Photos by Janine Van Oostrom
On the hottest weekend of 2016, hip hop heavyweights Logic and G-Easy had brought the fire to Toronto’s favourite outdoor venue with their Endless Summer Tour. Featuring huge acts Yo Gotti and YG on the bill, the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre was the epicentre for one of the biggest hip hop tours this summer.
Arriving to the stage crew revealing the word BRAZY in what could have been 12 feet tall letters notified me that Compton rapper YG was about to take the stage. With one of the most entertaining and hype inducing introductions, YG came out to the tune of ‘My Nigga’. Keeping the energy alive, his second song ‘BPT’ had those who weren’t already standing on their feet out of their seats. YG would then pay homage to the OGs of his hometown and made sure everyone stayed hype for the rest of the night by dancing along to West Coast classic, The Next Episode. The West Coast rapper introduced his next track by asking the crowd if they’ve ever had anyone try to kill their vibe. His response to those who have was to ask them ‘Why You Always Hatin?’ The smooth bassy synths had the crowd bouncing along to the beat and YG’s relaxed flow. After that track, he caught notice of someone in the crowd who was holding a beer and told them that beer was for drinking before getting the crowd member to chug it. YG ended his set with an exclamation point with the politically charged track Fuck Donald Trump with huge eruption and had the crowd chanting along by the end of the song. From the iconic west coast productions and relaxed flow off of tracks like Still Brazy and Who Do You Love to hyping up the crowd with tracks from Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar, YG brought his hometown flavour to Toronto.
Fans were overly eager to see underground heavyweight Logic given the crowd was chanting his name when the stage crew was unveiling his backdrop. The crowd would erupt the instant the Maryland born rapper’s intro video had started. Logic came out to the soothing vocal samples and bouncy beat of ‘Fade Away’. After his first track, a 14-year-old kid who was going hard in the crowd had caught the rapper’s attention and decided to check to see where the rest of the venue was at by seeing which section of the amphitheatre was the liveliest to the tune of DJ Kool’s ‘Let Me Clear My Throat’. Logic shared a personal side of himself when he talked about how an absence of a father had led him to being raised on the values and respect of hip hop and turning to the art of the MC. This personal tangent served as an introduction to his song ‘Deeper than Money’. The hip hop aficionado schooled the aspiring producers in the crowd and flexed his production chops by creating a beat live on stage before rapping over it. Even though the amphitheatre is a fairly large venue, Logic’s time on stage felt deeply personal and his character incredibly humble. He had introduced one of his first Canadian fans, introduced people in the crowd, sang happy birthday to someone in the crowd and gave a shout out to a member in the crowd who had made an encyclopedia of all of Logic’s shows, songs and life.
The sun had depleted for the evening as the crowd waited in anticipation for the man of the hour. Following a minute countdown and video intro, the venue went black before a glow of light revealed the silhouette belonging to G-Easy. With an eruption that could be heard all along the lakeshore, the show started with the banger track ‘You Got Me’. After his introductory song, G-Easy’s silent charisma had the venue erupting again before going into ‘I Might’. After an explosive introduction, G-Easy introduced himself, thanked everyone for coming out and commemorate Toronto for being one of the livest stops on the tour, being second to his hometown stop of San Francisco. The Bay area rapper mixed the instrumentals of hip hop classic Juicy by Notorious B.I.G over his verse of his classic track ‘Of All Things’ before bringing out P. Reign for DnF. G-Easy kept the R&B vibes going preforming ‘Let’s Get Lost’ to a dark venue with nothing but a white light hanging above his head, creating a beautiful and unforgettable mood. G-Easy would also bring YG back out for a second take on YG’s closing track Fuck Donald Trump with G-Easy including a verse of his own. G-Easy gave a shout out to all “the bad bitches in the 6” before jumping into the crowd and playing Marc E. Bassy features ‘Some Kind of Drug’ and ‘You & Me’. G-Easy’s charismatic personality shone throughout the evening. His perfect blend of cocky, confident and humble makes him one of the fastest rising rappers who is already a legend in his own right, which is why his final track and radio hit ‘Me, Myself & I’ was sung from every mouth in attendance. Having the privilege to experience such an unforgettable evening of hip hop greatness has me longing for an Endless Summer.
