New Dot Swing: Reexamining Toronto's Main Cultural Export

Over the course of twelve hours on Sunday, three separate artists from Toronto released moody R&B songs on their personal Soundcloud pages. First, The Weeknd celebrated his birthday by releasing his remix to “Drunk In Love” at midnight before PartyNextDoor unleashed “Persian Rugs” in the early hours of dawn on Sunday. Later in the day, Rochelle Jordan and Illangelo teamed up on “What The Fuss”.

Despite the fact that all of these artists are only one degree of separation apart, the songs they each released couldn’t have sounded more unique. Rochelle’s song with Illangelo, a frequent Weeknd collaborator, put her angelic voice over top of a frantic instrumental to create the juxtaposition of sweet vocals over sour gunshot production. Abel's 24th birthday present to his fans may have seemed like a simple remix on the surface, but he branded it with the signature dreamy and muffled XO sound in a way that summoned memories of House of Balloons. The newest signing to OVO Sound, PartyNextDoor, capped things off with a syrupy slow jam that feels like it could go on for twice as much time without getting on your nerves.

This deluge of new music is inspiring, but it also forces local listeners to reevaluated which genre of music is truly the most dominant export of Toronto. Although we would like to lay claim to being a rap city, thanks in no small part to Aubrey’s constant props, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the other two biggest rap stars we’ve birthed, Kardinal Offishal and Maestro Fresh Wes, never truly lived up to their potential due to their inability to make a impression on the American market. If it wasn't for Drake, Ontario's biggest impact on modern music would be Stratford's teen dream, and even Aubrey had to be more than just a rapper to truly break out.

It's time to accept our current musical identity and embrace the fact that Toronto has become an R&B hub. The music coming out of the city is hauntingly beautiful, with the aforementioned artists leading the fray and acts like Andreena Mill, Shi Wisdom, Unbuttoned and Bizzarh blossoming on the fringes.

If it wasn’t for Toronto, the infamous genre of PBR&B wouldn’t have had a reason to be branded. Toronto birthed a wave of artists who hadn't worked the live music gauntlet in grimy local clubs to hone their skill, opting instead to create art within the confines of a simple bedroom. Sure, acts like How To Dress Well and JMSN embody the ideal hipster tendencies associated with the alternative soul singer, but those artists wouldn’t have been able find a lane had Zodiac and The Weekend not paved it with House of Balloons.

The role the city has played in the formation of this genre shouldn’t be ignored, but it didn’t start recently. From the faraway days of Jully Black in the 90s, all the way to Melanie Fiona and Fefe Dobson today, Toronto has been making a dent in the landscape of soul music for decades.

The fact that Rush, Barenaked Ladies and Broken Social Scene all originated in the 416 shouldn’t be ignored. These bands each had a quantifiable impact on rock music and became the original points of pride for Torontonians, but their best days are in the rearview. R&B offers a new frontier for exploration.

The reason for Toronto’s dominance in the genre may be rooted in the same reason why people don’t take our rappers seriously. Compared to our southern neighbours, we can be seen as soft, presumably because of our lack of guns. But being soft works in your favour in R&B, a genre that puts an emphasis on wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Identifying a metropolis’ impact on music may seem like an inconsequential assignment, but it’s vital to understanding the dominant zeitgeist of the region. Toronto is still in it’s infancy, but recognizing the talents it possesses reinforces a sense of nationality and pride. It shouldn’t take a Drake co-sign for people to start paying attention to what’s in their backyard.

Slava Pastuk is a writer living in Toronto. He is currently eating a R&BPB&J sandwich.