Artists
The voices writing the dictionary
Every artist here put a word into circulation. Follow one to see their ends, their influences and the slang they use most.
- Forest Hill / Weston RdDrakeThe artist who made Toronto's vocabulary global. Drake's records exported '6ix', 'woes' and a Patois-inflected cadence to every radio market on earth, and turned OVO into the city's most recognisable cultural export.the 6ixthe six godtingwasteman
- ScarboroughKardinal OffishallThe godfather of Toronto hip-hop's own accent. 'BaKardi Slang' was a manifesto: stop imitating New York, talk how the city actually talks. Everything after him owes him rent.scarlemtingyardiegwanin
- Driftwood, Jane and FinchPressaDriftwood's most quotable export. Pressa's writing is dense with north-west Toronto specifics — block names, Canada Goose winters, court dates — delivered in a nasal, elastic flow that a whole generation copied.endsoppscrodie10 down
- Regent ParkTop5Regent Park drill with a taunting, singsong delivery. Top5 is one of the most-searched Toronto rappers precisely because so much of what he says needs translating.oppsdessgassedwasteman
- RexdaleNorthSideBenjiRexdale melodic rap with Halal Gang roots. Benji's hooks carry the Somali-Canadian west-end cadence into pop structures without sanding the accent off.ahkwallahiendsmandem
- Jane and FinchDuvyOne of the sharpest technical writers in Toronto drill. Duvy's verses read like neighbourhood reportage, packed with names, corners and inside references.oppscrodieendsdutty
- EtobicokePengzWest-end drill with a heavy UK debt — Pengz's slang register sits closer to London road rap than anyone else in the city, which is exactly why 'certi' and 'peng' feel native here now.certiendswastemangyaldem
- Regent ParkMustafaPoet first, folk singer second. Mustafa writes Regent Park grief in plain, devastating language — the counterargument to the idea that Toronto rap is only drill.yuteendsmandem
- Downtown TorontoJazz CartierTheatrical, high-energy downtown rap. Jazz Cartier's mixtape run made 'Toronto rap' mean something other than moody R&B for a stretch in the mid-2010s.the 6ixgreezyopps
- ScarboroughKillyDistorted, rage-adjacent Toronto rap that broke online before radio noticed. Killy's early SoundCloud run is a snapshot of how the city's slang travels through the internet.oppsgassedwhip
- ScarboroughSAFEScarborough R&B with a rap writer's eye for detail. SAFE's lyrics are where the city's softer vocabulary — 'ting', 'link', 'my g' — lives.tingmy gtingz
- RexdaleSmileyRexdale drill that crossed over after Drake co-signed 'Over the Top'. Smiley's delivery is deadpan and conversational — slang lands as ordinary speech, not as punchline.crodieendsoppscerti
- Brampton / TorontoTory LanezA technically versatile Brampton-raised artist whose catalogue mixes dancehall, R&B and rap. His Patois-heavy records helped normalise Caribbean phrasing in Canadian pop.tingduttywamgyaldem
- RexdaleNAVThe first Punjabi-Canadian rapper to go platinum in the US. NAV's monotone, brand-obsessed writing turned Rexdale into a reference point on American playlists.whiphunnidthe 6ix
- BramptonHaviah MightyPolaris Prize winner and one of the most lyrically dense writers in the country. Haviah's work confronts Canadian racism directly, in Brampton's own register.the peelsaugaends
- Brampton / TorontoJessie ReyezColombian-Canadian songwriter with one of the most recognisable voices out of the GTA. Her writing braids Spanish, Toronto street phrasing and confessional pop.endsgassed
- ScarboroughMaestro Fresh WesCanada's first rap star. 'Let Your Backbone Slide' went gold in 1989 and proved a Canadian record could exist on its own terms — the ground everything here is built on.the 6ixehbeauty
- Jane and FinchPuffy L'zJane and Finch drill with a distinctive, half-sung delivery. Reliably one of the most slang-dense catalogues in the city.oppscrodiedessgassed