This Is a Throwdown: A Toronto Hip-Hop History

From blockos to Billboard hits, the previously untold story of the Toronto Sound

Long before Drake picked up the mic, Toronto had a thriving, vital hip-hop culture fighting for recognition. It was shaped by multiple generations of artists, including Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee, Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, Choclair, and k-os, and fostered shrewd promoters and pioneering producers such as Ron Nelson, Noah “40” Shebib, and Boi-1da.

This Is a Throwdown authoritatively chronicles the music, history, and environment that shaped the Toronto hip-hop sound, from its 1980s sound system scene through to Drake’s stratospheric success with 2011’s Take Care.

Drawing on Del Cowie’s two decades of experience as a music journalist, This Is a Throwdown is the first book to critically assess and chronicle the largely untold story of hip-hop culture in Toronto, including:

• the sound system clashes and block parties that were the foundation of Toronto’s early hip-hop culture
• the hidden pioneers who shaped the scene
• the diasporic fusion of Caribbean and African-American influences
• how Toronto artists broke barriers in an industry that overlooked Canadian hip-hop

Over 50 years after hip-hop began, now’s the time to move the 6ix from shadow to spotlight and celebrate the oft-neglected MCs, producers, and promoters who created this scene and this sound, starting from the bottom.

Available February 2, 2027. PRE-ORDER NOW!

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