For Manifesto, 'Toronto's Festival of Community & Culture,' 2009 PE attended 2 events out of the 5 festival days. One of the days we were in attendance was for the grand opening, Wednesday, which payed homage to an ever present Hip Hop Culture.
Featured at the Acacia Center, on Spadina, were 2 enlightening documentary films. One film, entitled The Freshest Kids: The History of the B-boy, was a breakdown of the whole B-boy culture that originated in the Bronx and existed in mediums/forms such as rapping, breaking aka B-boppin, and graffiti aka street art (such as the pictures below). The second film, entitled Bomb It, documented the subculture known as graffiti art in further detail.
The other event we hit up was of course the main/closing event! A free concert featuring some of Toronto's own rappers & DJ's (Solitair, Empire, 9th Wonder, Lelani Dee, Grand Analog, Scratch - from the roots)
in Nathan Phillips Square aka City Hall. Best of all, the show was headlined by Talib Kweli & HiTek are Reflection Eternal.
Of course PE was there (above: Lisa & Andrea with Talib) to cover the vibes even though we all had to be up at 8am the next morn. We had a good time, and because I'm all about the power of manifesting opportunities, when an insider gave me a heads up as to where the talented Brooklyn cats may be chillin out (pre hitting the stage), we hit the road. The rest was history. We were fortunate enough (pre & post performance) to have had the pleasure of meeting the artists (whose CD's I often bump through my speakers) and just kickin it with them over some Patron Margaritas.
Illin wit Hi-Tek...
I mean, I definitely had an New York City state of mind so I ceased the opportunity to ask Talib a couple questions; namely, which hip hop/reggae hot spots to visit in the downtown core of NY? Most of his recommendations were in the Chelsea neighborhood of lower Manhattan (Pink Elephant, Home, Spirit and Blue Smoke). I was also interested in which artists Talib was influenced by when he was on the come up, and he simply stated: "my influence, and therefore style/flow, is a mix of Ice Cube, KRS 1 and Q-tip but I like ALL types of music."
We thought Talib was intelligent, perceptive, very down to earth and, all in all, MAAD Cool; and WOW what a great movement their Reflection Eternal music has brought about. Snuggled into his hotel room, a lil further from all the fans, about 8 of us all kicked it to Talib's I-Tune lineup blasting from his Mac Laptop which he had been carrying safely in his knapsack. All I can say is, he definitely is a music fanatic! We stayed boppin our heads to tunes from Tribe Called Quest, Ice Cube, Jay Z (and a whole lot more) while marinating on the latest entertainment industry gossip.
On our way to the stage through underground parking lot pimpin patron margaritas in hand
Backstage...
Talib was adamant that Lisa, Andrea and I received wristbands...such a gentleman!
VIP Tent Life...
Lisa & Jahmilla ^
Talib kicks it with Socrates ^
Concert Blasts off (they played all my Favourites)...
Crowd is L.I.V.E
Hi Tek on the 1's & 2's... 
Talib nuff respect to ya..thanks for looking out for us!
PLuSH Empress...Putting on for our City!
