Why is it so few Getting Up Festival write-ups avoid using the word "bling"? It's neither funny nor cute, and distracts attention from a rare Toronto appearance of Nas (a man who predates the word by over ten years). This weekend's Getting Up Festival was unquestionably Toronto's biggest-ever hip hop and hip hop culture showcase, and perhaps need more recognition for that. All references to "bling" aside, clothing designer Mark Ecko put his money where......

After sifting through the heaps (mounds?) of MIA discussion around the internet over the past few months, Torontoist thought it's about time we came up with some of our own opinions on the Sri Lankan/British, by-way-of-blog superstar. As most conscious MIA listeners already know, there's a growing controversy over MIA's Palestine Liberation Organisation shout-out as well as alleged ties to the Tamil Tigers. As Torontoist interprets it, the MIA debate surrounds the political message of......

The best way to compile a year-end list is to wait for everyone else's year-end lists before making any rash decisions. Not only does this method allow for appropriate deliberation, but also makes it easy to sidestep any of the poor choices made by other list-makers. For instance, upon scientific study of the P'fork singles list, Torontoist decided that both Beyonce's "Naughty Girl" and Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" can NOT be included......