It’s hard to believe, after bearing the full, two-and-a-half hour brunt of Jay-Z and Kanye West’sWatch the Throne tour stop at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night, that there was a time when hip-hop shows were almost presupposed to suck.

With the exception of a few artists who are discussing issues relevant to the common person’s life, the majority of rappers are still using the same formula of money, women and clothes to sell records. Christian artist NevaHurd has a completely different approach to life.

Two years in the making and it’s finally here. J. Cole’s debut album entitled, Cole World- The Sideline Story is now available ‘legally’ for the public.

Awakening, the latest release from Toronto native and Duck Down Music artist, Promise, is a unique blend of soulful gems and potent lyrical content that gives listeners much more than your average rap album.

By high school the wordsmithing I enjoyed most carried a soundtrack, so we’re talking about me listening to oodles and oodles of hip hop, Rakim and KRS One. And the artists they sampled were even greater freedom writers/riders, Fela Kuti to Gil Scott Heron. That’s how I became more attuned to the hyper-artistic use of rhyming couplets, all kinds of literary devices, iambic pentameters, metaphors and similes for days.

The future’s name is Reema Major. She is all of 15-years-old and enjoying the heaviest hype for a Canadian urban act since Drake.

Neither a novelty act or your average rapper, More or Les (real name Les Seaforth) is a passionate hip hop aficionado whose quirky style and deadpan delivery challenge conventional thinking about hip hop. Sway caught up with More or Les at his recent album release party in Toronto.

HIP-HOP. IT STARTED IN THE park, then it blossomed into a way of life. Then it took over the world. Then people started wearing parachute pants the size of actual parachutes, starring in straight-to-video feature films without knowing the first thing about acting, and dancing on top of expensive cars that nobody seemed to be driving but were rolling down the street nonetheless. In honour of the brave, often misguided pioneers, Sway presents the 10 most unfortunate trends in hiphop history.

I’m really an underground rapper and heavily influenced by Africa because I grew up there and it was a whole different world.

Women have always had a contentious relationship with hip-hop, riddled with many complexities and challenges. There seems to be a constant battle between each side to find a better way to understand each other, maintain mutual respect and ultimately co-exist happily and peacefully. Sounds just like you and your significant other, huh?