Album Review: Tory Lanez – ‘The New Toronto 3’

The past few weeks, Tory Lanez has used every medium other than music to entertain his fans. Now, with The New Toronto 3, Lanez reminds us how his versatile style landed him with the notoriety he has garnered. 

Though it might not seem like it at first glance,Tory Lanez has much more experience under his belt than his peers. He has been popping for a majority of the last decade, not only on the album circuit, but mainly through his mixtape presence. Since the beginnings of his career, he has kept an intimate, connected relationship with his fans through his multiple mixtape series, including The New Toronto. This is why his base has such an affinity for his tapes compared to his albums; the mixtapes create a collective feeling of community in regards to Lanez’s work. So, the question remaining for this release was, would it live up to the expectation set by his previous work, and would it satisfy his tight-knit fanbase? 

The album shows Lanez sticking to his formula, though this does not exactly result in formulaic music. The greatest skill Lanez has is his diversity of sound; he can work in a multitude of musical spheres effortlessly. In a time where it’s popular to stick to one sound and grow upon it, Lanez utilizes the variety of his influences and it shows through his music. Tory Lanez can sing exceptionally well, rap at par with some of today’s exceptional artists, and can create full bodies of interesting work. The New Toronto 3 displays all of this. It seems that the only thing holding Lanez back, according to this project, was his label. His relationship with Interscope is an interesting note to consider;  the fact that this was the last album under his contract with the label may have inspired the confidence that flows throughout the whole project. 

The best moments on The New Toronto 3 arrive when Tory Lanez is given curated production from Play Picasso, to freely flow however he sees fit. Lanez is an artist who does best when he is creating in his most comfortable environment, and the pack of beats given to him for this project lend him to do this exactly. “Letter To The City 2” is the pinnacle of the tape, showing Lanez ability to rap in the long-form style and paint a picture of his greatest accomplishments and most notable insecurities. The song skates over a lot of important topics in Lanez life, including what’s held his career back, his disenfranchisement within his own label, to the details of his path to success. It has been obvious to those who have observed the music industry that something out of the control of Lanez has been holding his career back, and on this track he fills in the blanks of these concerns. 

Though this is not the pinnacle of what Lanez can offer the music community, it is just another impressive addition to his long resume. The New Toronto 3 builds on the legacy of his mixtape series, and further proves that Lanez is here to stay because of his music, not only on the success of his bannable Instagram live parties.