We LOVE tacos and we LOVE books! So when we heard about this initiative we freaked out and emptied out our bank accounts (true story bro).

In all honesty, what an awesome initiative…brand new Mexican restaurant located in Toronto’s Kensington Market, Pancho y Emiliano, are launching a brand new project that will bring a bilingual library/bookstore that features written and visual work from and about Latin America/Latin Americans.

Pancho & Emiliano offers a space for Arts, History, Political Analysis, Environmental, Feminist, Indigenous, Queer, and Anti-Oppression Literature – with a Latin American flavour.

Although the restaurant is open now (check out their crazy-amazing-crazy menu below) the library itself should be open to the general public by late July 2013.

Started by performer/dancer Carlos Rivera and is a prominent member of Red Sky Canada’s leading company of world Indigenous performance in dance, theatre and music.

So if you love your tacos, love Latin American culture and want to get your read-on? Head down to Pancho & Emiliano TODAY!

Pancho & Emiliano
200 Augusta Ave Toronto,
ON M5T 2L8 (Map)

***Special Post by JF***

A recent facebook chat with eLman inspired the idea of writing a post sobre el hip-hop mexicano. Took me a hot minute to get it started ya que no sabría por dónde comenzar or even if I could write something that would come out concise, true and impartial. So I just decided to try my hand at being a selectah and pulled out más o menos unos 5 o 6 años worth of tracks.

This mix is is no way even-tempered or a true reflection of what hip-hop is in Mexico, más bien se me hincharon los huevos to drop these tracks que tanto me gustan. In the mix you’ll find a slew of tracks made up of Mexsa emcees and producers working in hip-hop in Mexico.

The Doom Providers, por ejemplo, is made up of El Vox y Harry Caine. The first dude drops letras y flow on the tracks, who’s not bad but the part of the duo that does it for me es la parte de la producción, from Harry Caine – I’m even willing to say he’s one of my favourite in the game.

You’ll also catch a young dude rapping in English, Elliot Fresh, and although he’s not Mexican the beat definitely is, courtesy of Harry Caine.

Moving onto “K-Yacht” you got a Mexsa MC, El-Suck-A-FuckK riding on a beat made by el suizo, Maloon The Boom, un verdadero reata en la materia de beats.

Other Mexsa producers appear in the mix, including Kryone y a Zake, who also raps. In fact I selected two of his instrumentals, bastante importante para el hip hop mexicano, “El día y la noche en el infierno”. And keep an eye out for fresh material from Kryone coming soon on Piramid Records (who also is the home of Doom Providers and Sick Morrison) a true horno contemporáneo de clásicos where you can download all their music for FREE.

I also dropped a big tune from Eptos 1 y Dabeat Ramirez, found in one of Mexican hip-hop’s classics albums. This album was produced by Jin Beast who runs a great hip-hop program called “Let´s Talk Hip-hop”, you can find the link on homey’s Facebook.

One of the last tracks you can find one from Tino el Pingüino, you can grab that dopeness here…

Aquí un video de él que me late bastante:

And a new video from Simpson Ahuevo:

Like that track? Grab it here…

Link del album The Doom Providers…

Maybe next time I’ll dedicate a post to Epto Uno, a really important MC to the Mexican hip-hop scene.

Wanna learn more about Mexsa hip-hop…

And since it’s my post y de nuevo se me hincharon los huevos, I leave you a link to a classic hip-hop en Español album that claps even though it’s not Mexican and is from Spain..

Check out my mix below, exclusive para 2MUN2!

JF Mero Mero Mexsa Hip Hop Mix Exclusive para 2MUN2 by 2mun2 on Mixcloud

Join Amnesty International Toronto (AITO) for the latest installment in the “Films for Change” series!

“We Women Warriors” is the inspiring story of three courageous Indigenous women who use non-violent resistance to defend the rights and dignity of their communities amidst threats and attacks. Shot over three years by journalist and filmmaker Nicole Karsin, this powerful documentary follows the women as they struggle for the very survival of their peoples amidst brutal violence aimed at taking control of their territory.

The screening of “We Women Warriors” will be followed by an enlightening discussion of issues raised by the film, and will be led by Kathy Price, Amnesty International Canada’s campaigner for Latin America.

The screening will kick off AITO’s Week of Action for Indigenous Rights in Colombia (May 15-22). Of the 102 distinct Indigenous nations in Colombia, more than a third are now on the brink of being wiped out as a result of armed conflict and efforts to take over and exploit their lands.

The Week of Action aims to promote awareness of this emergency and why it should concern Canadians, given our government’s special relationship with Colombia. The Week of Action also offers exciting ways for Canadians to raise their voices and press for change.

7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30)
PWYC (minimum suggested $7)
Carlton Cinemas
20 Carlton St
Toronto, ON M5B 2H5
Canada

***Special post by Caballo***

No Puede Conmigo is a free EP by Panama Beat Making Lab released by Mal Dicen x Latino Resiste x ARTVSM. The EP features beats, original songs and remixes inspired by the carnival festivals, youth and prisons of Panama. All original songs were recorded in Portobelo, in a community music-studio where they set up the Beat Making Lab up.

The final result is a FREE ALBUM full of trap, moombahton, hip hop, latin-jazz and heavy bangers.

PLUS a whole bunch of BONUS remixes on an EP, made by some heavyweight producers.

No Puede Conmigo also features Kulakostas and Tree City – the first and second-place winners of the Panama Beat Challenge. They were given the task of making a trap beat out of a sample a young Panamanian accordion prodigy named Martin.

Beat Making Lab family/judges: Apple Juice Kid, Caballo and The 13th Tribe selected the top winners, who also received free SoundCloud Pro accounts.

Winner

EP opens with a a great example of the collaborative nature of a Beat Making Lab. Producer Apple Juice Kid sampled Barrio Fino, a Panamanian comparsa band, and The Beast, a hip hop and jazz quartet from Durham, North Carolina, to make the beat. Guest vocalist Yomira John blessed the track with her amazing voice and lyrics. Yomira’s recording session, which took place during a blackout in Portobelo, was turned into a music video.

For the video, they only used an Iphone light and a USB mic!!! A great example of how you can achieve big things with mere talent!

Stream

One more song that made this BML very unique is the addition of some beatbox to moombahton!!

The final OG track on No Puede Conmigo is a remix of RAM, or Rehabilitacion a Traves de la Musica (rehabilitation through music) – a beat created inside a prison by Apple Juice Kid and an incarcerated beat maker named Professor Angel Sound. To make the the beat, the duo sampled found sounds around the prison studio including a leaky faucet, clicking handcuffs and a guitar. The remix was produced by The 13th Tribe.

Stream

The Bonus EP full of remixes features big names indeed, like Faluma’s headmoncho and Tropicalbass’ very own Marflix

From Cafe de Calaveras

CHAIKOV made a moombahsoul remix

Bomb diggy, the Netherlands bangerist drops this one

Germany’s cumbia master, Andres Digital, also is present, with a cumbia-moombahton (cumbiathon) remix.

Uruguay’s Lechuga Zafiro

About Accordion-Trap Challenge, as you saw winners made it to the official release, but Da fingaz got also a prize.

But we could not skip these honorable mentions

and

Many parallels can be drawn between Hip-Hop and Salsa. Both are styles of music based deeply in diasporic communities that grew into complete cultural movements. Both styles of music were born from the streets and conceived through musical exploration. The similarities are plentiful and there have been many attempts to bridge the gap between these styles and Toronto’s own DJ Grouch has been steadily building that bridge between the Hip-Hop heads and the Salseros.

“Well Hip Hop and Salsa came up side by side in the early 70′s in New York so there will always be that connection,” says Grouch. “A lot of the breaks the djs would rock had a Latin feel to them such as APACHE or THE MEXICAN to name a few. Plus they are both created by people of African/Latin descent. They are one in the same to me.”

This half-Panamanian, half-Colombian (born in Panama) DJ came up surrounded by music. His parents arrived in Toronto in the 1970s, in the prime era of both Salsa and Hip-Hop taking over North America. One could argue that Grouch’s future as a DJ comes from a childhood immersed in music.

“From traditional latin rhythms such as Son, Salsa, Cumbia, Vallenatos, Boleros and the like to Soul, R&B, Rock and country. My folks were into everything,” says Grouch. “First record I bought was Sheila E’s THE GLAMOROUS LIFE 45.”

Over the years, Grouch, inspired by DJs like Jazzy Jeff, Cash Money, DJ Scratch, DJ Aladdin and Richie Rich, would take to the turntables and practice for hours on the art of scratching. Soon he would make his way to the airwaves of CHRY, playing on the radio for over a decade. Eventually, the radio show would lead to DJ competitions and the formation of ‘Turnstylez’ (3 DJs on 6 turntables?? What!!) and Grouch has not looked back since.

Now, the brother is bringing Salsa to the Hip-Hop game (or is that vice-versa?) with a series of deadly Salsa edits that Grouch has been threading into his Hip-Hop sets. Classic tracks from Fruko y sus Tesos, El Gran Combo and Sonora Carruseles get the Grouch treatment.

“It usually starts from me just hearing something that catches my attention. Soon as that happens I turn on the laptop and zone out. I try to spice up my edits rather than giving the listener or dj the regular standard 8 bar edit,” says Grouch. “I try to give them my own signature sound. I’m very meticulous when it comes to making beats. I want the end result to be perfect.”

Check some of the edits below and make sure to catch Grouch at one of his many regular events in Toronto (including a special set at Lula Lounge alongside Telmary and Ogguere during Lula World) and definitely get on the brothers Soundcloud!

***post by CABALLO***

Finally, the wait is over.

Dos Mundos has a keen eye for the underground scene from the whole continent, so it was no surprise to us when Latino Resiste signed Jamaican-left field dancehall artist Carnnibal. Today, Dos Mundos is proud to participate in the premiere of “Crime mi a talk”.

Videos and tracks are insane.

Carnnibal’s debut EP is finally HERE!

GET THE ALBUM HERE

Which Crime mi a Talk

Stream

Different approach to the genre, TWERK

Stream

There is a FREE track (100 Downloads) to support the release, if you are into trap/space bass…

But if you are more into Major Lazeresque vibes, then this banger called RAS TRENT is for you!

Shitstem explores high pitch cymbals and deep bass…

Steam

Last Track of the EP features Iconic Spanish Dancehall pioneer Paul de Swardt!!

FIVE BUCKS. All this OG wicked music for less than a beer in a club!!
Support the artist!

GET THE ALBUM HERE

***By Gina Vergel***

Afro-Colombian electronic music pioneers Palenke Soultribe have released a new music video for the track, “Move It.” Something about it reminded me of the young adult novel, Twilight, and as much as you want to make fun of me, it’s a GOOD thing!

“Move It” marks the first single off the band’s new full-length album MAR, released on the duo’s own Soultribe Records on April 9.

Shot partly in downtown Los Angeles and in the snow-covered Angeles National Forest, the video was directed by Miguel Navarro and edited by Otto Scheuren, and features the vocalist Naada unleashing her inner beast.

“‘Move It’ talks about a constant energy flow,” explains Navarro of the video concept. “Our characters never stop. They run, search, hunt and are chased. I wanted to explore the idea of that unknown energy that inhabits within us and is connected to some mysterious entities out there we don’t know about.”

The Colombian-born, Los Angeles-based duo—comprised of Juan Diego Borda (vocals, sequencer, bass) and Andres “Popa” Erazo (vocals, synths, gaita)—offer a unique sound fashioned for dance floors all over the globe: a dubby, dancefloor-friendly hybrid of electronic beats and Colombian styles-especially cumbia. “Move It” is an experiment with faster acid African-kuduro tempos.

A month ago, Dos Mundos Arts and Media had the sincere honour of co-presenting a Avant-Pop showcase alongside the Music Gallery. The whole idea for the show came from a never-ending conversation we have with the Music Gallery’s Artistic Director, David Dacks. For years we’ve talked about the exoticism of music in other languages and the knee-jerk reaction to classify everything non-Western as “World Music”. The Pop-Avant series launched by the Music Gallery was a fantastic opportunity to explore this idea and to showcase two artists who help re-define the perceptions of Latin Music and Pop Music.

The first person that came to mind is Roberto Carlos Lange aka Helado Negro. We’ve been mega fans of his music since he dropped “Awe Owe” in 2009 – a rich, textured album that was both weird and beautiful.

His subsequent releases “Canta Lechuza” in 2011…

…and most recently “Invisible Life” continue Helado’s journey into left-field, experimental pop with a tropical swing. His work is undefinable as it straddles multiple musical worlds while speaking to Helado’s Ecuadorian parentage, his South Florida childhood and his Brooklyn art/music/life residency.

The second artist that we wanted to include in the showcase is an old friend of Dos Mundos. You could say Uladat cut his Tropical-Teeth while he was a resident at our old monthly event Funkete. There, Uladat was exposed to all sorts of weirdo, underground bass-music from Latin America and soon he was churning out his own version of cumbia-rebajada and dembow (doombow?). His two releases 2011′s “Uladat” and 2012′s “Portal” feature his dark and deconstructive take on Tropical Bass.

In case you missed this show, we’ve got a few treats for you!

FIRST

Check out the Dos Mundos Radio Podcast featuring an interview with Helado Negro and a LIVE SESSION from the homey Uladat!

Dos Mundos Radio ~ Helado Negro Interview + Uladat Live Session by 2mun2 on Mixcloud

SECOND

A clip of Uladat’s set from the Music Gallery show (Doombow anyone?)

LAST

A brand new video in support of Helado Negro’s track “Relatives” off his new “Invisible Life” album.

Helado Negro- Relatives from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

Last year, Dos Mundos got a chance to meet and work with the most amazing group of Youth ever. The FCJ Refugee Centre located at St Clair and Oakwood is a part of the Canadian Council for Refugees. Their work helps non-status, new immigrant and refugees in Toronto (and across Canada) help acclimatize themselves to their new home. As part of the CCR and the FCJ Refugee Centre there is this amazing group of energetic and creative kids that make up their Youth Network.

These kids are far more engaged in their community than most kids I’ve ever met. Most of them have struggled more than you would imagine and their joy for life and dedication to each other and their generation is outstanding.

Dos Mundos Arts and Media is mega proud to count the FCJ Refugee Centre Youth Network amongst our friends and allies and are eternally grateful for their hard work and dedication! That’s why we jumped at the chance to reach out to them to co-present the final event in our series of celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month 2013!

This Saturday April 27, the FCJ Refugee Centre, in partnership with Dos Mundos Arts & Media, are presenting a day of family programming that will both entertain and inspire. The kids from the Youth Network have put together an amazing lineup of entertainment including family games, a piñata workshop for kids, a play put on by the Youth Network and a Hip-Hop exchange with another group of marginalized youth from Jane & Finch!

If you got kids, grab em and bring em down! If you don’t, bring your nephew or your parents. This event cannot be missed and trust me when I say you will LOVE meeting the kids behind this awesome event!

FCJ Refugee Centre Youth Network presents
Youth and Family Day
Date: Saturday April 27th, 2013. 10AM to 4PM
Venue: St. Clare’s Parish
Address: 1118 St. Clair Avenue West
Tickets: FREE!!!

For more info about this event and Hispanic Heritage Month, please visit: http://www.dosmundosradio.com/hhm2013

I challenge you to check any playlist from any of our past podcasts/radio shows or playlists from any of our past live DJ sets and try to find one that does NOT include the name DJ Melo.

The homeboy holding down Arizonaton nation is honestly one of a handful of producers who consistently drops Moombahton edits that still catch our attention. Melo really knows how to keep the flavour correct in his edits and his tracks are downright deep and soulful to the core. Beautiful music to shake your culo.

If it’s not clear yet, we’re mega fans of dudes work.

So imagine how many back flips of joy we did when homeboy hit us up and asked if we wanted to release an exclusive run of edits he’s been working on. WHAT?! YES!

May want to grab the oven mitts for this one mi gente because these joints are fresko del horno (fresh from the oven) – HOT edits of absolute killer tracks from Douster, Money vs Gold, Joakim, Gigi de Martino and a whole load of special Melo edits that will turn your party UP!!

Preview the edits below and scroll down for the FREE DOWNLOAD LINK — gracias, Melo!

FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE WHOLE SET RIGHT OVER HERE —> http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?l1vhafywlw8lsd5

Our Lusophonian family over at Uma Nota has been on a short hiatus. Some members ofof the crew travelled to Brazil to work on some projects, others stayed in Toronto to continue playing and teaching Brazilian percussion.

The last time they came together was for the amazing Uma Nota festival in the fall that brought two full days of live music and cultural happenings to Toronto.

Now the homeys are back and ready to kick off your Spring with another edition of the always fun Uma Nota fetes.

Uma Nota: Hot Spring Edition brings together a fine selection of Toronto’s globally sourced music masters. From the samba-tinged harmony of Juno award winner Aline Morales, to the powerful drive of Asiko Afrobeat Ensemble and the heavy heavy vibes of TOs finest selector K Zar Dubwise – and as always, one of Toronto’s hardest working DJs, General Eclectic.

If, like me, you have been missing the energy and flavour that only Uma Nota can bring, you can’t miss this jam!!

Uma Nota: Hot Spring edition
Friday, April 26
The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. at Dovercourt
Doors 10 p.m.
Advance tickets $12 online only via Eventbrite at http://umanotahot.eventbrite.com
$15 at the door

For more information; http://www.umanota.ca

Our amigo from Cafe Con Pan, Alec Dempster, has spent the better part of his life dedicated to the rich tradition of Son Jarocho. Born in Mexico, Dempster has used his art and music to reach back to his roots and has shared these discoveries through both music and printmaking.

Born on the coastal shores of Veracruz, Son Jarocho is where Mexico’s European, African and Indigenous roots meet. The ‘sones’ of Jarocho each tell a different story or mythology from Mexican folklore and have been passed down along generations of musicians.

Dempster has now taken his two passions and combined both the rich storytelling of Jarocho with his meticulously detailed prints into a book entitled “Lotería Jarocho”. Lotería is a bingo style game where players are given a board with random images and as the “cantor” or singer picks cards from a deck the images are matched until a player gets four matched squares in a single row.

TONIGHT Dempster launches his new book with a night of games and music at Lula Lounge. Buy his new book, play lotería and catch Cafe Con Pan concert. Co-presented by Porcupine Quills, Lula Arts, TINA and Dos Mundos Arts & Media in support of Hispanic Heritage Month.

FEISBUKEALO!