NEWS

ABOUT US

It all started in the summer of 2003 during Caribana, the first issue of Da News DVD Magazine was in the making. Toronto's Hip-Hop scene was still very young and quiet but hungry artists could be found everywhere. Aside from all the bootleggers, drug dealers, and Mix Tape DJs, doing their thing Caribana nights; The Toronto hip hop industry hadn't perfected its urban music hustle. Not that artists didn't exist before in the TDot... but let's be real, people were not making money. It was in the new millennium that the streets started taking this music stuff seriously. Those who saw the potential in Toronto and had entrepreneurial sense got the ball rolling. However, labels were still not paying any attention to Toronto talent. Besides Kardinal Official and Choclair no other artist were a household name, back then. What’s worse is none of artists that the streets were feeling were blowing up. Why? ‘Cause people were too busy representing their own hoods. Scarborough talent stayed in Scarborough (aka Scartown), Downtown was Downtown and the West End talent was doing their own thing. All these areas broke down into even smaller blocks, the point is nobody was representing TORONTO! By the end of 2001, people were slowly starting to see the bigger picture. If anybody was going to make any money legitimately their operation needed to expand beyond their own block. Then came the time period of the digital revolution; and cds were standard and cheap. Artists started investing in themselves ‘getting that good look’ independently. There were many new artists that were starting to get recognized. Even mainstream radio (very rarely) played a track or two. The ball was now rolling, but there was one thing that was missing. Something raw and uncensored, one medium to bring it all together; DA NEWS DVD MAGAZINE was the answer.

Since its conception in the summer of 2003, Da News has been promoting exclusives from the streets, and delivering it straight to Canada's hungry public. We were at the events that you couldn't get into and playing videos TV didn't want to play. Da News had given artists the opportunity to overcome a big obstacle in the Toronto hip hop industry; exposure. But it wasn't only for artists, young entrepreneurs were now given the opportunity to advertise their businesses. Da News DVD Magazine was now the voice for the urban streets of Toronto. If it was hot, Da News knew about it. After the first issue the demand was evident and the production had to be stepped up. Da News even got distribution in New York and Atlanta.

The fifth issue of Da News is OUT... We have established a solid audience across the GTA, Canada and we’ve expanded beyond the Canadian border. It’s a good time in Canadian hip hop; Kardinal Official just recently released a song with Akon. Canadian artists are getting play on the radio and are performing at various events across the city. Canadian hip hop seems to have reached a new and exciting level this past couple of years. You can be sure that Da News plans to be right alongside rising to the top with the rest of Canada’s most talented. Despite many imitators, DA NEWS always strives to set industry standards... Make sure you go and get your copy while there are still DVDs left… The fifth issue is a hot commodity so don’t wait to long…

“DA NEWS... IN DA STREETS, HEAVY”