GRAND FINAL
Today was the day of the grand final of the 2013 Redbull Threestyle. The stakes were high (shout out to De La), and got even higher at midday with the draw of the wildcard spots for the main event. The two competitors chosen were DJ Bazooka (Switzerland) and Shintaro (Japan) - to face the previous night's winners, DJ Byte (Chile), Eskei83 (Germany), Trentino (USA) and Marquinhos Espinosa (Brazil).
The venue for tonight was was Kool Haus. Soon packed to capacity, there was a line of people trying to get in going down the street. Our friends Thugli set the night off, playing their versions of big tunes like Jay-Z's "F**kwithmeyouknowigotit" and Clipse's "What Happened to that Boy?".
Grandtheft followed, turning it up a notch as people started filling the venue to its limits. He played his new remixes including Tinie Tempah and 2 Chainz' "Trampoline", and had the whole crowd singing along to he and Diplo's remix of "Sweet Nothing".
Up next were Keys N Krates, a live 3 piece from Toronto. If you haven't heard of them, the Dim Mak trio are certainly an act to catch live - there isn't anything really like them. They remix and rework artists like Meek Mill, TNGHT, Jay-Z and perform their own tracks such as "Treat Me Right" and the huge "Dum Dee Dum" with ferocious energy.
The first finalist of the night was wildcard Shintaro, and right out the gate had your attention with a brand new set. Starting off with The Fugees "Killing Me Softly", he hit hard with a set that featured modern rap classics, cool tone play with P.Diddy's "Bad Boys for Life" and dropping in topical Street Fighter 2 samples. At one point he played a song that featured the traditional Japanese Koto and reworked it and scratched along to the melody of the Super Mario Brothers theme! When it was all over, he had set the bar incredibly high for the following contestants.
DJ Byte had another impressive set similar to his winning set on Tuesday, and the crowd enjoyed it. He began with Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" morphing into Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack". He also utilized the 90's dance classic "Scatman" by Scatman John (RIP) to get the crowd moving, transitioning from Busta Rhymes equally motor mouthed verse from Chris Browns "Look At Me Now". Later dropping some Drum n Bass tunes, he never stopped smiling and had the crowd charmed.
Wednesday nights winner Eskei83 was up next, and got things started again with some custom dubplates. Challenging all the other finalists with some custom disses using Simon Cowell soundbites, he came out guns blazing for his shot at the title. Dropping tunes from Run DMC, Toronto's own Drake and an awesomely bizarre 8-bit version of M.O.P's anthem "Ante Up", he dropped a strong set that kept the batting spirit alive.
Following was DJ Bazooka, the night's other wildcard selection. He played a set of eclectic dance tracks, which while unfamiliar to the crowd, still had them dancing. Acknowledging the local crowd he played The Rascalz and Kardinal's "Northern Touch", before moving into other tracks such as Gershon Kingsley's "Popcorn" and a remix of French Fries monster "Yo Vogue".
Trentino got off to slow start, but eventually won the crowd over with a highly technical set that included body tricks, precise cuts andclever transitions such as the theme to The Addams Family into Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire". Once again he used creative tone play to mix Billy Joel's "Piano Man" into 2 Chainz "I'm Different", and G Unit's "Stunt 101" into the 2Pac classic "Changes". Bizarrely ending his set by pointing his Dicer's at the crowd and triggering gun shot samples, he left stage with the crowd somewhat subdued.
The last competitor of the night was Marquinhos Espinosa, who played an energetic and melodic set. His mix of the EPROM remix of Kendrick Lamar's "MADD City" into Ginuwine's Timbaland produced banger "Pony" had the whole crow singing along. Flipping genres such as Baile Funk, Drum and Bass and Reggae, he also utilized great tone play with earlier performers Keys N Krates hit "Dum De Dum" into Arrested Developments "Everyday People", getting enormous crowd response.
Before the winner was announced, Mad Decent's label signees A Tribe Called Red took to the stage to keep the hyped up crowd satisfied. Following an epic set, the finalist assembled on stage to find out who was to become the champion.
Coming in third place was Eskei83, and in second place was DJ Byte. After much suspense, the winner was announced and Shintaro was named the 2013 world champion. A man of few words, he kept his impassioned victory speech short, before being showered with Champagne. As well as taking out the title, he also received the Red Bull Threestyle trophy, a bronze Rane Sixty-Two mixer, $25,000 cash and a special plaque from us that contained two master printing acetates of the Serato Control Tone. Autoerotique then followed up with a brief set, before the crowd demanded Shintaro came back out for an encore performance.
After an exciting week in Toronto and with a new world champion crowned, the Serato team are headed home. A big thanks to Kenny Mac, the whole Red Bull team, all the finalists and the whole city of Toronto!
