This past weekend, Montreal rapper Jaay Noir hosted an event to give the mic to local rappers, and bring the music community of Montreal together. The party was located at a venue in Laval and featured the talents of 4040 Music, Raydaville, Jerico, Chris Creed, M.O.T., Handro and Jaay Noir himself.
Most musicians and event-goers were excited to be out enjoying live music again after two years of staying inside due to COVID regulations.
“Honestly, it was very very exciting, after two years of not being able to perform, it felt good to be in a big crowd and have a lot of people and feed off the energy.” Jaay Noir said. “This time it was different, usually I organize events and I perform, but there is not as many people there for me as for other people. So today, I was very fortunate, thankful to god that everybody stuck around, and it was probably one of the bigger performances I did, so I’m super super happy about that.”
Jaay Noir performed “Foolz Gold”, Produced by Dave Ricci AKA Ricci North, as a sneak peek. The song will be coming out on December 16th. He also sang the newly released song “Remember” with rapper Chris Creed. It’s a part of a collaborative project that the two rappers have together.
“Fortunately for me, I’ve been making music for a long time, a good 10 to 12 years, so I’ve met a lot of cool people along the way. And that’s pretty much how the artists got chosen today. I choose a few local boys from Laval to make that a hometown, home community kind of feel. And everybody else is just hardworking people that I feel would care about the event as much as me. So that’s kind of why I chose them” Jaay Noir said.
4040 Music, a record label in Montreal, also performed for the first time after two years. They brought new songs “Big Flex”, and “High Risk” to the stage. They are coming out soon with accompanying music videos as well. They call themselves 4040, because of their double vision in terms of goals and success. They are looking for dedicated upcoming artists to represent their record label.
M.O.T. came on the stage singing energetic rap, and later sang some rock and hip-hop-influenced songs. His name stands for Moment of truth because he wants to be truthful, especially to himself.
Raydaville brought on a lot of energy from the crowd. “The hood support us” they said. “Back that thing up” is an unreleased song, they surprised their fans with. After about ten years, rapper Jerico performed for his second time at a Jaay Noir event. The two have known each other since high school.
Handro sang and gave everyone a taste of his new EP coming out at the end of December. He also plans to bring out a new album in April. “I love performing, I’ve always been the loudest one in the room […] It’s always been something, and when I found music, I never looked back” Handro said. He sang “Green Light”, which just came out November 9th.
FrostU brought free frozen shots and cocktails to the event. They are a Quebec start-up, engineering and entertainment company. They invented a machine that can freeze anything, up to minus 100 degrees Celsius, without electricity or liquid nitrogen. FrostU is the only one of its kind in the world. They plan to break the supply chain when it comes to liquid nitrogen and storing vaccines. For now, they are sticking to creating and perfecting mixology.
Flakes Originals had her art on display and was selling prints and clothing. She also had some prize giveaways throughout the night.
Overall, the event brought a rap community together after such a long time of isolation. “I think in our city, we’re lacking a little bit of unity, there is certain group and individuals like you at Rising star who are trying to build a community and I think that’s inspired me to do my event basically,” Jaay Noir said. Rising Star sponsored the event.
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