It will be a rush for Flip Watson to perform at urbanNOISE on Saturday (September 10), to put his talent out there in the neighbourhood that helped to shape him.
Watson is an especially good choice for the bill, which is focused on fighting violence in the community: the rapper’s father and uncle were shot dead in Lawrence Heights in 2001. That tragic event changed the course of Watson’s life; a sports-playing 10-year-old at the time of the shooting, he responded to the loss by acting out, skipping school and generally getting into trouble.
By age 19, he’d been in and out of jail twice. His second sentence included two years of house arrest during which he had nothing else to do but sit and write.
“Instead of taking out my anger on people and the world, I started writing it down on paper,” he says. “I really found a talent.”
In jail, Watson met some of his father’s friends: “They taught me that I can’t be trying to take out my revenge on the world, I can’t be keeping up with the badness. Deep down I was a good kid but the death of my father and uncle really changed my whole demeanor.”
On track now to make a positive contribution to the world, Watson is determined to persevere and make something of his passion for music.
He enrolled in the Breaking the Cycle program, “which helped me to let out my feelings because before that I couldn’t talk to anyone about what happened. Nobody had a similar story to me where their father and their uncle were killed at the same time. Another one of my uncles helped to organize the program and that’s what really helped me to get to where I am right now. They got me involved with urbanNOISE and they got me into the studio. I recently dropped my first mixtape and I’ve been doing videos on YouTube.”
Role models are always an important factor in helping to refocus troubled youth and Watson had a couple of very good examples to emulate — Drake and Reema Major, who is headlining Saturday’s show.
“Drake opened up a lot of doors for Toronto artists,” says Watson. “He has a lot of talent and really knows how to use his word play and I always congratulate him and salute him for that. I know if he was to hear me he’d want to put me beside him. I’m not just spinning the negativity.”
As for Major, Watson has known her for years. “She worked very hard to get to the level she’s at right now. I can look up to her, she always told me she was going to do this, this and that and she did it. You have to be determined and have the heart to really go for what your dreams are.”
Joining Major and Watson on Saturday’s bill are reggae talents A.B.S., Punjab musicians and dancers Toronto Bhangra Allstars, steel pan masters Souls of Steel Orchestra and Grammy-winning beatboxer Scratch, from The Roots. The idea, says Watson, who helped to organize this year’s ubanNOISE event, “is to have something for everybody, to not think it’s just a hip hop event. It’s going to be a multicultural event, we don’t want anybody to feel the day is not for them.”
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