Killa Kels For A PATTISON Outdoor Digital Campaign Featuring Project T-Dot At Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

DJ, Entrepreneur: Kelsey Williams Professionally Known As Killa Kels, Location: The PATH, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, with the help of Kelsey Williams, professionally known as Killa Kels, I produced a series of photographs (and videos) of the two-month-long, citywide digital campaign for my solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

The campaign was powered by and produced in collaboration with PATTISON Outdoor Advertising. It featured a 15-second cut of the (first) short film I directed and produced on behalf of my current exhibit.

It was far-reaching. Between the first week of August and the last week of September, I received countless messages from friends, colleagues, and others featuring photographs and videos of the campaign in various locations, from Union Station to residential building elevators.

I was particularly surprised by the campaign’s inclusion of residential elevators, as I was unaware of their inclusion before its launch.

In addition to numerous screens at every single Toronto public transit station via the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the campaign streamed via digital screens throughout Royal Bank Plaza, Richmond-Adelaide Centre, the PATH system, RBC Waterpark Place, MetroCentre, most major food courts, and many other locations.

The campaign garnered an estimated minimum of 100 million impressions, a conservative calculation underscoring its extensive visibility.

DJ, Entrepreneur: Kelsey Williams Professionally Known As Killa Kels, Location: Dundas Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Estimating at least 100 million impressions was primarily based on TTC ridership data via the Toronto Transit Commission Annual Reports.

Pre-pandemic statistics show the TTC served approximately 1.69 million daily riders.

With each commuter encountering the campaign an estimated two to three times per day, the daily impressions ranged from 3.38 million (conservative) to 5.07 million (optimistic).

Multiplied by the campaign's 62-day duration, this resulted in a conservative reach of approximately 209 million impressions and an optimistic reach of 314 million impressions.

These figures highlight the campaign's massive scale and PATTISON Outdoor Advertising’s technological prowess, ingenuity, and market share, even when adjusted for potential viewer overlaps.

Beyond the TTC, the previously mentioned additional sites significantly amplified the campaign's visibility, adding millions of impressions to its viewership; they were not heavily factored into the previously shared estimate to ensure a conservative and reliable calculation, and I can only imagine how many people saw the campaign outside of the TTC.

DJ, Entrepreneur: Kelsey Williams Professionally Known As Killa Kels, Location: King Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

The Project T-Dot digital campaign exemplified a well-orchestrated, high-impact multimedia initiative. By leveraging Toronto's dense urban infrastructure, the campaign achieved remarkable visibility, affirming the power of digital advertising in connecting art and culture with millions of people across the city.

My solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is estimated to be viewed by 2 million people by the end of January 2025 through organic foot traffic alone, according to Nieuport Aviation, which is a significant accomplishment.

Still, the aforementioned PATTISON Outdoor Advertising campaign has reached far more people, which is astounding since the short film featured is an advertisement for an art exhibit, which features and is a small part of a much larger project that is ultimately a small part of my career and how I view myself as an artist and entrepreneur.

When Keegan Tam and I filmed the short film for the PATTISON Outdoor Advertising campaign, I explained to him why I went to such extraordinary lengths to promote my current exhibit, even though it represents a small facet of my career; I am more interested in human consciousness, mental health, self-actualization, self-transcendence, mindfulness and meditation than I am interested in hip-hop. However, there are many overlaps between such topics.

Nonetheless, between 2008 and 2021, Project T-Dot and I faced numerous rejections from various organizations, and I could not monetize the project during the aforementioned time period.

These experiences fueled my determination to ensure the project and Toronto’s hip-hop community received the widespread recognition they deserved.

My exhibit’s PATTISON Outdoor campaign was not solely about showcasing an exhibit; it was a deeply personal mission rooted in my admiration for Toronto’s hip-hop community, its resilience, and my resilience.

Project T-Dot captures the essence of a community that has made significant positive contributions to Toronto and Canada yet often remains underappreciated or misunderstood.

By promoting the exhibit to millions, I sought to challenge the historical neglect of Toronto’s hip-hop culture and amplify the voices of those who shaped it.

On a psychological level, this effort was driven by a desire to transform past rejection into opportunity and to validate a community's creative and cultural contributions that have profoundly shaped my identity and artistic journey.

The afternoon before my shoot with Kelsey, I spoke to Derek Jancar, also known as Drex. He is the CEO of October’s Very Own, Drake’s lifestyle brand and clothing line, co-founded by Drake, Oliver El-Khatib, and Noah “40” Shebib.

Drex is also the co-founder of The Remix Project, which Kelsey graduated from and empowers talented youth facing barriers in arts and entertainment through multidisciplinary training, mentorship, and collaborative spaces, shaping diverse future industry leaders with global impact.

During our conversation, Drex was about as amazed by the campaign’s reach as I was, keeping in mind that the film featured begins with footage I shot of Drake performing.

During my conversations with Kelsey throughout our shoot, I gained a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by DJs in Toronto.

Professional experiences among DJs in the city vary widely, but common issues such as stagnation and a lack of camaraderie persist.

These challenges stem from several interconnected factors undermining a city that produces the most talented DJs in the world (according to several notable DJs outside of Toronto, like DJ Drama, who stated as much while sitting in front of me at Canadian Music Week in 2023, for example).

First, Toronto's smaller size compared to hip-hop meccas like New York and Los Angeles inherently limits the scale of opportunities.

Second, the absence of genuine collaboration among DJs, particularly when compared to the cooperative and thriving culture in markets like Atlanta, hampers collective growth and creative innovation.

DJ, Entrepreneur: Kelsey Williams Professionally Known As Killa Kels, Location: Project T-Dot, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Year: 2024, Photographer: Ajani Charles

Since the pandemic's start, the well-documented contraction of Toronto’s arts, entertainment, and nightlife sectors has further compounded the situation.

This opportunity reduction has created a "crabs in a bucket" mentality, where competition over scarce resources fosters gatekeeping and erodes community trust.

This dynamic is further exacerbated by stances taken by nightclubs and other venues in Toronto, which often prioritize cost-cutting over fostering vibrant, supportive environments for local talent.

Many venues undervalue the work of DJs, some of the most essential figures in hip-hop culture. For example, they offer reduced pay or fail to invest in cultivating a dynamic nightlife scene that benefits artists and audiences.

Additionally, many DJs in Toronto may lack the business acumen and self-esteem needed to navigate these challenges effectively.

Many DJs struggle to make DJing a commercially viable profession because they lack the confidence to assert their worth or the skills to market themselves strategically. I have seen such experiences play out in Toronto throughout my 19-year career.

This impacts their careers, finances, and mental health, weakening the overall perception and value of DJing within Toronto’s arts and entertainment ecosystem.

There is a pressing need to shift how DJs and venues operate to address these issues in Toronto.

Empowering DJs with better business skills, fostering self-confidence, and encouraging venues to value local talent as integral to Toronto’s cultural fabric could, among other potential solutions, help reverse the current trends.

A more collaborative and professionally equipped DJ community, supported by forward-thinking venues and higher rates for DJs, has the potential to reinvigorate Toronto’s nightlife and make DJing a more sustainable and rewarding career path.

I am grateful that Project T-Dot allows me to highlight these concepts and experiences.

The shoot with Kelsey ended at my solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, where she learned new things about several members of Toronto’s hip-hop community that she had previously been unaware of.

I am grateful to her and the PATTISON Outdoor Advertising team, especially Ian Gadsby and Bridget Campbell, for their continued support and contributions to the success of my current exhibit and Project T-Dot.

Killa Kels For A PATTISON Outdoor Digital Campaign Featuring Project T-Dot At Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

Celebrating Project T-Dot At Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport