REVIEW: STYLUS AWARDS 2012

The Stylus Awards is a ceremony that recognizes and honors the DJ. Quite honestly what would artists do without DJ’s? They get your music out there, they play your songs in the club, they answer the people when they ask “who sings that song?”; so I believe that recognizing the DJ is mandatory. After all when hip-hop first started the DJ’s name was recognized first before the MC, for example, Eric B. & Rakim and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

This year’s awards were held at the historic Danforth Music Hall. The bottom level of the Hall was filled and the energy was positive.

Tonight people came from all over Canada, some nominees some supporters, to celebrate the DJ. I arrived at around 7:30pm to catch some of the red carpet. Now this is an urban event, so you never know what to expect! From fitted dresses to 6″ heels to tank tops with no bra? For the most part everyone rocked their individual style. To see some of the pics from the red carpet please see our gallery.

Let’s talk about where media was seated. As a member of the media, they seated us on the balcony or as Trixx called it the Muppet section. This was such disconnect from what was happening below. We are not spectators, we are there to review, highlight and promote what the Stylus Awards are doing, so why put us there? Or maybe it was just Bad-Perm because we are a fairly new site? Well whatever the reason it was wack as hell being so far up. Respect the bloggers!

The show was hosted by the extremely hilarious Trixx. He always manages to get the crowd going with his blunt attitude. He’s probably one of the most honest people in Toronto that I know, he tells it like it is. The awards ceremony began with some of Canada’s well-known DJ’s and artists as presenters such as DJ Mastermind, Maestro Fresh Wes, DJ Dopey, Lissa Monet and more. The comedic video skits featuring Trixx, Karl Wolf, Ivan Evidente, DJ Starting from Scratch and more, were funny, but in my opinion they were too long. The best part of the show had to be the CityOnMyBack and Stylus ciphers. Yes, they were BET style, nonetheless they were well executed. The ciphers included Tona, D-Sisive, Rich Kidd, Adam Bomb, Shi Wisdom, Jelly Too Fly, Sese and more. This was probably one of the most memorable part of the show because it showcased the talents of known and upcoming MC’s in Canada. Not to mention Blake Carrington freestyling with his daughter in her Baby Bjorn…who does that? Lol

The performances throughout the night by artists like Kreesha Turner, A-Game, The Airplane Boys were not well received by the crowd. Or maybe that’s because I was high up on the balcony? Is it that Toronto is just too cool to get up and cheer on their artists? I was pleased that the crowd gave Michie Mee a standing ovation when she got up to accept her well-deserved induction into the Stylus Hall of Fame. However, when she took the stage at the end of the night to perform a few of her classics, the crowd didn’t budge! Ok maybe much of the crowd may have not been familiar with her music, just seeing her energy and watching her pop n lock was enough to get the most stubborn person out of their seat! My absolute favourite part of the night was Michie performing “Jamaican Funk”! This song is one of the greatest Canadian hip-hop tracks ever. DJ Bunny from Calgary was also inducted into the Stylus Hall of Fame last night.

Another highly anticipated performance last night, was the tribute to MCA (Adam Yauch) of the Beastie Boys. The legendary b-boy crew SUPERNATURALZ took to the stage to breakdance to some classic Beastie tracks, while freezing periodically to show some old footage of the late MCA. In my opinion, it wasn’t the greatest tribute, but for what it’s worth it was definitely appreciated by true hip-hop fans!

Last night’s winners included, Toronto’s DJ of the Year, Lissa Monet, who is more than deserving of this title. She is truly a hard-working DJ and deserved this recognition! Montreal’s DJ of the Year winner was Keith Dean and Vancouver’s was Hedspin. Among other winners last night include, The Weeknd who won 3 awards, the homie DJ Law who won Underground Hip-Hop DJ of the Year, Tasha Rozez for Female DJ of the Year and “The Motto” by Drake ft. Tyga and Lil Wayne for Canadian Hip Hop Single of the Year, just to name a few. The full list of winners can be viewed on the Stylus website.

Check out both galleries of photos taken by Melissa Moffat for Bad-Perm.

Red Carpet Stylus Awards 2012