Last night (4/10/2014) Ryerson University’s Student Union held their end of the year DeBASHMent party. The event took place at one of Toronto’s hottest clubs (The Hoxton) and featured Canadian DJs Thugli and Skratch Bastid. The night kicked off with J-Statik spinning top 40 and club tracks to get things warmed up. As they began to lower his stage and set-up Thugli’s equipment it was clear that we were in for something special. It’s not everyday that you see a DJ duo playing off two laptops and two mixers/turntables.
With expectations high, Thugli took to the stage and put forth a high energy, hard hitting set that absolutely set the place on fire. Their set consisted of a mixture of rap and trap bangers including a number of their originals and remixes. The first transition that really blew me away was when they dropped their Kanye West – Send It Up Remix into Gesaffelstein – Hellifornia. Another highlight was playing Yellow Claw & Cesqeaux – IBETCHU and switching out the final drop for their own track What Happened (Which is a rework of Baby ft. Clipse – What Happened To That Boy.) I’m pretty sure at least a few patrons did “Lose their mind when the sh*t dropped”. All of their transitions were seamless; blending songs perfectly and coming through with an unrelenting pace. Watching them perform you can tell they love every song they play. They are constantly bouncing, dancing and singing along to every tune. This energy is directly felt by the crowd and makes the set that much better. On top of all this, they premiered their killer remix of Diplo & GTA – Boy Oh Boy which was released today. Another amazing exclusive was an unreleased tune from fellow Canadians Keys N Krates & Grandtheft – “Keep It 100“. In a set filled with bangers this one stood out above them all. All-in-all Thugli put on and absolutely amazing show, proving why they are one of the best trap duos out right now.
Skratch Bastid took the stage after Thugli starting things off with Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake – Holy Grail which progressed into a pretty dope scratch routine. Shortly after he laid down ‘Miley‘ with some live improvisations. His set spanned a wide variety of music from reggae, house, rap, pop and everything in between. One of his most notable transitions was using Action Bronson – Strictly 4 My Jeeps “Need to slow down baby” sample and dropping it into DJ Snake x Yellow Claw x Spanker – Slow Down. Another stand out section of the set was mixing ODB’s – Shimmy Shimmy Ya into Wu-tang Clan’s – Triumph and then “Taking it back to 79′” with none other than Sugar Hill Gang’s – Rapper’s Delight. The thought behind this selection was likely overlooked by many, but it doesn’t make it any less special. Skratch Bastid’s set didn’t have the same level of intensity of Thugli’s but his skills on the decks easily made up for it.
Ryerson’s end of the year party was an excellent event thanks to amazing performances by the headliners and a perfect venue selection. I give Ryerson’s Student Union a lot of credit for putting together such a great event with top-notch Canadian talent (Tom Wrecks is even Ryerson Alumni!). I can easily say this was the best $3 I’ve spent this year.
