year-old Toronto rapper/producer/songwriter (born Daystar Peterson) has been using to describe his forthcoming album is “classic.” That’s a high bar to set, but for anyone familiar with his against-all-odds backstory, his cockiness is probably no surprise.
His major-label deal with producer Benny Blanco’s Interscope subsidary Mad Love comes after years of work: 13 mixtapes, collaborations with rappers Meek Mill, YG and Freddie Gibbs, an EP with buzzy L.A. electronic label WeDidIt, a brief stint as Justin Bieber’s “unofficial hip-hop coach.”
With Say It making inroads on radio south of the border, Lanez is poised to become the next rapper from Toronto to cross over in the United States, a reassuring sign that our hip-hop scene isn’t just about Drake and his OVO crew. Lanez’s headlining gig at the Hoxton gives hometown heads a chance to see if his live set has progressed as much as his profile.
With Boogie at the Hoxton (69 Bathurst), Monday (December 7), doors 8 pm. Sold out.
DROID, HOLY MOUNT, I SMELL BLOOD, MANACLE Coalition (282 Augusta), Friday (December 4) See Droid album review.
THE LOWEST OF THE LOW, COMMUNISM Horseshoe (370 Queen West), Friday (December 4) The ‘Shoe celebrates 68 years.
SILENT SHOUT FESTIVAL w/ Lydia Ainsworth, Phèdre, JOOJ, Ben Gunning, Scott Hardware, Lockbox, Hush Pup, New Chance Smiling Buddha (961 College), Friday-Saturday (December 4 and 5) See preview.
VINCE STAPLES Tattoo (567 Queen West), Friday (December 4) Breakout Long Beach MC.
NICK HÖPPNER, GERA Cabal Lounge (782 King West), Friday (December 4) Panorama Bar resident.
BLACK COFFEE, NICK HOLDER, JONATHAN ROSA, COSMIC JD Coda (794 Bathurst), Friday (December 4) Afropolitan house music.
SOUPCANS, RUNNING, CELLPHONE, PLASMALAB Cinecycle (129 Spadina), Saturday (December 5) See preview.
CYRIL HAHN The Hoxton (69 Bathurst), Saturday (December 5) Dreamy deep house.
HEART LIKE A WHEEL: ECHO WOMEN’S CHOIR Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square), Sunday (December 6) Latin American lullabies, Anna McGarrigle covers and more.
RHYE Danforth Music Hall (147 Danforth), Tuesday (December 8) Smooth up in ya.
PERFECT PUSSY, FIELDED, FOXMOULDER Smiling Buddha (961 College), Tuesday (December 8) Say yes to Meredith Graves.
ILLA J X SPEK WON, DJ SOULCHILD Drake Hotel (1150 Queen West), Wednesday (December 9) iLive Radio streamed show.
ALL THEM WITCHES, NEW MADRID The Garrison (1197 Dundas West), Wednesday (December 9) See album review.
ANDY KIM CHRISTMAS SHOW w/ Tom Cochrane, Barenaked Ladies, Ron Sexsmith, Michael & Margo Timmins, Kevin Drew & Brendan Canning, Kardinal Offishall and others Phoenix Concert Theatre (410 Sherbourne), Wednesday (December 9) Music legend’s CAMH funder.
