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The Hip Hopification of Toronto
In daily newspapers, politics, radio and TV, hip hop music dominates this city.
One explanation: Those who didn’t join the ranks of plaid-shirted in 1994 formed a subculture that hip hop still thrives on; with tonnes of underground material and a very unavoidable stigma attached. That generation, raised on Cypress Hills, the Wu-Tangs and Ice Cubes, is now approaching (or in) their 30s and remain unflinching purveyors of the genre. Diverse Toronto rap acts and hip hop intellectuals are everywhere. The Star, for instance, has a go-to hip hop writer when they run the hundredth story on Kardinal Offishall, while The Globe uses Rex Murphy for grander hip hop issues.
Not quite getting the international attention that the hype Toronto indie rock scene got a few years ago, but one could use the word ‘burgeoning’ in describing our hipping and hopping.