Book Review: "Stick to Your Vision" by Wes "Maestro" Williams.  He's a Juno award winner, a Gemini award nominee, he's received countless other accolades, is an established actor, the Godfather of Canadian Hip Hop, and now also an author.  Reading Wes "Maestro" Williams' new book Stick to Your Vision (co-written with his wife, Tamara) was powerful for me on many levels, but the main reason was summarized early in the second chapter when Williams said: "As we grow up...we need to feel that we are part of a community that reflects and reinforces our identity and experiences."

What a phenomenal movie!  At the risk of ruining the viewing experience for anyone who hasn't yet seen the film, I won't even get into the particulars of why I loved Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls." But I will say this...I love Tyler Perry.  I love his vision. I love his voice. I love him like I've loved Spike Lee, and John Singleton...and Terry McMillan, Sister Souljah, and Omar Tyree.

The Roots are fantasic. True musicians. Expert performers. On Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at Nathan Philips Square (Toronto), The Roots gave an amazing 2-hour performance as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival.

"On Saturday, June 19, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown Toronto, UMAC (The Urban Music Association of Canada) hosted two panels dedicated to uplifting and educating musicians through expert commentary and group discussion at the North by Northeast (NXNE) conference.

K'naan, the Somalian-born, Canadian-based hip-hop artist speaks out whenever he can about the "unity and celebration" that will connect with his song "Wavin' Flag," after it had been chosen as the official anthem of Coca-Cola's 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa program.

You may have heard of Maiko before from her involvement with Sugar Jones, Canada's first girl group spawned from reality TV show "Popstars" in 2001. The debut album from that group went platinum and had 2 top ten singles on the Canadian Charts.
Moving forward from Sugar Jones, Maiko has picked up new skills in playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and music production.

Maiko Watson, has the voice of timeless silk. Her smooth soul sound will have you floating to her sweet vibration -or as the title of her new release suggests - "Sweet Vibration".  Sweet Vibration is a well thought out project with rhythms of all sorts to keep the listener yearning for what might come next.  Maiko was kind enough to take a few moments to vibe with the Upendo/2ronto crew…

Georgia Anne Muldrow is making strong movements in the world of music particularly the genre of neo-soul.  Developing a very ground roots vibe and like-mindedness similar to artists like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill.  She has also injected a high degree of creativity to music that will only become present in years to come.

The Upendo/2ronto crew was lucky enough to have Adam Solomon come through for our Chad Build Up event for the Barh Koh charity. The event was full of great energy and Adam performed songs that had people jumping out they’re seat to hit the dance floor.  With songs that conjure memories of youth and prosperous times Adam hits your soul with poly-rhythmic guitar that had us vibrating and feeling warm.