Tory Lanez - The New Toronto 3
Tory Lanez is remarkably fluent in a handful of musical languages. Over the past five years, the Toronto native’s albums have displayed a chameleonic prowess for the sounds of the moment, nimbly melding hip-hop and R&B with styles like Afrofusion and glossy pop. Then there’s his mixtapes, which tend to be more free-form, honing in on his various sonic identities and magnifying them. His Chixtape series began in 2011 as a display of the singer-rapper’s loverman side and of his affinity for bygone eras of R&B. He began pairing them with The New Toronto on Christmas Day 2015. The latter series, in contrast, is home to some of Lanez’s most turned-up music-the beats hit harder (largely courtesy of long-time collaborator Play Picasso), the flows are more breakneck, the lyrics more aggressive. “There were fans who wanted to hear R&B, and there were fans that wanted to hear only rap, so I would try to do both sides and give them a taste,” Lanez tells.
The New Toronto 3 is an especially stark release, propelled by the tumultuous emotions of a relationship gone wrong and the hunger of an underdog. “I definitely was going through a breakup,” he says. “The girl had left me, and I felt like she was playing with my emotions. I also felt like I was going through a lot of issues with friends, family and just certain people that didn't seem genuine. A lot of things were just turning me cold-hearted, and I used that as the fuel to put in the project.” It’s a callback to the energy that initially made those releases some of his most compelling. Still, he says the best is yet to come as he embarks on a new chapter of his career as an independent artist, with The New Toronto 3 marking the end of his contractual obligation. “I just wanted to make sure I gave [the fans] what they wanted and what they could expect, because I'm about to go back to a lot of the classic sounds that I had and I'm about to start putting out real music again,” he says. “I've just been with a label, and I never wanted to give them any of my best music, so I've been holding my best music back for like five years.”
Tracklist
1. Pricey & Spicy
2. The Coldest Playboy
3. Stupid Again
4. 10 F*cks ft. Mansa
5. Dope Boy's Diary
6. Accidents Happen ft. Lil Tjay
7. Broke in a Minute
8. P.A.I.N.
9. Adidas
10. Who Needs Love
11. Do the Most
12. Do ME
13. Letter to the City
14. Back in Business
15. D.N.D.
16. MSG 4 God's Children