Canadian teenager Tory Lanez is the best new voice in rap. His mixtape 'Just Landed' is an enthusiastic and accomplished collection of jams that frequently recall Drake, except with that artist's stoned introversion replaced by a slap-you-in-your-face youthful exuberance. It is fitting then that Drake himself has already experienced a little of Mr Lanez' youthful exuberance close up.
The versatility on show here means that he will likely rise above my lazy comparisons though. TL has the street thing down and the pop thing down and something extra too - there is something genuinely likeable about him. It occurs to me that being likeable was once an important thing in rap that kind of got forgotten. For all his slick contemporary pop appeal, Tory Lanez frequently sounds like an early nineties throwback.
And you best believe he can rap. Currently the best way to experience Tory's hard-as-nails, punchline packed verses is by checking his freestyles out on YouTube. He may well get to be a big rap star, but the most exciting thing about hearing this guy for the first time is the realisation that despite the undoubted mainstream appeal he is, in the classic sense, an emcee.
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