By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –
Souls of Mischief. (Photo: Mehek Seyid/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
It was a clash of the new spirit and the old school last night in Toronto at the seventh annual Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture. Headlining the day’s festivities were R&B up-and-comer Jhené Aiko and hip-hop veterans Souls of Mischief, who performed to a packed crowd under the bright lights and chilly air at Yonge and Dundas Square.
Expectations were high for Jhené Aiko, who has steadily developed her catalogue and following since the release of hermixtape, “Sailing Souls” in 2010. Although her resumé includes collaborations with the likes of Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel, Casey Veggies, and Ab-Soul, it seems that her features on several big hip-hop releases this year, including J.Cole’s “Born Sinner,” Big Sean’s “Hall of Fame,” and Drake’s to-be-released “Nothing Was The Same,” is putting her at the center of attention. If there was one thing apparent at last night’s show, it was that Jhené Aiko is not afraid of the spotlight. From her neon orange and green jacket/pant attire combination to her flawless transitions between performances and her giggly interactions with the audience, the L.A.-based singer-songwriter handled her first show in Toronto with confidence and ease.
Aiko’s performance, though only half an hour in length, was packed with mixtape favourites and individually released tracks. “I’mma get you guys higher tonight”, she claimed at the top of her set, before launching into the slinky and mellow “Higher”. From there she rolled through samples of her brand of alt-R&B, including “In Love We Trust”, her other Drake collaboration, “July”. and “Space Jam”, a particularly intimate track that tells the tale of her desire to forget the struggles of dealing with her brother’s cancer, motherhood, and music with a man from a different world. This sense of escapism is a critical aspect of Aiko’s artistry, as her sultry, smooth vocals suddenly hopped to a freestyle halfway through her set, finding Aiko bouncing around on stage before retreating back to the microphone stand so she could maintaincomposure and lead the way during the dark and quietly haunting “3:16am”, which garnered the biggest reaction of the evening. Voicing that “the best alternative to war is to stay in bed and make love”, before launching into the popular “Comfort Inn Ending” showed more of Aiko’s playful side, but it was her commanding presence during the bass-laden andmixtape standout “Stranger” that really demonstrated Aiko as a contender in the years to come.
Much of the younger members of the audience left the square at this point, allowing the hip-hop heads to close in around the Yonge and Dundas stage to catch Souls of Mischief. The Oakland, California-based quartet spent much of their hour-long set performing back-to-back classics from their five album catalogue, including “Ya Don’t Stop” and “Powers That Be”, the latter of which is a Hieroglyphics hit, a hip-hop collective the Souls of Mischief joined in the early 1990s. The great thing about seeing hip-hop artists like Souls of Mischief, who significantly impacted the genre at such an early stage of its development, is that they demonstrate a genuine, continuous excitement and passion in their live shows, which tend to be absent in many newcomers’ sets. “We won the job lottery”, member Tajai happily expressed midway through their performance, humbly thanking the crowd for their support and energy.
Souls of Mischief are currently celebrating their twentieth anniversary, and marked the occasion during their show by performing one of their hits from their first record, “That’s When Ya Lost”, which samples The Doors’ “Who Do You Love”. It was clear that there was a sense of strong solidarity between all the members, but particularly with Opio, Tajai andPhesto who often lent physical and vocal support throughout each other’s verses, creeping up to the edge of the stage dressed in Manifesto hoodies to hype up the audiences and, at times, each other. Before they closed the night with their classic hit “93 Til’ Infinity”, they took a moment to preach peace, love and understanding, leading the audience to join their union as they held peace signs high into the sky.
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Jhené Aiko
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Souls of Mischief
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