BeatRoute Magazine ON Edition - January 2020

MUSiC ARTIST INTERVIEW
SUPER
TORY LANEZ
CRAZY
IS ABOUT
TO GO
By CHAYNE JAPAL
just about everything Tory
Lanez does.
At his shows, he
hurls himself into rowdy
crowds, climbs walls like
Spider-Man, and dangles
from whatever’s around,
whether or not it can support
his bodyweight. He’s
undaunted by fellow MCs,
works with the artists he wants to work
with (despite the public opinion around
them), and is quick to counter whoever he
feels disrespected by.
And of course, he’s been known to
10 BEATROUTE JANUARY 2020
JOSHUA “MIDJORDAN” FARIAST
here’s a fearlessness to
flip a classic hit every now and then, and
not just for two of his most successful
singles to date – 2015’s “Say It,” which
samples the rich three-part harmony from
Brownstone’s 1995 smash “If You Love
Me,” and 2016’s “LUV,” which borrows from
Tanto Metro and Devonte’s 1998 dancehall
crossover “Everyone Falls In Love”—but
particularly for his beloved Chixtape
series, which launched in 2011, a fan favourite
within his prolific catalogue.
The core of his confidence lies in his
taste, which he defines as a constant
negotiation.
“What they want is what I want,” Lanez
explains, sitting in Toronto’s Adidas store
before a meet-and-greet, where a long
lineup of the fans he’s referring to extends
through the store and up Yonge Street.
“You have to listen to music from the fan’s
perspective, as a fan of your own self,” he
elaborates.
Between the telepathic bond he’s
created with his fanbase and the constant
clamoring on social media, Lanez knew
he had to revisit the series. “I had stopped
singing for the last three years—that’s why
I felt like that essence that the Chixtape
had was gone. But when you listen to Tory
Lanez, there’s always gonna be a variety
of music. I’ll always give you a variety of
lanes.”
The whole point of the Chixtape
project was for Lanez to put his rhymes
aside and make the sexiest R&B jams
he could, highlighting his impressive
singing vocals and flexible songwriting.
In 2014, 2 took a new direction,
introducing a storyline—told
through a series of lighthearted,
but drama-filled skits. “It was so
important to the whole aesthetic
of the Chixtape,” he explains.
The following year, he would
continue to make samples
of 90s and 00s R&B standards
his signature on
2015’s 3 and 2016’s 4.