Tory Lanez’s “The New Toronto 3” Is A Reintroduction To Toronto’s Underground King
A lot of us were introduced to Tory Lanez many years ago, through friends that have been in tune with Toronto music since they were young. In as early as middle school, I remember being introduced to this braggadocious street rapper who was loud and eccentric, who rocked wooden beads and snapbacks just like the rest of us. We all knew who Tory was, but a lot of us didn’t listen to him. Drake had just started blowing up, Kanye and Jay Z were arguably at the peak of their careers, and there was more going on than what Tory was putting out for us. Still, we all knew there was something there. We could tell this guy was great. Not good, great. He had some of the hardest-hitting rap tracks but sang like no one that we had heard before. He had the potential 10 years ago. People argue he blew up out of nowhere with “Say It” and “LA Confidential”, which were two of his first major-label singles, however, a lot of us know about “Traphouse”, “Drank In My Cup” with Kirko Bangz, as well as his freestyles on “Shot Caller” and “Beamer, Benz, or Bentley”. Tory Lanez was an emerging star, laying the groundwork and creating great music. Tory has a very extensive catalog and a passionate fan base. Not only has he been working for a long time, but he’s been creating great music that whole time. In addition to all of that, he was close to home. He sold CD’s in Square One, attended highschool in Brampton, and was Toronto’s best-kept secret. Now, he’s one of the world’s biggest artists, Daystar Peterson, Tory Lanez.
Since signing with Interscope Records, Lanez has put out 5 very impressive bodies of work, the best of which is his latest and last project with Interscope, The New Toronto 3. I think it’s important to take a moment to bring attention to the fact that his last two major-label releases, Chixtape 5 and The New Toronto 3, are apart of two separate mixtape series that Lanez built from the ground up. Lanez Spent the last 4 years on his label (which isn’t very long at all) introducing the world to the artist and man we have known about for years. Tory Lanez is arguably one of the best stories to come out of Toronto. He earned and deserves a spot on Mount Rushmore with Drake and The Weeknd.
Tory’s debut album I TOLD YOU had great music, although it received mixed reviews. Many argued that he tried too hard to create something conceptual, including skits after every track. People fairly but stupidly compared it to Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D City. The similarities are obvious, but Tory empowered his city and upbringing by shedding light on his Toronto upbringing. This project not only embraced the similarities but also depicted the different upbringings that he and Kendrick faced. Two different men, two different stories, and most importantly, two VERY different sounds. Tory kept true to his hard-hitting sound on parts of the album, but it was clear that he wanted to offer more. He blended in his “r&b” influenced music with full songs on this album. Some of my favourite Tory songs to this day are “Guns And Roses” and “To D.R.E.A.M.” and “LUV”, songs that were very different than what fans expected from Tory, but even now, these are undoubtedly great songs sonically.
His next album, MEMORIES DON’T DIE, showed the growth of Tory as an artist, who was now established in the music industry. Unlike his first album, which had no features, Tory carefully used incredible features to sculpt another great album. Future, Nav, Mansa, 50 Cent, Fabolous, and Wiz Khalifa were just some of the artists who fit perfectly on Tory’s songs. Everyone on this album made the songs better. “48 Floors” with Mansa and “Dance for Me” with Nav prove that Tory didn’t include features just to have features, he used them to make better music. Growth.
After a plane incident left Lanez introspective about his life and career, he returned quickly with his next project, Love Me Now?. This time, almost every song had notable features. Tory leaned into the industry that he was taking by storm. Lanez stated that this was a shift for him, realizing that he wanted to create and release music with people that he respected in the industry. This was also around the time he and Drake squashed whatever “beef” they might have had, both gaining respect for each other and what they were doing in their respective careers. Again, more growth. Quavo, Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, and Gunna are less than half of the big names involved in creating this project. “Talk To Me” is another one of my favourite Tory Lanez tracks all time.
Tory took his time crafting and releasing Chixtape 5, a new addition to one of his most popular mixtape series. This was another instance of Tory executing at the highest level. Lanez and his team flipped some of the biggest R&B samples of the early 2000’s then locked in features with the song’s original artists. To secure features from R&B legends like Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri, Ashanti, Chris Brown, T-Pain and Ashanti to name a few was a huge flex from Tory, one of hip hop’s biggest rap stars. Following the release of this album, Tory conducted his first arena tour. Another milestone.
Finally, we get The New Toronto 3. We went into detail about the album and Tory on our latest episode of FRAGMENT RADIO, and our bros over at InTheMix did the same, breaking down lyrics and discussing their thoughts on Tory as one of the greats. With that said, we all agree that this is Tory’s best body of work. He had very minimal features, but as we mentioned, he doesn’t need features to make great music. He’s perfected the blend of hard shit, with softer shit, while also spitting his most impressive bars. Tory kicked off the album with bangers like "Pricey & Spicey", which set the “New Toronto” tone that we have been used to. The best of it coming with the Connor McGregor-assisted "Stupid Again".
Right after, Tory enlists Mansa for my favourite track on the album, the relaxed but hard-hitting bop, “10 F*CKS”. He blends these sounds in an out throughout the album but shows out most on tracks like “Letter To The City 2” and “MSG 4 GOD’S CHILDREN”, which feature Tory barring off, no autotune, on soulful ass beats. Tory talks his shit and reminds us that he’s one of the game’s best, and now fully independent.
To think this is the start of the rest of Tory’s career is crazy. Yes, he’s been doing this for years, but he’s still just getting started. Independent Tory gonna fuck shit up, and we should all be excited about it.
Some of our favourite tracks are: Stupid Again
10 F*CKS (feat. Mansa)
Accidents Happen (feat. Lil Tjay)
P.A.I.N
Adidas
Who Needs Love
Letter To The City 2
D.N.D.