“JellyTooFly was recently featured on Industry All Access and needs at least 40 comments to get a sponsor for her brand. Please take two minutes to help her reach her goal by leaving a comment/feedback at the link below showing your support.”

An excerpt:

It is undeniable that the music industry is in the midst of a renaissance that is seeing the restoration of originality and integrity to the game. Jelly Too Fly is poised to be a focal point of this movement.  Being raised between Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Toronto, Canada has brought a unique perspective and versatility to Jelly’s music that can’t be matched. What started as an interest in poetry soon evolved to spitting covers. This, in turn, led to Jelly writing and rapping her own tracks, enabling her to craft an unmistakably fresh flavor that sets her apart from any musical peer.

Through her mix-tape projects (TIJB, TIJB 2, King, and Inn the Rough) and a praised verse on the viral 2012 Stylus Awards Cypher video, Jelly has proven to be a lyrical threat to any rapper; man or woman, East or West. With no fake and no filler, she is a raw emcee with a story as authentic as her charm. Despite her lyrical prowess, her throne is on the stage. This young spitter wears the crown in the art of performance, ripping the mic over 50 times in this last year alone at prominent Canadian events, including: 106 & York and Manifesto Festival, NxNE, and most recently, A3C. Jelly has the ability to engage any crowd with an intense energy, larger than life stage presence, and musicality that helps listeners really hear the music.

IAA INDUSTRY NEWS:  What city and state are you from?

JELLY TOO FLY:  I was born in Toronto, Canada but I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. A lot of people will think I’m American because of the way I speak.

IAA INDUSTRY NEWS:  What is your music background?

JELLY TOO FLY:  I have always written poetry. The people around me encouraged me to speed it up and put a beat to it and that’s how I started making music. You can hear the poetry in my music and if you listen to my mix-tapes you’ll notice that I pace my music like poetry and do a lot of acapella. I don’t have any formal training, but I do have many musicians and artists in my family. I am definitely musically inclined. I grew up in the church and sang in the choir. My grandfather was also just nominated for the BET Best Gospel Award.

IAA INDUSTRY NEWS:  Why do you want to record and release your own music?

JELLY TOO FLY:  I feel like I have a voice that needs to be heard. My entrance into the game is something new. There is no one like me and I believe I can change the game from being a predominately male industry to one that sheds light on female emcees.

IAA INDUSTRY NEWS:  What are your songs about?

JELLY TOO FLY:  My songs are about life. They are about struggle, success, women, weed, love, hate…it’s about everything. Sometimes I’m writing about what I am going through or what people around me are going through. It all depends on how I’m feeling.

http://industryallaccess.com/portal/2013/11/26/iaa-spotlight-get-know-jelly-fly-torontos-hottest-star/

Previously: NEW MUSIC: JellyTooFly & Dey “Company” (Prod. Hungree Music)

Get to know come-up singer Savannah Re’ via Underground Canada.

We caught up with her on her journey from starting at fam jams to Toronto’s biggest venues, Toronto being Screwface Capital, and completing her mix tape that took nearly 3 years!

Previously: NEW VIDEO: Savannah Ré – The One Who Got Away (Directed by SilveX)

I know you’re not sleeping, right? Copp “Now” now.

Previous: INTERVIEW: FREEDOM WRITERS W/ EXCLAIM.CA

Speaking of choperation…

A native of London, Ont., rap artist Shad memorably beat out official Toronto Raptors global ambassador Drake for the Best Rap Recording Juno in 2011. He’s a competitive guy, and he loves sports. Sportsnet.ca chopped it up with one of Canada’s greatest MCs about Mario Lemieux’s cancer-crushing superpowers, his preference for CIS hoops, and why—if he were the ambassador of Canada’s NBA team—he’d encourage the Huskies to tank for Andrew Wiggins.

Sporstnet: You mostly live in Vancouver now. How would you describe your relationship with the Canucks?

Shad: Because I don’t like the Canucks, I don’t follow them that much. I feel like [moving to Vancouver] was my real opportunity to get immersed in it, especially when they went to the [2011] Stanley Cup final, but I was like, “Oh, these guys… no heart.”

Now that you’re spending more time recording in Toronto are the Maple Leafs slowly becoming your team?

That was an epic collapse last year, I’m not going to lie. That felt fated in a really sad way. I like underdogs. I was in Vancouver during the playoffs, just following the score, and was like, “Wow, they’re going to do it!” And then it was like, “Wow, that was epic.”

So, who’s your NHL team?

When I was a kid, I was a Penguins fan; I was a huge Mario Lemieux fan. So I still retain a little love for the Penguins. Lemieux, to me, was the most epic dude. Going to chemo and coming back, how are you that much better than everybody? How are you that much better than everybody?! Here’s some guy in the physical prime of his life, and you just underwent radiation and you’re better than him? I don’t know how that feels. But I don’t have strong allegiances as far as NHL teams go.

What sports did you play growing up?

Basketball. I still play a lot. In Vancouver, I’ve really got back into playing, so I’m tapped in to all of these pickup games. I know where there’s a game Tuesday night or Wednesday night. These are mostly in gyms. You can get a nice outdoor game at Kits Beach. Two full courts on a beautiful beach. I think Steve Nash paid for those.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Previous: NEW ALBUM: SHAD “FLYING COLOURS”

Exclaim with some healthy choperation with the Freedom Writers fam. Copp “Now” now damnit.

By Luke Fox
Something decidedly un-screwface has happened in Toronto.

Six individual solo artists have put egos aside and let ideas take centre stage for the better of the whole, establishing a super collective of sword-sharp wordsmiths. The Freedom Writers’ beats are thick, their concepts are varied and their standards are high.

Now is more than solid, intricate rap record; it’s a statement about community and talent and ideas. “When we formed this, we could’ve picked anybody from the whole city. I don’t think anybody would’ve said no,” says producer Big Sproxx, who provides a varied palette for five MCs (plus guests) to spill their thoughts and stories and punch lines.

Theo 3, Tona, Adam Bomb, Frankie Payne and Progress — all regarded solo rappers, each with their own strengths — sit in an empty room on the ground floor of a west side apartment building and discuss their collaboration, taking a break from rehearsing their new songs. They talk about process and late-night eating and, most importantly, truth. Which is what they’re searching for with open ears.

As Frankie says, “The truth can come from an activist or an asshole.”

With so many different voices and opinions, how did you make the LP sound so cohesive?
Progress: Because everyone gives their raw opinion, what makes it cohesive is the honesty. Politically speaking, people don’t think wildly different on this team. There are differences in opinion, but we’re close enough that if everyone’s just honest, it’ll sound cohesive. We didn’t have to put energy into making the album conceptually cohesive; it just happened.

Do you write solo or together?
Theo 3: At least four of five songs were written right on the spot.

Tona: We’re all in different sections of the city. It’s rare that when we had sessions, certain individuals didn’t show up. When we were all together, we made sure we used that time to create music.

Adam Bomb: If somebody has [a concept] going, it’s easy for the rest of the team to bounce off what’s already there. We don’t take a record and say, “OK, everybody go home and write about this.” Whoever’s on the spot, if you have something, cool. If you don’t have something, we’ll just stick with what we got.

Tona: And if somebody couldn’t make it that day? You weren’t on the record.

Big Sproxx: I’d say half the songs, it was just me and Tona. The first song we did, no one else was there. He had a hook already done for his solo thing, but then he thought it would better suit what we were doing. So he was the first to lay [down his vocals], then other guys would come in sporadically on different days and fill theirs in. So some songs did get built in a staggered way, but it still has the cohesiveness you’re talking about.

Frankie Payne: We all have a silent agreement to keep things as natural as possible. It all comes down to timing and circumstances. Even with “Soldier,” I had an idea for a hook, and then man after man came and jumped on it and started adding their ideas. There is no forced creativity; it’s all organic.

Adam Bomb: That’s the best thing about the team. There’s no script, there’s no demand; it’s just six ideas in a room, and we come up with whatever we come up with.

Theo: No one takes offence to their idea being shot down. Before you came, we were rehearsing for the show. If someone said, “Lets try this…,” [another might say] “No. Shut the fuck up. That’s horrible.” And that’s OK. He’ll fall back.

Frankie Payne: There is no filter.

Adam Bomb: There are a lot of records on there where it’s like, “Who’s going to do this song the most justice? Let’s let them do their thing.” To be able to add to a record is cool, but it’s also good to back off a record.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Previous: EVENT: FREEDOM WRITERS LIVE @ THE MOD CLUB (“NOW” ALBUM RELEASE PARTY)

Push for Shad‘s latest offering is in full swing. Flying Colours October 15th!

Shad is kind of a big deal. He may be a relative newcomer in the minds of most US rap fans, but North of the border, in between complaints about the cold and apologizing for bumping into your fellow countryman on the street, they know Shad. The Kenyan-born, Toronto-bred, Vancouver-residing rapper is already three albums deep, but his skills are still being honed and it feels as though he has yet to even hit his stride. His last album was shortlisted for a Polaris Music Prize and it beat out Drake’s Thank Me Later for the Juno’s Best Rap Album award. His self-deprecating style may be somewhat unique to Canada, but his laid-back flow and ability to seemingly effortlessly tell stories over the beat has universal appeal.

Now, with his fourth album, Flying Colours, arriving October 15 via Black Box, the mild-mannered rapper is poised to make his mark on the industry. RESPECT. sat down with Shadto discuss his new album, “conscious rap,” his life post-music and more.

RESPECT: I remember a while back, you mentioned the difference between making your mark in Canada and in the US. Mainly, you said touring was the focus here and in the US you need to put out free music. You dropped Melancholy last year and you recently put out the Spring Up EP for free. How do you think that impacted your profile in the US?

Shad: It’s really hard for me to say because I’m not there much. It’s hard for me to get an impression as far as who is where listening to my music, if anyone at all. Those projects for me were more like, I was in the studio working hard on my full-length and I had these little opportunities to work on different things. Melancholy was just an idea I had on tour and I was like, “Ok, we’re just not gonna work on the album for five days and do this.” The Spring Up was just after I had finished [Flying Colours] and I still had some creative energy and banged out those tracks fast. So I wasn’t thinking about those as far as an exposure to the States kind of intention.

CBC ranked you as the second greatest Canadian rapper of all-time, right behind Maestro. To put that in perspective, the three that preceded you on the list were K-Os, Drake and Kardinal Offishall. What was your reaction when you found that out?

That was tremendous. I’m always amazed when people listen to my music that closely and put me in that category. That was great. Maestro is like our Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One all-in-one. And, of course, Drake is Drake. So, to be put in that category is really special.

And your album TSOL also beat out Drake’s Thank Me Later for the Juno’s rap album of the year in 2011. So it’s safe to say that it’s you and not Kendrick who’s murdering Drake, right?

[Laughs.] I feel like Drake beats me 364 days a year so that was my one day.

READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Previous: VIDEO: SHAD – FLYING COLOURS (BEHIND THE SCENES) (MANIFESTOTV)

This is a few months old but I just came across it the other day after taking in “More Than Friends”. Basically, the homies from The Precious Lo’s had a little feature produced on them across the pond. Gil was in studio and talks about the city and also plays some big tunes from the likes of Maylee Todd, Bird and of course The Precious Lo’s.

Excerpt from Monocle’s “Culture With Robert Bound” radio program. Gil Masuda sits down with Tom Hall at The Midori House radio studios to discuss Toronto’s music scene, including a sneak peek of a new track by The Precious Lo’s featuring Maylee Todd. Official single and video coming soon…

Original air date: 13/05/13
Archive link: monocle.com/radio/shows/culture/83/

Previous: NEW MUSIC: THE PRECIOUS LO’S – MORE THAN FRIENDS FEAT. MAYLEE TODD + REMIX FEAT. KORRY DEEZ

Get to know Ms. Miller in this “Intimate Conversation with Andreena” courtesy of the GRL of the hustle.

Interview by Kate Sherry

Andreena, we could not be more excited to have you featured on hustleGRL. Being a woman who is so devoted and hard working towards her dreams is so inspiring and it’s something that we stand for and support. We are so excited about your newest project “Naked,” an amazing body of work. You started out as an artist at the tender age of 3. At the age of 11, you were recording your own material and while attending The Etobicoke School of the Arts, you put your everything into this career as an artist.

Can you imagine doing anything else?
I can imagine myself doing many things but creating music as well as teaching it is the only thing that really gives me a rush, from a career standpoint.

Your new project “Naked,” is it a compilation over a span of time or within this year?
I started working on Naked really as a 6 song project end of 2011 however I took a break from the music scene to handle life and everything that comes along with it. Then last August when smoke began to clear, I picked it up again and a year later Naked was out.

22 tracks, a free LP. How generous. Naked has to be one of my favorites along side with Anything, and that Breathe interlude I almost wish it was 10 minutes long. So sultry. So sexy. Almost feels like you are Naked when you listen to it. What is your favorite song or song(s)?
I don’t have any favourites; they’re all very personal to me and came at very specific points in my life so it’s hard to choose one but the track Naked was the 1st song I completed for the album so it definitely set the tone for everything else that I wanted to create.

I see that you are going by the name of “Andreena” these days. Why did you decide to drop the last name?
Well my last name isn’t Mill, it’s actually Miller and everyone seems to give me nicknames so dropping the Mill for me was really my statement for introducing MYSELF to the world. No nicknames, no aliases, the real me this time around.

So in your song “The Ones,” you sing “Fathers be good to your daughters.” Growing up with your father as a musician, what type of relationship did you have with him and what has he taught you as an artist?
My mother and father really both crafted me to be humble, to be disciplined and to always work to be the greatest at what I do. At an early age I was taught that in this business there’s no use in being basic. So they made sure I was in vocal training dancing learning instruments anything to make me better.

READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Previous: NEW VIDEO: THE A&R REPORT X THE STYLUS GROUP PRESENT “STUDIO SESSIONS” FEAT ZAKI IBRAHIM, ANDREENA + MORE!

Official review of Andreena‘s latest release Naked courtesy of Ryan B. Patrick and Exclaim Magazine.

By Ryan B. Patrick

8/10

“Slick”; it’s the word that pops to mind when absorbing Toronto, on-based Andreena’s new body of work. A fixture on the T.O. R&B/soul scene (likely known by most for 2011 synth-pop single “Key 2 Your Heart”), with Naked, Andreena looks at “telling it like it is” from a love perspective, via the singer-songwriter and pianist’s vividly personal experiences. This independent release features shimmering production (Hit-Boy, Bass Line, Spinz and Rich Kidd) and a glossy lyrical take on contemporary R&B. At 22 tracks (including skits and interludes), the free-to-download LP feels a bit heavy, but maintains a coherent vibe throughout. The playful “My Boo” comes off a bit trendy, but tracks like “As Deep As Your Love,” “That’s What Love Will Do,” “Anything” and “The Ones” (which leverages a nicely used “Souls of Mischief by way of Billy Cobham” hip-hop sample) display Andreena in her modern R&B element — soulful, truthful, ethereal. “Song Cry” best represents the project as a whole; it features a sprightly, “ride with me” urban sound reminiscent of a Keyshia Cole, only on a more lyrically skilled and vocally talented level.

Previous: NEW ALBUM: ANDREENA – NAKED

Darren Anthony chops it up with AnancyMag.com in preparation for his 2-show run of Secrets of a Black Boy on July 27th.

DARREN ANTHONY: FROM DYSLEXIC TO SUCCESSFUL WRITER

Four years ago Darren Anthony staged his first play The Secrets of a Black Boy. It was a success. The play was directed by his sister Trey Anthony, the creator of the hit play and TV series Da Kink in My Hair. This month Mr. Anthony is re-staging his play. In a telephone interview, we talked about his road to success.

Q: How do you stay grounded when your first play was so successful?

A: I surround myself with my peers and the people who I grew up with. I stay connected to my sister Trey. They uplift me. They make sure I don’t get too big headed. When you are successful you suddenly have a lot of new friends. You need to know who is real and who is not. Your old friends tend to be true.

Q: What is pulling you more these days, the acting or the writing?

A: I love writing and creating content. I have a lot to tell. The power of the pen means that I can have several different voices to tell stories. I find that acting is a bit one-dimensional – you have to be the character that is written on the page. You can’t vary it. Acting is also a roller-coaster. You have to be ‘on’ when you are playing the character, and then it can be hard to come back down. For me the pen has more power.

Q:You work with young people as a child and youth worker. How do you encourage black boys to stay in school?

A: I share my story with them. I wasn’t always successful. I was labeled as dyslexic in school and I had to repeat a grade. I tried to use sports to define myself, as it was easier than trying to keep up with my academically smart sisters. I stayed in school thanks to my sisters and my mother. They believed in me and knew I could do better. Now I travel around with Trey, and her plays. I would never have gotten that opportunity if I had not stayed in school. When I meet new people or situations, I know I can handle it, because I can think. I have school to thank for that.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Previous: VIDEO: DARREN ANTHONY – SECRETS OF A BLACK BOY (PROMO)