Toronto has been recognized as a major hub for talent. It's nothing new at this point. Drake, Tory Lanez and The Weeknd have been three mainstream artists who've helped spotlight TO talent, and keep the city in hip-hop conversations, consistently. The Weeknd's effort have expanded to his XO imprint which includes the duo of 88GLAM. Last year, they made their mark with their self-titled debut project. On Friday, they'll release their long-awaited follow-up, 88GLAM 2. We're excited to debut the first episode of On the Come Up with their help.
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"In Toronto, the party scene is really, like, condensed," Wise said about how he connected with 88CAMINO. "We linked up one night, and like, from there, we kept linking up and just came about like that."
"I kind of hated this n***a. I can't even lie... We were young and hella stupid. You kind of rub each other the wrong way," CAMINO admitted before revealing how they ended up squashing their harsh feelings. "The party ended up going to Derek's spot and I ended up never leaving."
The connection to XO camp occurred before Wise and Camino planned on working together as a duo. Derek Wise connected with someone from The Weeknd's camp who ultimately became his manager as a solo artist. Later on, Wise's manager heard the collaborations between Wise and Camino and pitched the idea that they form a duo. This fateful pairing is what landed them a record deal with XO.
"It was a big deal because they weren't a lot of artists coming out of Toronto that were, like, becoming iconic," CAMINO said about signing to The Weeknd. "We were like huge fans. We were like, 'Oh fuck. This is crazy.' This dude is changing the game and he rocks with us."
For two artists who came up in Toronto's DIY scene, the XO label is a perfect fit for them. They're not being pressured into making radio singles or tracks that will go viral, instead, the label trusts them to deliver what they want. The creative process for 88GLAM hasn't changed, but with a label behind them as big as XO (under Republic Records), they have many more resources available to them.
"They let us make the music we want to make. They trust us creatively. We have creative control over all of our stuff," CAMINO said. "Even when it comes to like music videos and stuff, they're like, 'Who do you guys want to work with?' They just want to see our vision -- us capture our vision. They're like 'we're going to give you guys the resources, but just do you.'"
Peep the launch of On The Come Up with 88GLAM in the video above and subscribe to HNHH TV for a new episode, every Wednesday.
