check out the post below. Coming from Toronto, meaning making it out of Toronto.
Gift
Before Drake, nobody outside of Toronto cared about Toronto. Hell, you can even say people in Toronto didn’t really care about Toronto that much. I’m 19 right now, but i’m 20 in February. Drake is my era of music and he is the artist, i’ve been growing up with. I knew Drake from Degrassi, but that was pretty much it. Being from Toronto, I wasn’t really listening to Toronto artists on my iPod.
It was more of Kanye West, Lil Wayne and rock music. I’d honestly say 99.9% of the music that, I was listening to, was American. In 2014, the majority of music that, I listen to is still American, but it’s not 99.9% anymore. Drake broke out in 2009 with So Far Gone and in 2010, he dropped his debut album Thank Me Later. Drake become my number one artist that, I was listening to. A Canadian from Toronto was the number one artist, I was listening to. Drake from Degrassi! It’s still shocking too me.
One year after Thank Me Later, The Weeknd came out of nowhere and dropped three tapes. House Of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes Of Silence. The world was now looking at Toronto. Since 2011, Drake and The Weeknd have brought pride and attention to Toronto. People now say 416 or now the 6. There is pride in that. The OVO and XO scene musically changed Toronto. Before them, Canadian artist were only big in Canada. Toronto artist were only big in Toronto. Crossing over and getting American attention was hard.
Drake and then The Weeknd changed that. Toronto now has Drake, The Weeknd, Majid Jordan, P-Reign and PartyNextDoor. Other talented people in Toronto now have the confidence to become big too. There are talented people in Toronto, but some do give off the illusion of being big and talented.
Curse
Fast forward from 2011 to current day 2014. It may be a true gift for Drake and Toronto for him making it out of Toronto, but there is a curse as well. Every artist now and even actors from Degrassi, probably think they can become Drake. That isn’t really a bad thing, but this needs to be backed up by actual talent. Musically people will try to follow this type of blueprint and then think they will make it like him. What’s the Toronto blueprint?
The 5 Step Blueprint
#1
Become A Rapper Or Artist
#2
Get A Bunch Of Creative People Together
#3
Give Your Group A Name
#4
Promote Yourself Within The City/Throw Events
#5
Wait Until You Get Noticed By Someone
Now, this could actually work out for you. How could it work for you? If you’re actually talented, it will work out for you. Drake’s talent got him big and has continued to make him big. The Weeknd? His talent got him big. The Weeknd got big solely off his talent. Drake got the call from Lil Wayne and the rest is history. Drake’s talent though, is the reason Lil Wayne called him.
If you are an artist and you are following that blueprint and you aren’t talented. You can either keep working hard or you can just realize it isn’t going to happen. You can give the illusion to other people you’re big, but the only way you will make it out of Toronto, is if you’re talented. A co-sign by a major person or artist, might help you achieve fame or attention, but your talent will give you success. As well, more times than none, if you’re an artist from Toronto post-Drake and you get covered on a big website, it probably happened just because you’re from Toronto or that you might be associated with Drake somehow.
Not 100%, but it’s probably the case. Also, this is a curse because people who aren’t talented give off the illusion they are good. It’s like how Kanye West explained the difference between how we view Apple and Nike. We think Nike is really big and even on par with Apple. Apple is worth billions and Nike isn’t even close. People in Toronto might seem really big, but in the big picture, not really. This is how Drake explained it.
Drake and then The Weeknd put attention to Toronto and if you want to get big like them, your talent will give that to you. If you’re not talented, understand that your just a bench player.
Sidenote: Here’s an example you should know, if you get covered on a website like BuzzFeed or Noisey as an artist, these websites post at least a hundred times a day. You as a person, don’t even know how many impressions the page about you got. There’s the illusion that being posted about is big, but it’s only big if a lot of eyes read about you. If they don’t add keywords into their pages, people won’t find the page from Google if they search about you and your page will have only been viewed that day it was posted.
MY MOTTO IS: IF YOU WANNA WIN THE LOTTERY, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MONEY TO BUY A TICKET!
From The 6ix,With Love
Thank You For Reading
Sincerely, Kid From The 6ix
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