Some of you may have gotten the chance to witness Rich Kidd crush it at this week’s SXSW alongside producer Young Guru. Or maybe you remember him stealing the show during Just Blaze’s set at the Boiler Room. Most likely, you’ve seen the video of him being crowned winner of the SXSW Champion Sound instrumental battle. No matter where you heard his name first, it goes without saying that Rich‘s buzz level is sky-high right now. Many are branding him as the next big hip-hop talent to blow up from Toronto, and it’s easy to see why. As an MC he’s been catching new fans at every turn. As a producer, he’s already worked with Raekwon, Busta Rhymes, DMX, and Talib Kweli, just to name a few. His press coverage has been growing, especially in the past year with Kiddstrumentals 2 and his solo mixtape In My Opinion, with this video being the last one to drop from this project.

With all the momentum surrounding Rich, his newest video “The Valley” is a landmark for him that paints a chilling image and challenges the standards of a hip-hop video with its cinematic undertone. Regarding the concept behind the video, director RT! said the following:

“With ‘The Valley’ visual I really wanted to make a video that kept throwing curveballs as you continue to watch it. Everyone knows about late-night missions after the club, so I took that simple relatable idea and flipped it into something dark, Kubrickian and unexpected. Hip-hop videos have a stigma of being predictable to the point of parody so we fucked with peoples expectations, while indulging some of those elements (who doesn’t love lingerie parties?) Rich is that new type of artist outta Canada that makes that real hip hop but ain’t afraid to try different concepts both visually and musically. When I heard the drums on this and the valley chanting I knew it had to be something twisted.

Check out the video below and be on the look out for more from this promising young rapper.

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While SonReal respectably holds down the center of the tape, the periphery is just as interesting, especially the production. The piano and the keyboard are common elements, but from song to song they’re used in dramatically different ways. The stark difference between “Shits Epic” and “Confession” is probably the best example. Anyone looking for a retreat from familiar synths and drum patterns will feel right at home. All in all, I guess there’s a reason Drake left his last album’s production to mostly Canadians. Take note and listen below.

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Producer compilations are a risky business. While the producers typically hold their own, the artists they recruit don’t always come with the same intensity, compromising the project. Rich Kidd seems to be aware of this dilemma, so he only recruited artists with certified chops.

The result is impressive. We On Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 7: The People’s Champ sprawls 19 tracks, but there are few gaps or lapses. On Twitter, the Toronto producer sometimes seems torn between producing and rapping, but here he’s comfortable with both. (Honestly, the fact that the series made it to its 7th volume shows that beatmaking is probably his real passion.) Either way, the Canadian is shining in both fields. Download or stream below and be sure to pay attention to the live instrumentation he includes on the tracks.

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Photos by: Eric Slyfield

As Toronto native Rich Kidd tells it, “we’ve got two seasons up here; winter and July.” Though it’s not July quite yet, it looks like Rich Kidd is ready to heat things up early. The rapper-producer (…or is that producer-rapper?) who’s collaborated with a slew of talented artists including Raekwon, Chase N. Cashe, and Talib Kweli, recently offered up a hearty sample of his newest project, In My Opinion.

To ring in the release of his free 19-track album, Rich Kidd and a handful of talented Canucks celebrated  at Toronto’s Wrongbar. Of course, RESPECT. was there to document the night’s proceedings.

Raz Fresco and The6thLetter

Young Raz Fresco and his Baker’s Club brethren, The6thLetter, helped set the tone for the night by weaving through old favorites and freestyles. They graciously even performed samples from the forthcoming project, PABLO/FRESCOBAR. 

Rich Kidd

The Airplane Boys

The Airplane Boys also rolled through to perform Beau Monde. Coming from the same end of the city, one of the few things better than catching one of their live performances has been watching their craft progress over the years. This duo’s unique flow and style make them a standout act in any country. Just ask all the freckle-faced twenty-somethings that saw them at Coachella last year.

A-Game

A-Game and Luu Breeze also came through. It was all love.

Rich Kidd

Rich Kidd; man of the people

Capping the night with a rowdy performance of his new single “SYKE,” the multi-talented musician took his music straight to the fans.

In the end, in addition to being an All-Canadian party animal, Rich Kidd has an amazing stage presence that’s magnified by his stadium-ready music. If you still haven’t already familiarized yourself with the vibrations from up north, be sure to check out Rich Kidd’s new project In My Opinion as well as his We On Some Rich Kidd Shit series. Toronto’s got talent.

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Surf Club affiliate Chase N. Cashe is finally releasing his new mixtape, Heir Waves. The highly anticipated project features production from araabMUZIK, 183rd Music, and Rich Kidd, as well as collaborations with Smoke DZA and Troy Ave.

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“You know those cliche rap videos?  This isn’t one of them.” That’s what Toronto-based hip-hop duo The Antiheroes have to say about their new video for “The Rebels (Listen Up)“, which features Rich Kidd and D-Sisive. The song is an up-tempo number which features jazzy horns and trashy drums, while the video is a cut-and-paste collage of cultural artifacts and Canadian girls dancing.

Download The Antiheroes’ full-length LP, This Is FreeDUMB.

The Antiheroes on Twitter

The Antiheroes on Facebook

The post Music Video: The Antiheroes feat. D-Sisive and Rich Kidd – “The Rebels (Listen Up)” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Last night (June 3) homegrown Canadian hip-hop kicked it with its big cousin from the South. The event: Smashmouth Ent. presents Stalley as part of his Savage Journey to the American Dream tour. The venue: Toronto’s historic El Mocambo bar.

As the lights dimmed inside the former refuge for slaves, which in the 70’s became popular for hosting two Rolling Stones concerts where they recorded the Love You Live album, hip-hop enthusiasts were reminded why Toronto’s hip-hop scene is in fact so peculiar when compared to that of the United States. Shows like Smashmouth’s presentation of Stalley play out like the talent show at the conclusion of Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. Take for instance one of the opening acts, Vibonics, which consists of harmonizer Kubota, emcee Crossword, guitarist Alfred Chow, and a couple other band members. Vibonics took to the small step-up stage at the back of the upstairs tavern at El Mocambo, a purplish-black-tinged room with vegetable garden-inspired lamps, at around 11:30 pm. They played alternative rock music in the tradition of Toronto’s 102.1 The Edge, yet combined it with fast-paced rhymes (Crossword) and Kubota’s rising vocal chords and electric stage presence. More than any of the other openers, Kubota stole the breath away from the male-dominant crowd with her yellow dress, sparkling mascara, and a soulful reckless passion that far exceeded the humbling reality of the show: It, like Harmful’s show, was hardly to capacity.

After Vibonics came Rich Kidd, who, despite his soulful beats, has yet to sell himself as an artist who can exists beyond the confines of a laptop, aka the blogosphere. Rich Kidd, standing a modest 5 foot 10 inches with a thick beard and the eyes of a child drunk on candy, reminds most Torontonians of their less-cosmopolitan roots. For some, that is appealing. For others, it can be unnerving. But for most, the Canadians who have gradually evolved into docile domesticity, it is a vaudeville act, for good or ill.

The highlight of the night however (obviously) was the arrival of Massillon, Ohio native, and MMG foot soldier, Stalley. At around 12:30 am what looked like an errand boy for some small-town American political campaign, clad in clean denim, white sneakers, a clean-cut haircut, nervous eyes, and a Stalley crew neck sweater, climbed aboard the stage to advise Rich Kidd’s DJ what records Stalley would be playing. Apparently the campaign boy was Stalley’s manager – what had to have been some perverse reverse-racism joke by the self-proclaimed self-made black-as-night kingpin, Ricky Rozay.

Stalley soon followed his manager on-stage, to an enthusiastic applause from the modest crowd, and proceeded with songs, “Petrin Hill Peonies”, “Cold”, “Everything New”, “Hell’s Angels American Heathens”, BCGMMG Remix”, “Party Heart”, “300”, and “Lincoln Way Nights (Shop)”. Besides a marked flair for showmanship, what with the beard and combat medals pinned to his ball cap, Stalley makes sure of two things when he does a live show. He makes sure we know his story – a middle-America rapper on his grind who makes bass-drenched riding jams for Chevys gets adopted by hip-hop’s fastest growing independent empire, MMG, and now he makes bass-drenched riding jams for Maybachs. And second of all, on top of his story, Stalley makes sure we feel the bass. Standing at the head of the stage watching a red, white, and blue-adorned hood politician for the state of Ohio, as well as the self-made empire of MMG, you don’t just receive Stalley’s words, you feel them. They rumble through your blood.

And so you see, Canadian/Toronto homegrown hip-hop really has little to do with its cousin from the South, personified in acts such as Stalley. Homegrown Canadian hip-hop is often quaint, obscure, peculiar, a stranger to its own weirdness, as embodied by the beautifully weird and enigmatic Kubota from Vibonics, while American hip-hop often exists to make a message. That’s why Rozay, with the input of his artist of course, has hired an efficient, clean-nosed, campaign boy to handle Stalley’s tour across the Americas (we assume). He wants to make sure his message comes across loud and clear: That the tables have turned in this once (and forever?) gentrified business.

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