Tory Lanez is unstoppable. Not in the sense of being the greatest of all time or wielding god-like power. No, Lanez is unstoppable in another way. Four years ago, Lanez debuted his album I Told You for Interscope Records. He generated a worthy buzz but wasn’t granted that next level of praise because another Canadian rapper/singer was flooding the airwaves. No worries. Lanez had already released over a dozen mixtapes prior to signing with Interscope, so he was no stranger to hard work. He went into the studio and came out with the mixtapes Chixtape IV and The New Toronto 2 before releasing his sophomore album, Memories Don't Die. A few months later, Lanez's third album dropped, Love Me Now? The sheer will power and work ethic of Lanez is what truly makes him unstoppable. His grind doesn’t appear to have any inkling of what "stopping" even means, it’s a driving force pushing his creative efforts.
After blessing Interscope with 4 albums and a handful of mixtapes, Lanez is ready for his departure project. Lanez announced the album, The New Toronto 3, and its release month on Twitter at the end of February. Although he tweeted that there was “no bad blood with the label,” fans of the artist know this to be untrue. Just a few months ago, Lanez hopped on social media to deliver a scathing warning to Interscope, asserting, “If y'all n***as don't stop playing w/ me ... I'ma expose what's really going on in that fucking building!" Now that the relationship is coming to an official end, what should we expect from Lanez’s final album for Interscope?
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Bars
Lanez's last album was Chixtape 5, which makes his shift to The New Toronto 3 thematically sound. Chixtape 4 was released alongside The New Toronto 2, so for Lanez to continue his penchant of placing these two mixtape projects near each other makes sense, at least from a continuity with fans perspective. What we determined from Chixtape 4 and The New Toronto 2 is that Lanez tends to shift to R&B bangers for one, and aims to keep it more hip-hop on the other. With that in mind, fans are expecting The New Toronto 3 to be more of a hip-hop/rap effort with Lanez showing off his lyrical strength. Chixtape 5 was a gorgeous and nostalgic R&B thrill ride, but let's not forget Lanez can rap his ass off. Just based on his past moves, it looks like Lanez will be putting the bars front and center on this project. The first indication that this is correct comes by way of yesterday's single, "W," which is a nostalgic, bar-riddled effort.
Limited Collabs
The number of features on Chixtape 5 was impressive, and everyone played their part. And we know Lanez has several friends and peers in the industry he enjoys collaborating with. Still, The New Toronto 3 would work best as a lightly collaborative project. Lanez should keep the features to a minimum. It will give him the maximum amount of creative freedom while crafting his last piece of art for Interscope. Much like Jay-Z's Black Album, Outkast's ATLiens, or Nas' Stillmatic, the philosophy of including just a few other rappers on the record adds to the mysticism of the classic. We have seen Lanez go featureless before on his debut for Interscope, and it would be perfect timing to employ that method one more time.
Production
So far, fans have gotten two tracks from Lanez that are either on the new album, or are throwaways that almost made it. "Broke In A Minute" and "W" both came with colorful visuals that make us feel it's the former option. "Broke In A Minute" features a repetitive horn that spirals around angrily as Lanez drops dizzying bars. "W" has a more cinematic instrumental, a calming vibe that is best suited for night time, introspective driving. Based on the two opposite directions in production we have seen so far, fans can expect an eclectic sound to this project. Since bars seem to be the center focus for Lanez, we expect him to explore beats that aren't too complicated. "Broke In A Minute" and "W" may have different vibes, but they are both simplistic beats. This allows Lanez's listeners to hear his bars more clearly-- these beats were made for bars. Busy instrumentals weighed down by layers upon layers of samples or instrumentals that consistently evolve as the song progresses probably won't make a big splash on The New Toronto 3. "W" was produced by Saint Mino & 2one2 and "Broke In A Minute" was crafted by Papiyerr. While Papiyerr has worked with Lanez on several occasions ("The Take," "Jerry Sprunger," "Luv Ya Gyal // Love Sounds") Saint Mino & 2one2 are new to the Lanez catalog. This shows that Lanez will be experimenting with new production on this album as well.
Final Thoughts
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The clear cut path here for Lanez is to create a classic to leave Interscope on that is lyrically potent but still delivers radio quality singles. Lanez has earned plenty of success on Billboard with his more R&B sound; The New Toronto 3 must exceed those expectations from a hip-hop standpoint.
"I remember being so broke shit I ain't wanna have no babies, We was project planning, the clip came with that black Mercedes," raps Lanez on the new single "W". "If you was pussy then, you pussy now, you can't erase it, I never saw us becoming famous in my imagination, Sat in too many rooms with losers who was procrastinating." His bars are vivid and the instrumental is eerily marvelous. This may just be a track that missed the cut, judging on its length, but it is still an indication of where Lanez is heading on this one. What would you like to hear from Lanez's new album The New Toronto 3? Sound off in the comments below.