The Little Jamaica Music History Walking Tour brings 1970s Little Jamaica to life, highlighting the lasting influence the neighborhood has had on the city.
In the 1970s and ‘80s, music from competing sound system operators used to play on the street in Toronto’s Little Jamaica. And almost every business in the area served the neighborhood’s music ecosystem in some way.
It’s quieter today, but the influence of Jamaican sound system culture — the playing of reggae music on the street through large custom speakers — remains. There’s Jamal’s Custom Tailor, a 50-year-old business still running today, responsible for fitting artists before shows. Murals painted by artist Adrian Hayes honoring reggae legends like Bob Marley and Johnny Osbourne who passed through and recorded music in the area. Wisdom’s Barber Shop, previously owned by Jimmy Wisdom of the reggae duo Bob and Wisdom. And Rap’s, the legendary Jamaican restaurant that opened late out of necessity to serve the growing number of performers and DJs looking for a place to eat after their shows.
It’s a rich part of the city’s music history that not enough people know about, say the co-founders of Canada Black Music Archives, Phil Vassell and Donna McCurvin. Their non-profit organization, founded in 2020, is dedicated to building a digital record of Black Canadian musicians who have contributed to furthering Canada’s cultural development. A free Little Jamaica walking tour offered twice a month sporadically on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons is the CBMA’s first major project.
Beginning at Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue and ending at the Reggae Lane mural, Vassell and McCurvin use a curated playlist of reggae songs, photography of neighborhood from ‘70s and ‘80s, and oral storytelling to bring to life 1970s Little Jamaica on the tour.
“In the ‘70s and ‘80s, an estimated 100,000 Jamaicans migrated to Toronto, most of them coming to Little Jamaica,” Vassell explains.
For more details: https://thecbma.com
According to the CBMA, this wave of immigrants brought with them sound system culture to stay connected to their Jamaican roots. They would set up custom speaker systems to play the biggest hits from Jamaica, reggae remixes of their favourite American R&B songs, sample beats from inspiring DJs and original mixes. The practice eventually evolved into a larger city-wide music scene that attracted the most prominent reggae artists of the time to Toronto.
“If you were part of the scene back in the day, you had an opportunity to see some of the top names from Jamaica hanging out on Eglinton,” Vassell says, as McCurvin plays “Messengers” by Canadian reggae artist Jay Douglas on a portable speaker. “Sometimes, you would even get a chance to stop them in the streets, have a conversation with them, and then later check them out.”
“Three weeks after the Sugarhill Gang released ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ an artist came out with an answer, called ‘Ladies Delight,’” Vassell explains, referring to the late Jay W. McGee, better known by his stage name, Mr. Q, a native of North Carolina who moved to Toronto in 1974 at the height of the sound system wave.
According to the CBMA, “Ladies Delight” was recorded in the basement of Monica’s Beauty Salon & Cosmetic, another one of the remaining businesses from the ‘70s still open in the area. It is a hair and beauty supply business that doubles as a sound system equipment shop and a record store.
“It is worth noting that Little Jamaica has the largest concentration of Black businesses in Canada,” Vassell says.
Those businesses have faced ongoing challenges from the price of rent skyrocketing and massive new condos being built to the Eglinton crosstown LRT construction wreaking havoc on parking in the area and the pandemic. Beyond that, some of the novelty of what businesses offered in decades past has worn off as the diaspora has grown and spread throughout the GTA.
With the LRT line nearing completion, McCurvin only sees the neighborhood evolving more.
“Our hope is that (the walking tour) will allow the next generation and future generations to learn about this history, so it’s not lost and doesn’t die when the artists die. There needs to be books, websites, documentaries, and a whole range of ways of gathering, collecting, and sharing this history,” Vassell says.
Moving forward, the Canada Black Music Archives would like the city to preserve Little Jamaica’s past with plaques honoring its history and follow through on making it a recognized cultural district.
“There’s only one plaque that acknowledges this area’s musical past. And when you consider the impact of this culture on our music, it’s a shame,” Vassell says.
The final stop of The Star’s modified tour is Record Factory. Now a vacant building, it was once a record store particularly dear to Vassell’s heart.
“On Saturday morning, my dad and I would come here bright and early. And guys were lining up all the way outside. The DJ would drop the needle on a record for about 30 seconds. And there’d be hands going up to say, ‘Hey, let me get one of those,’ or ‘let me get two of those,’ because you wanted to mix it if you’re a good DJ,” Vassell reminisces.
“Someday, I hope the Canadian Heritage Department does a heritage minute. I’d love to see a remake of that scene.”
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