Hip-Hop Karaoke: 10th Anniversary with DJ Pete Rock at Revival (783 College), Friday (February 17), doors 10 pm. $20-$25. hhktoronto.com.
After a decade of Hip-Hop Karaoke Toronto nights where legends like Phife Dawg and Maestro Fresh Wes performed alongside amateur MCs, HHKTO is coming to an end.
“Hip-Hop Karaoke has been this special epic journey of Toronto and its diversity,” says co-founder Dalia Cohen. “We managed to have an inclusive, warm energy that has stood for 10 years.”
Otherwise known as DJ Dalia, Cohen and HHKTO DJs Numeric (Noel Dix) and Ted Dancin’ (Luke Ballon), along with rapper/co-hosts More or Les (Les Seaforth) and Abdominal (Andy Bernstein), have run the popular event every third Friday of the month.
Performing at HHKTO is not like going to the Gladstone Hotel or Clinton’s to belt out Guns N’ Roses. Hopeful MCs jump on a open mic and perform classic 90s rap hits – minus n-bombs or excessive profanity – with an instrumental track and printed-out lyrics as a guide. Special guests like Maestro, Naughty by Nature and the late Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest were sometimes on hand as guest hosts.
Though they may revive it as a yearly event, the HHKTO crew have lined up a heavyweight for the final monthly party: legendary DJ/producer Pete Rock.
As HHKTO prepares to drop the mic, we connected with the organizers to reflect on 10 years of celebrating hip-hop.
How did the idea for Hip-Hop Karaoke come about?
Dalia: It all started though my friend and radio partner Tash from Montreal. She and Luke had a flyer that had DJ Pete Rock on it for the HHK in New York. It was like a light bulb going on, and it became my mission to get this night going.
More or Les: Dalia is the lynchpin. We knew each other from DJing, and for a short time she was backing me up on shows. She met Luke, they started dating, and at one point the three of us [Les, Noel and Dalia] were living in the same building.
What were some of the challenges of keeping it going for 10 years?
Dalia: We’d get people coming, falling in love with the night, becoming obsessed with it and coming every single night as regulars. But then everyone moves on life happens and you don’t see them for a while.
It’s a hard thing to sustain every month.
Abdominal: We introduced different angles and competitions, like duo and quartet editions. We did costume parties around Halloween and theme nights to keep it interesting.
Numeric: I did all the artwork and posters, handled bookings and dealt with immigration. When my day job got busy, I couldn’t give it my full attention.
Who’s been coming to the shows over the 10 years?
Dalia: People who grew up with hip-hop in the 90s were the core. But by looking at people, you would never know they were heads. You would get teachers, people who looked like
accountants and punk rockers.
Numeric: We got people who barely looked 19 who would cover Nas.
Ted Dancin’: We’ve proven it doesn’t matter where you come from. If you can rap, you can rap.
Dalia: It was really awesome to see females get up there and just rip the mic. Most of our winners have been females.
What were the best special guest performances?
Abdominal: Maestro for our second-year anniversary. When it came time to do Let Your Backbone Slide, he invited people onstage. There were more people on the stage than in the crowd. Of course, Phife Dawg – rest in peace – for our five-year anniversary. He was a diabetic and actually had his first onstage diabetic attack. He stopped the set to drink cranberry juice and get his sugar levels back up. Instead of continuing where he left off, he made his DJ rewind the whole set. He insisted on giving the crowd a proper show.
More or Les: One artist had a fancy diamond watch fly off his wrist and into the crowd. He stopped the show but, unfortunately, he didn’t get the watch back. To his credit, he quickly shrugged it off and continued.
How fitting is it to have DJ Pete Rock for the final show?
Dalia: It’s so fitting the last show is with the artist who introduced us to HHK in New York.
Abdominal: All our special guests have been rappers, so for the last one we wanted to bring a celeb DJ. We want the focus to be on the karaokers. We know so many people will want to get their last performances in.
music@nowtoronto.com | @urbanguy
