TeamBackPack is a California-based hip hop online movement looking to rejuvenate the underground Hip Hop scene by curating some of the best talent from around the world, especially through cyphers. Throughout the years, TeamBackPack has amassed a huge following, giving rise to names such as Hopsin and Logic. Most major cities in North America have been represented in TeamBackPack cyphers, including, and unsurprisingly, Toronto.
Considering TeamBackPack is the underground’s biggest hip hop collective, a cypher in Brampton is a consequential moment for hip hop not only in the city, but for the entire Greater Toronto Area. Some of the artists featured in the cypher include Derin Falana, Pryde, Noyz, Haviah Mighty, Tremayne (with the StayOutLate crew), and Osiym. Shooting the event was 40 oz Heroes.
Check out the cypher.
40 oz Heroes asked the Brampton rappers what their hometown means to them:
Pryde says that Brampton his ‘home’ and that he ‘took his first steps here’. ‘Brampton is the #1 place I would consider moving [to] when I turn 40 and I’m washed up and I did 3 movies with Ludacris’ says one of the biggest rappers to come out of the B and recent confidant to the likes of J. Cole.
Derin Falana takes the opportunity to big up Rocky Mountain crescent (Bovaird and Torbram), the titular street of his most recent mixtape. Noyz talks of Brampton’s underappreciated greenery and the serenity derived from biking around Brampton’s natural spots.
Tremayne, one of StayOutLate’s most prominent members, spoke with us recently about Brampton. Now residing in Parkdale, Toronto, the North Park graduate talks about the ethos of Brampton and the struggle inside and outside of the city, a struggle which has largely influenced his Brampton Hip Hop collective, StayOutLate. Tremayne says, ‘there’s two sides to it.’ When you don’t come from Toronto, it is a bit harder. If you come from the outskirts of Toronto and the GTA, it’s easy to fall into the Toronto monolith. And if you’re from a Regent Park, for example, it’s easier to get that cosign. Being from Brampton, you must build that reputation ‘from scratch, but [that process] is so much better’. This cypher is a testament to the building of that reputation.
The momentum in Brampton Hip Hop can be felt through the mutual love these artists have for each other’s craft. Tremayne praises Noyz saying ‘you can’t deny that his shit is fire. He stays true to the roots of Hip Hop’.
We can all heed this attitude of self-respect and encouragement. As the screwface capital of the screwface capital, it’s easy for Bramptonians to deride their city and deprecate its accomplishments. The fact is, the city is ours, whether we like it or not.
Pryde summarizes it aptly: ‘I want to make a great name for it…for kids to be like “okay, all these great people did something from a really laughed-at small town, maybe I can do something to”…I was born and raised here. There’s nothing else I can do.’
