Artist Spotlight: Wolf J & KJ

If you know me well you know that I hate any music that comes out of toronto unless it's r&b because some rappers either don't know what they are doing or trying to fit into the American facade. I loathe that foolishness, but as of late alot of people have been putting me on to a lot of great musicians, and it made me think for a second Drake has done the one single thing that many other Toronto artists can't do shine a light on our city and have us Torontonians have some pride in our muscians. But going on I have found two great artists one by the name of Wolf J and the other by the name of KJ. So let me get into this spotlight thang :


Wolf J [Upsidedown Day] [website: www.wolfj.com]
Honestly the way I found this guy was when I was facebook creeping (I'm telling you one of these days I will be getting into trouble with my antics) he had posted a link on of my friend's pages and I decided to go check his stuff out. Well I didn't initially creep Wolf's facebook but instead I downloaded the link to his mixtape. That was probably the smartest thing I have done in a very long time because his mixtape was something serious I loved it to pieces from the production to his lyrical world play (I love metaphors after all I'm an english major) and the uber-interesting song titles (how can I forget the title of the mixtape its called Upside Down Day Tapemix [he is way too cool for school]). Some of my favourite songs on that mixtape are Cut Fab, Cufflink Tears, Wack MCs, & Backpack Dreams (if anybody understood how I LOVE this song) but nonetheless this mixtape is sooooo worth the download. Not to mention I had the great pleasure of meeting him at Shannon Boodram's book launch of Laid, very nice and humble guy and you can tell that he takes his craft seriously and appreciates the love that he gets from his fans. But before I stop I will share some tidbits about Mr. Wolf:
--he is also a videographer and a graphic designer
--he writes and he sings (clearly this man is artistically inclined)
--and this is where you can download his mixtape: http://www.zshare.net/download/650711153173050f/


KJ [A Breath of Fresh Heir][website: www.myspace.com/kjmusiconline]
Hmm what can I say about him other than I love him OMG this dude is the truth as well. When it comes to that old school dj primo produced boom bap rhyme flow he has it. His presentation of his flow honestly takes me back to a time in the early 90s where it meant something to have lyrical ability and it was embraced (I don't know about music now these days but that can be debated at another time). How I discovered KJ was when I was listening to Wolf's mixtape and I was like hmmm I like this dude too let me go see what he's all about. I think I facebook creeped Wolf at this point and found KJ's myspace and downloaded his mixtape from there. Once again I was not disappointed this mixtape was organic in the sense that everything seemed so natural and it seemed so right. Like when I say KJ has a mean rhyme scheme like I mean this dude puts it down when he is rapping. Not to mention superb production and a great concept (his mixtape is called A Breath of Fresh Heir, crazy play on words). But yea some of my favourite songs on that mixtape are: K Goes South, Repeat (people need to check out the remix with Slakah the Beatchild, Media Market and that's just to name a few. But like Wolf J's mixtape such a great listen. But before I end off here are som tidbits:
--he not only is a rapper but he is also a producer
--he is also into self production (so yes he produces his own music)
--he was also raised in England and relocated in Canada when he was 11
--download his mixtape: http://www.zshare.net/download/610346355f03dfa8/

To tell you the truth I am only scratching the surface by highlighting these two artists because there are so many homegrown artists that are out there such as: Black Carrington, Rich Kidd, Jordhanna, T.Ana Cole, Kim Davis, Brendan Phillip, Scribblez, Ace Loc a.k.a. Champion [who by the way is a good friend of mine] and the list goes on literally! I will be actually be spotlighting them real soon. But once again I suggest that everybody takes a listen to their mixtapes because they are contributing to the future of our city when it comes to music, and so far I am LOVING what I am hearing. Anywho I will be leaving you with some quotes from both artists!

"I Like Nice Things, And I Get Them Because I Can Afford Them/When I Was Your Age I Didn't Own A Pair of Jordans Ralph Lauren/I Was Out Saucing To Find The Logos/Dr. Fleas Where I Would Go So To Get My Look Alike/Kind of Like/Sort of Like/Kind of Clothes"--Media Market, KJ From The Mixtape Breath of Fresh Heir

"The Puppy Has Been Asleep And Now The Wolf Has Been Awaken/And There Is A Rumble In The Jungle/And I Can Feel The Earth Quakin"--Backpack Dreams, Wolf J From The Upsidedown Day Mixtape