Throwback – The Foundation Creative Group

January 2011

Presented in footnotes* By Chris Shaban - Originally written for HHC.com in January 2003

Happy New Year to all you wonderful F3’s, I pray that God richly blesses you in 2011 and opens your heart to share with people that may not be as fortunate Although our world may not want to let you know, love is still the most powerful emotion. We just like to hide it behind fear and insecurity. Don’t worry, I do too… It’s the stupid ‘human gene’. . This NYE was a weird one for me, I must say. With the self imposed “party strike” still in full effect I was in bed by 12:25am Sadly you didn’t read that wrong. I left out the, “I played Solitaire on my phone” part cause that would have totally sunk all my credibility. . Well, it’s all to the good so I’m not complaining because, contrary to past years, I woke up this morning ready to rock I did just find out that the NHL has pushed back their ‘Winter Classic’ between the Pens and Caps, so that means I can watch ‘The Outback Bowl’, ‘The Rose Bowl’ and then the hockey game without having to flick channels. I’m so used to Sunday Ticket and the DVR that I’m afraid to watch, ummm, what are they called again, oh ya, commercials. .

Moving right along, this is another edition of The Throwback here at FarBeyond footnotes* and will focus on an article I penned about the FOUNDATION Creative Group. There have been a few special people to come out of that collective and it’s funny to think, after seeing where they have gone now, that I wrote this 8 years ago. It is important to note that FOUNDATION is still poppin, run by one of the original partners, Shane Stirling, and sometimes goes by the short form, The F!. This piece however will focus on the original clique that I covered in 2003 Well, really I did my work in 2002 and wrote it in 2003, but hey, no need to split hairs here. .

This was part of a series I was writing about the best cliques in the city of Toronto I’m sorry to the rest of our country, but I only knew the people in my spot on the map back then. I couldn’t speak intelligently on anywhere else. PS – I think it’s sad that, for the most part, people in our country outside of T.O. see us as a self-absorbed city. Sad, because it’s probably true. Having lived here my whole life, I’ve always felt, again, for the most part, like we’ve tried to act as the little brother to America more than the big brother to Canada... I mean at least with our ‘tudes. Well, that’s a whole other can worms that could probably get me in trouble with both parties, so I’ll stay Switzerland for now. I love Toronto and I love Canada. for Hip Hop Canada and since Jesse relaunched the site almost a year ago, I was able to go back and grab it. As always, I did not change a word of the original piece I’m sorry if it reads like a pre-school finger painted essay. , but did add the footnotes to kinda sorta bring it up to date. You know the drill…

<Mid article PS – Is Delocated the best comedy on TV or am I just missing Arrested Development too much I tend to think the former is true. ?>

Now before we get this party started, class is back in session. Crack them books, it’s The Biz 101

The topic for today is: Keeping Your Word.

Sadly, just by doing this, you probably separate yourself from about 98% of your colleagues in the game Thing is, they will ALL tell you that they speak the truth, so you need to have your Spidey Sense in full effect to spot the $25 Gucci shades . Even sadder is the possibility that telling the truth could potentially even hurt your career “I speak the truth, but I guess that’s a foreign language to y’all.” PS – I’m going to go on record and say that Wayne packed the cleverest one-liners I’ve heard in my life into his 2 verses of ‘6 Foot 7 Foot’. “Real G’s move in silence like Lasagna” or how bout “I got through that sentence like a subject and a predicate”? – It almost makes me want to cry. . My advice? Whooooooooooooooo cares. You’re the one that has to look at yourself every morning in the mirror, you’re the one that has to live with the consequences and YOU’RE THE ONE that has to face God one day and account for your resume ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ is much more than a saying or a 2Pac song… and it’s exponentially more meaningful as a lifestyle than it is a tattoo or a Master P album. , so take the real meaning out of a beat up Hip-Hop cliché and Keep it Real.

Already folks, now lets go back eight years and learn a little about Gavin Sheppard, ToneMason, Rochester and the rest of what was originally known as the FOUNDATION Creative Group.

Toronto, ON – A heavy I meant this in a positive way, not like a “heavy heart”… It was supposed to be alliteration, but I would like to go back in time and change this please. Happy New Year and Best Wishes are in order to all the HipHopCanada readers, and I hope ‘03 finds everyone cool. For me trying to find artists in Toronto to write about has been the most fun I’ve had in front of a computer since the introduction of free on-line sports pools It’s good to see a lot has changed since then. . I thought this city was going to blow up for a while, now I’m sure of it. Kick back and take a trip with me through the four companies that make up one of the tuffest organizations in urban music today, the FOUNDATION Creative Group.

The Foundation Creative Group’s (FCG) four branches include Public Management (artist management & publicity), Street Level Imaging (Graphic Design and Wardrobe Styling), Tone Mason Inc. (hot producers), and World Rydah Studios (beat making and engineering)

If you don’t know my man Gavin Sheppard, then you ain’t doin’ it right now Man was I on the mark back then. I should have played the lottery that day. . As founder of the I.C. Visions project (North America’s first government funded Hip-Hop Rec Centre), Gavin has spent years creating this company and building urban awareness around the city He eventually ended up spawning this concept into one of the greatest not for profit creations in the history of urban music with The Remix Project. If you’re unfamiliar with that, set aside 9 hours and Google it. . His Public Management business has been collecting some aspiring artists that are ready to make the plunge into the music business. With a roster highlighted by Canada’s hottest producers Just call me Nostradamus… I must have been an A&R back then or something… ;-) , ToneMason (more on them later), Public Management is about to embark on the road of open doors. Rappers Rochester aka Juice and Mhedikc are the first two hip-hop artists to be repped through FOUNDATION. I have heard Rochester’s early works (his debut album is about halfway done) and I must say I am impressed with this young cat and his mic skills. Peep him on the first set of MuchVibe promo spots This was back when MuchVibe used to have good ones instead of running the same few on ultra repeat for the last 6 years. . PM also handles R&B folk, including Jarod, the sister duo avenue* and singer/songwriter Jenni Denim.

For Canadians that are sick of the same sounding beats and have grown impatient, stand up and recognize ToneMason. Musically these guys have it all together. The instrumentals are really on another level What is the synonym for ‘another level’ or ‘the next level’? It’s taken longer for our generation to figure that out than its taken record labels to combat pirating. Okay, race is on and the winner gets the ‘You’re 10 years too late’ medal. , stuff that we just haven’t heard here yet. Sitting in the studio with these guys or even peeping a beat CD Which I still have by the way. I still can’t believe the stuff that they have that they’re just sitting on. Having already crafted bangers for Kardi, The Rascalz, and MuchMusic It doesn’t hurt to add Drake, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Fantasia to that list now, does it? The collabo between the first two earned them a Grammy nod this year. Best of luck boys. , (they do the theme music for both The Vibe and the DownLo Both former shows on the Nations Station. ) it’s just time standing in their way. Patience is a virtue! To keep the crispness intended for each of their tracks, Blaow Mezziah makes sure the music coming through World Rydah Studios comes Young writers; don’t use a variation of the same word twice in a sentence. off sounding proper.

Now you could have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t look right, people ain’t feeling you. Having already done wardrobe and styling for such artists as Baby Blue, Thrust, Ro Dolla and the first 2 Remy Shand videos (4 Grammy Noms Capo!), Shane Stirling Unless I’m right out of the scene, Shane is repping Canadian youngster Jahvon. Peep ‘Class In Session’ by Boi1da if you’re unfamiliar. If you’ve clicked the links in this article, you’ve already heard it. and Street Level Imaging have begun to carve out their stake in the field of urban art. His experience goes beyond the hip-hop community having added a little urban feel to works for Nike and Athlete’s World.

There is so much going on with the FCG that I’ll probably have to write another article next week Or 8 years later… you know, one or the other… just to keep you up on their movements! Keep your eyes peeled for a documentary being done by MuchMusic that goes behind the scenes detailing an artist’s creative process It was always part of my job to plug the big brother that actually paid me to work in this business. . Also if you are anywhere near TO get down to the Reverb (631 Queen St. W @ Bathurst) on Feb 6th where Canada’s first urban documentary is being filmed with Mhedikc, Rochester, Point Blank, Hustlemann, Empire I think that guy from Toronto who took over the music business last year got his producer/engineer from this clique… ;-) and more performing live… I’m waiting till FCG is on the TSE!! That’s a wrap, Holla back Capo I must have been on some Jim Jones kick or something. Jim Jones the rapper, not the People’s Temple one for all you none Hip-Hop readers. Dip Set, Dip Set… …

And with that, I’ll put a bow on another tight little Throwback from the good ol’ days. In the first quarter of 2011 I’ve got two more of these oldies coming out, with Pete adding a new piece too. Then, it’s back to the originals for me. First up, one of the best rock & roll groups out now; hailing from Atlanta, Georgia and weighing in at a combined 825 pounds, Manchester Orchestra. Just in time for their new album… PS – Columbia, please don’t push it back. This was planned, kay? PPS – release ‘Simple Math’ now so the buzz can start.

Shabs Sidebar: I want to take an ultra brief moment to address an issue that has popped up. I know that Jay-Z’s amazing book ‘Decoded’ is written in footnotes and it looks similar to this site with its bolded words and witty barbs, but he Or Dream Hampton didn’t get the idea from us. I appreciate all of your emails etc suggesting that we have “hit the big time And kinda laugh at the ones that say we should do something about it. ”, but while the form in which we write footnotes here may be unique and distinctly ours, we obviously didn’t make the concept of footnotes up I mean, it’s an option in Microsoft Word for crap sakes. . I think it’s ill that Jay decided to tell his story in footnotes, cause, as I’ve said before; it’s the easiest way to convey a written message to smart people. It allows you to deceptively In the nicest sense of the term of course add more words without forcing the average reader to take them in. If anything, seeing ‘Decoded’ makes us feel like we are taking the right approach, not that we got bit. If you want me to keep it real See The Biz 101 above , it’s us copying Jay’s rhyme style, with his double entendres and casual code, that made us think something like footnotes* could catch on.

So again, thank you for drawing the parallel, it’s more than flattering, but I’m quite sure they came up with the idea on their own.

Now go make money in 2011, spend some, stash some and give the rest away…. Peace