A Fresh Sixteen celebrates Toronto’s hip-hop histories by focusing on acts of collaboration embedded within the culture. Ciphers, soundcrews, bboy crews, squads and posse cuts are all ways in which the culture unfolds within numerous relationships and partnerships. The addition of ‘a sixteen,’ to a track is meant to enhance a given song and provide mutual benefit to both collaborators. Mirroring that process and marking sixteen years of Northside Hip hop Archive, A Fresh Sixteen provides a window into the collections of those we have been blessed to work with over the years and those that have inspired us from afar. To date, some of Northside Hip-Hop Archive’s partners and collaborators, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Ivan Berry, Toronto Public Library, The Dream Warriors, Contact Photography Festival, Patrick Nichols, The Masterplan Show, University of Toronto Music Library, Eklipz & Concrete Canvas, Under Pressure Festival, DEDOS, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The Honey Jam, Canada Post, amongst others, have been critical to Northside Hip-Hop’s success.

Launching in November, Hip-Hop History Month, A Fresh Sixteen is a multimedia exhibition featuring never shown before analogue photography, archival video from key Toronto hip-hop events, such as the 416 Graffiti Expo, The 1984 Crunchie Battle and the CHRY Metro Mix Offs--events from the 1980s and 1990s central to the development of Toronto’s hip-hop scene. Headsets and listening stations forf archival audio of live events and community radio shows from the late 1990s and early 2000s, excavated specifically for this exhibition, offer audiences an opportunity to experience some of the emerging talent visiting and performing in this city, long before their commercial success. Audiences can immerse themselves in virtual reality tours and journey through previous Northside exhibitions with an audio guide by the one and only Michie Mee, designed by Mix It Media. An installation by Canada Post invites the audience to take a dive deeper into their 2026 Black History Month. Living legends, Maestro Fres Wes, Montreal’s Muzion and Canada’s Queen of Hip-Hop, Michie Mee are all honoured in these stamps, developed by Canada Post and designed by Typotheraphy. Included in the exhibition is a sneak peek into the development of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music Library’s T-Dot-O-Dot Vinyl collection, a tool to teach students and preserve Toronto’s vibrant independent hip-hop music scene from the 1990s and early 2000s.

The exhibition’s opening event: Thursday, November 5, 2026

Doors open at 6pm with live DJs and performances on the ground floor of It’s OK* Studios beginning at 8pm.