The origin of this series was never intentional. It happened during a conversation I was having with a friend/editor of the magazine that I was working for at the time: Wonderground Magazine. At the time I was contributing content, writing as well as consulting for the magazine when I had the idea to turn my portion of the ad space into something for the viewers. The very first image that came out of this conversation was the image then titled "Toronto Hip Hop." featured on a double page spread in Wonderground Vol. Issue3.
The image contained a variety of artists that were pretty active in the Toronto scene or included within the magazine at the time.
It was shortly after this issue that came out that I was trying to figure which direction to take for the next issue when the beef between Battle Axe's MadChild and Stompdown Killaz Snak the Ripper broke out. As Canadian Emcees it would be great for the magazine.
As the track were bouncing back and forth, I was working on showcasing this in the magazine. The Images were in the Spring 2016 Issue.
As the smoke cleared between the two emcees the idea of showcasing two emcees in each issue began to take shape. The second installment I took the opportunity to showcase the Westcoast group The Rascalz as well as a very interesting Aussie turned Canadian, TMF member Cee. It was was over the next few issues that things took a turn and eventually the Wonderground Magazine was shut down.
After the Magazine shut down and the Wonderground Art Show, I took this idea to local promoters and began using this style of images for concert posters for local shows. This would add a personalization to each of the shows and possibly lead to some of them being autographed for fans to keep. This Idea ran with promoters such as Stylin Flow, Robbie G and others for tours coming to the area. This series would continue to include a total of 17 Canadian emcees including the time out to memorialize one of Canada's not only great Battle Rapper's, but an amazing artist, friend and emcee; Bender.
At the time of Wonderground Magazine a short side shoot if this edition was created. Originally there was intended on being 30 images of KOTD Battle rappers drawn to be used either in the magazine, for promo or for an event. During that time I was travelling a lot and with the breakdown of communication the edition ended up being 8 if you counted the image of Bender as well. These consisted of the KOTD creators/Judges and a few of my favorite Battle Emcees at the time.
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to working with some great individuals from Sadie/Wonderground, local Promoters, touring artists as well as the people at KOTD. Not everything works out as planned but I think some great artwork came out of it regardless.
Copies of these images are available in the store.
Which one is your favorite? Who would you have liked to see included?
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