Toronto, ON – The 5th annual 106 & York UrbanArts Festival celebrated the variety of talent in Toronto with a multi-disciplinary showcase featuring both aspiring and established artists on the same stage. It was also an opportunity for community groups, businesses and entrepreneurs to gain more exposure by setting up info tables with their merchandise and art. Urbanology Magazine, Malyka Clothing and Stolen from Africa were some of the organizations present.

The showcase was hosted by Femi Lawson and included performances from headliners JellyTooFly, Shi Wisdom, Rich Kidd and JD Era. Hit the jump to read more and for pictures by Buruk Early and Neo Logik.

Before the headliners hit the stage there were many other performances from a variety of artists such as beat boxers, singers, rappers, bands, dance crews, actors and spoken word artists. In light of the random acts of gun violence that occurred throughout the summer in Toronto, JellyTooFly and JD Era spoke out regarding the need for our communities to come together and stop the violence.

I thought mentioning this issue was a nice touch for the event because the festival engages young people and represents a healthy community. Overall, the entire day was undeniably a success. There was a great turnout and after seeing all the performances it was clear there is an immense amount of talent in the city. If you missed it this year make sure you check it out next year.

Written by Natasha Paolini for HipHopCanada
Photography by Buruk Early for dope$ociety and 106 & York
Photography by Neo Logik for HipHopCanada

Photography by Buruk Early and Neo Logik

Photos 1 to 6 by Buruk; Photo 7 by Neo Logik

JellyTooFly in the crowd

JD Era

Shi Wisdom

JellyTooFly

Yusra Khogali (Spoken word poet)

Rich Kidd

Sweetie Pies (Dance Crew)

About 106 & York

106 and York is a youth-led collaborative that supports youth in the urban arts through various initiatives. Our most prominent initiative is our multi-disciplinary youth urban arts festival that is presented in collaboration with other youth-led organizations such as Highclass and N.I.S.E. Clothing and larger organizations such as UrbanArts and Manifesto.

Twitter: @106andYork | @Burukearly | @Logik416

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Tags: 106 and York Festival, dope$ociety, femi lawson, JD Era, JellyTooFly, Malyka, Rich Kidd, Shi Wisdom, Stolen From Africa, sweetie pies, Urbanology Magazine, Yusra Khogali

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Posted by @_NatashaWrites

Natasha was born and raised in Toronto. She graduated from York University almost 2 years ago and since then has co-founded a youth led, social enterprise called The Next Edition which uses media and art to engage youth with their community. For the past year and a half she has been working with young aspiring artists who are looking for a way to showcase their skills and have their voice heard. With juggling weekly meetings, managing a website, and planning events for hundreds of people Natasha takes refuge in urban music. Researching and knowing the latest headlines, and newest tracks in the hip-hop world is something that she loves. But more importantly for her hip-hop is a lot more than just a genre of music, it is a culture and it has shaped who she is today. Finding a way to combine her passion for music, the knowledge she has gained from working with young people and the issues she has seen in the community is a goal Natasha would like to achieve in the near future. Recently, Natasha has taken on PR work for rappers and DJs.

1. Ohverly Critical » Blog Archive » ARTICLE: Celebrating talent at the 106 & York UrbanArts FestivalOct 3, 2012 at 8:27 pm

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