‘The New Toronto 3’ Marks a New Beginning for Tory Lanez

Adi Mehta

There are few rappers able to shift gears and assume divergent forms as convincingly as Tory Lanez. We last heard from Lanez last year on “Chixtape 5,” a star-studded ode to early aughts R&B. Lanez has complemented his light, mellow, and melodic Chixtape series with another string of releases, beginning with 2015’s “The New Toronto.” Meant to shift the focus from R&B to hip-hop. The two mixtapes so far have showcased the more heavy, hard-hitting side of Lanez, informed largely by the instrumentals of production mastermind Play Picasso. His latest installment, “The New Toronto 3”,” was conceived in the aftermath of a breakup, which results in more songs than one might expect still veering toward the R&B end. On the other hand, the new release is a celebration of Lanez’s liberation from a contract with Interscope records. Lanez has specified that he wants this record, unlike its predecessors, to be considered an album, rather than a mixtape, claiming that he has waited until now to release “real music.” While this might sound like the stuff of standard, hip-hop hyperbole, one need only listen to the album to understand what Lanez means.

Lanez loses no time in establishing that he’s in his grittier mode. Opener “Price Spicey” erupts into an epic, bombastic beat, about to burst with swelling strings, frenetic hi hats, horns, howling tones, and grand piano. Lanez seems to rap with a perpetual smug grimace and puffed-out chest, every word hitting hard, exuding confidence in an Auto-tune chorus. He frames the new album in context, dropping lines that allude to the intro of the “The New Toronto 2.” The song is generally two and a half minutes of the titular phrase expanded — for instance, “When I pull up, I’m stuntin’, I’m talkin’ spicy / New Givenchy and Saint Laurent, this shit pricey.”

Lanez lingers in this elevated space on “The Coldest Playboy,” rhyming with laidback swag over reverb-soaked piano, pitched-up vocals, and trap drums that stop and start. Lyrically, the track is a reiteration of the central theme from Lanez’s 2016 debut album “I Told You So,” an emphatic calling out of naysayers, encapsulated in lines like “I call the shots now and I make the plays on it.” “Stupid Again” follows, beginning with an especially enjoyble sample, a snippet of MMA fighter Connor McGregor declaring, “I just wanna say from the bottom of my heart. I’d like to take this chance to apologize — to absolutely nobody.” Lanez takes the mic like a natural embodiment of the expressed spirit, and kills it. Over more classic sounds of piano, drum machines, and powerful choral sounds, he flows almost as if possessed, making the track a definite standout. This is rap that packs maximum punch. He continues to scatter references that will amuse the most erudite hip-hop heads, in this case an update on a skit bit from Jay-Z’s “Imaginary Player.”

“10 Fucks” finds Lanez back in R&B mode, but continuing the same relentless flow, just now channeled melodically. The way he switches his voice tone almost robotically in mid line makes for an edgy, sci-fi urban sound, accentuated by samples that impart a glitchy, shape-shifting character. Lyrically, Lanez and One Umbrella-signee Mansa take turns singing about how little they care about what ex girlfriends think. Come to think of it, this is a topic that takes up a considerable portion of the new album’s running time, which seems to somewhat contradict the expressed sentiment. At any rate, Lanez switches on “Dope Boy’s Diary” to autobiographical content, another main component of the record. There’s a wealth of detail in the beat, and Lanez crams words into bars, overflowing at edges, but falling slickly into patterns. As always, he has plenty to say and no shortage of energy. He picks up further momentum on “Accidents Happen,” joining forces with rapper Tjay, running through vocal gymnastics, throwing out hollers and sung snippets, then snapping back to his flow, somehow never running out of breath. 

“Broke In a Minute” declutters the space with a minimal beat built around a horn loop. The barebones, lo fi beat adds some throwback flavor in the spirit of, say, Run DMC, a few levels removed. One has to appreciate the playful nature of the track, and the gusto with which Lanez insists, “I ain’t been broken in a minute.” The levity gives way to the emotionally fraught “P.A.I.N,” in which Lanez cathartically expels it all over another rich production with all types of intricate instrumentation. His strained, angsty utterances follow an almost stream-of-consciousness, free flow melody as he tells a heartfelt rags-to-riches story. Next, “Adidas” places Lanez over a smooth, soulful, slow jam, to recount his experiences of drug dealing, rolling with gangsters, and making it through, in plenty narrative detail, in the same age old tradition of, say, Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.” Of course, the central mentality is neatly summed up in a hook near the end professing Lanez’s mantra since day one, “I’ma die rich / I gotta make it, and if they don’t give it to me, I’m gon take it.” 

A production oddity comes in “Who Needs Love,” with vaguely Spanish guitar stylings and glossy production that give it something of almost an aughts boy band feel. Moreover, the affected, whiny, adolescent voice tone and inflections nod to “emo rap” stylings. At any rate, it’s an Instantly catchy tune, and another example of Lanez’s versatility. “Do the Most” brings a basic, bass-heavy beat with more throwback stylings. Lanez seems still caught up in drama, rapping, “I say word to my ex, I might never fall in love again” He reprises a few lines from his feature on 6ix9ine’s song “Kika,” and at one point calls out, “See my hairline fresh, don’t be touchin’ my shit,” putting in place the haters who criticized him for getting a hair transplant.

Lanez keeps dipping occasionally into R&B, and “Penthouse Red” is another mellow, guitar-led, steamy number, with a whole song essentially built around the sentiment of “You gon’ do you and I’ma do me.” Having checked off the sappy fare, Lanez proceeds to “Letter to the City 2,” the sequel to a track from the original “New Toronto” mixtape. Cool and composed, he flows over another hard-hitting production, reflecting upon his rise from the streets. This track is a standout because of how blatantly Lanez celebrates his freedom from contractual obligations, reveling, “Soon as you hear this verse, I’m out the record deal.” He makes sure to add that he managed to give Interscope twelve projects during the span of his five-album deal. He presents the information in a shout out to Drake, who rapped on his song “Is There More,” “Yeah, soon as this album drop I’m out of the deal.” Lanez goes on to recount his struggles coming up in the music industry. As this track came out under the old contract, Lanez was forced to bleep out certain names, one of which is speculated to be Benny Blanco of Interscope’s Mad Love Records imprint. For whatever it is, Lanez could hardly be happier about his newfound freedom. He chases the feeling on “Back In Business,” continuing to recount his struggles, but taking pleasure boasting, “My life a Scorsese.” He returns to the triumphant tone that began the album, rapping over choirs, throbbing bass, and thunderclaps, then breaking into a celebratory, gleeful Auto-tune chorus.

“D.N.D,” another song about exes, is on the irritating sound, with helium vocal samples, zaps, and a chirpy, incessant sing-song. It’s an odd sonic template for boasting and bragging. Moreover, it’s a bit catty and vindictive, especially in the context of the rather sanctimonious closer that follows, “MSG 4 God’s Children.” This reflective ending veers from the hook-driven tracks, and just leaves Lanez to go at it unhindered. When he asserts, ‘I love my haters when they jealous, dawg / ‘Cause all that I can do is flourish,” one can’t help but wonder whether he got the gospel wrong. On the other hand, after the album’s sixteen tracks, it’s hard to blame Lanez for anything. 

Judging from the enthusiasm Tory Lanez expresses about his freedom from contractual obligations, “The New Toronto 3” is only the beginning of a bold new phase. This is hard to believe, as the creativity on display here would exhaust a normal artist for at least several years. Lanez’ lyrics might often be cliche hip-hop fodder — the inevitable rags-to-riches story, the gratuitous vulgarity, the endless bragaddocio. But unlike countless rappers who demonstrate their professed genius through little more than incoherent mumbling, Lanez puts on an act that makes it no wonder he rose to the top. He sings and raps in so many varied voices that he might as well be a whole hip-hop and R&B collective. His latest album is jam packed with bangers and suggests his greatest work is yet to come. 

“The New Toronto 3”  is available April 10 on Apple Music.