Category: Toronto

  • Sean Paul Comes Through To “Dutty Up” OVO Fest Night 1

    Sean Paul Comes Through To “Dutty Up” OVO Fest Night 1

    The Dancehall Superstar Even Dropped His Tory Lanez Remix

    Although Beenie Man was unable to attend OVO Fest Night One as planned due to health issues (The Doctor was undergoing treatment for the Zika virus), surprise guest Sean Paul came through just in the nick of time to dutty up the place.  Running through all his hits, from “Gimme The Light” to “Get Busy” and “Temperature” even “Like Glue,” SP even kicked a few bars from his remix to “Luv” by Toronto rude bwoy Tory Lanez. Did anybody tell him that Drake and Mr. Lanez are not exactly on the best of terms at the moment? The guest appearance from Rihanna wasn’t a bad look either. How Drizzy convinced her to skip her beloved Crop Over in Barbados we’ll never know. Maybe those two really are serious. Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Jahkoy “Wine”

    HEAR THIS: Jahkoy “Wine”

    Audio After The Jump…

    Jahkoy Pamer was born in Toronto, so even though his music gets filed uner “R&B/Hip Hop” he’s got a touch of the Caribbean vibes in there too. (Maybe that’s what he means by the name Bipolar Sound?) His sunny “Still in Love” video had us feeling some type of way, but it wasn’t till he dropped “Wine” that the Def Jam signee crossed into the Boomshots zone. The rock steady drum pattern sets things up so lovely that when the skanking reggae break comes, it comes as no surprise. By that point his invitation to wine is mere formality. Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • Lost In Translation: Does Drake’s Dancehall Obsession Benefit Anyone But Himself?

    Lost In Translation: Does Drake’s Dancehall Obsession Benefit Anyone But Himself?

    EXCLUSIVE GENIUS EXCERPT: Please Don’t Call Drake “King of the Dancehall”

    While revealing the release date of his long-awaited album, Views From The 6, on Beats Radio, Drake sought to evoke the denseness, complexity, and overall quality of the record by stating that “It’s not a short ting.” His use of patois, although not surprising for any native of Toronto—a city where Caribbean culture has seeped into many aspects of mainstream language, food, and music in much the same way it has in London, Miami, or Nigeria—was no accident. Excerpt Continues After The Jump…
  • HEAR THIS: Drake ft. Popcaan “Controlla!”

    HEAR THIS: Drake ft. Popcaan “Controlla!”

    The Long Awaited 6 God x Unruly Boss Collab Is Here At Last

    Popcaan and Drake have been bigging each other up for so long it feels like this tune—which leaked today—is long overdue. First Drake started dropping “Y Pree” in his lyrics. Then Drizzy’s boys shot a music video for Poppy up in Toronto. After that the OVO posse jetted down to Jamaica and shot a short documentary, “6 in the 876”—snippets of which ended up on Drake’s acclaimed mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Just the other day Boomshots caught up with Popcaan, and asked him point blank if there would be any unruliness on Drake’s upcoming album Views From The 6. At the time he answered no, but added “anything is possible.” Which makes us think this track—something shimmy joint fe de gyal dem—which leaked unofficially and hit all the blogs today, must have been completed fairly recently. Drake opens his verse with an O.G. Poppy reference “My eye just changed.” Anyway, no more long talking. The ting shot. Wickedness Increase! Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Rihanna ft. Drake “Work” Official Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Rihanna ft. Drake “Work” Official Music Video

    Girl I’ll Tropical House You

    After all the teasers, snippets, and Snapchats the video for Rihanna’s most unabashedly dancehall track ever drops today, same time the tune touch the No. 1 spot. Our bredren Paul Parris called Riri and Aubrey the Queen and King of Dancehall, which might be overstating the case, but we feel the fire of his argument. Point being that Tropical House shit is dead. Please have the decency to call it what it is: dancehall. By now we all know the song was co-produced by Drake’s very own Boi-1da, Sevn Thomas and Partynextdoo—three youths from T-Dot who looped up Pot of Gold’s “Sail Away” riddim and took the track behind “Badman Nuh Flee” to the top of the pops. The video is appropriately twerktastic and bangs even harder with DJ Autograph’s remix underneath. Pree this. Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Jully Black ft. Tanya Stephens “Bom Bom” Remix

    HEAR THIS: Jully Black ft. Tanya Stephens “Bom Bom” Remix

    Two Dancehall Divas Tackle The Track Sister Nancy Made “Famous”

    This weekend the Internet is buzzing about Kanye West dissing Taylor Swift on a track called “Famous.”  The song, which apparently features Rihanna and Swizz Beatz, is part of his new album, The Life of Pablo, and isn’t released yet. If you were one of the people who tuned in to last week’s big Yeezy Season 3 fashion show / album premiere, live-streamed around the world from Madison Square Garden, then you know the most-talked-about track on the most-talked-about album right now is built around Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam”—a dancehall classic on the immortal Stalag Riddim. Since it’s not much fun reading about songs you can’t hear, let’s turn our attention to another hot song that interpolates “Bam Bam.” This one was created by Toronto’s own Julky Black, who reached out to a real live Jamaican reggae star to spit some fire on the remix, riding a rough and rugged remake of the Stalag with drums that go extra hard. No more long talking. Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: IBC (Island Boy Cartel) Feat. Kardinal, Assassin, And Raekwon “Pretty Paper (Primo mix)”

    HEAR THIS: IBC (Island Boy Cartel) Feat. Kardinal, Assassin, And Raekwon “Pretty Paper (Primo mix)”

    Some Will Kill Dem Neighbour For That Pretty Pretty Paper

    Kardinal Offishall taps Raekwon and Assassin (Agent Sasco) for “Pretty Paper.” The dancehall tune weaves in boom-bap where both Raekwon and Assassin flex their lyrical muscle over Premier’s signature blends. “Money talk, stop the bag a long chatting.” Tune After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Ding Dong “Syvah” Official Music Video

    WATCH THIS: Ding Dong “Syvah” Official Music Video

    Ricky Blaze x Ravers Clavers Buss The New Dance Worldwide—Oh My Daaaays

    Ding Dong is known for always bringing the big new dance anthems that get the whole world bouncing. But his brand new illectro boomshot—produced by the man called Ricky Blaze—he also separates the thugs from the bait. What else do you expect from the team that brought you “Badman Forward Badman Pull Up?” The song is maaad and this new video is oh so bad. Pull up! Video After The Jump… (more…)