Blog - The Movement Fam, Independent Hip Hop Record Label - Toronto + Montréal
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After a recent trip to Los Angeles where Cee finally connected with long-time internet homie Teo Hunter of LA-based craft beer experience entity Dope & Dank, Teo had the idea to do a remix to the craft beer-soaked "Hazy" to make it even more dope, and of course, dank. Teo brought in Fort Worth, Texas's J/o/e, a "Brewed Up" craft beer fan and MC, and even dropped a verse himself, to create a fun remix that turned the beer elements up further than any rap song since "BrewHeads".
In June 2014, Cee and Notion went on tour around Ontario and Quebec with Montreal's Clarity and The Bodega Brovas (Travii 7th, Keynote and Headkrack). The boys originally connected in person for the first time at A3C in Atlanta back in 2010, and it wasn't long before they collaborated on a song. They figured that since they were stuck in a van together for a while, they may as well shoot a video for the joint.
We've also been going heavy booking the cross-Canada 'Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour' with The Bodega Brovas this summer - and our IndieGoGo campaign is in full effect! Much respect to everyone who contributed financially, blogged about it or shared it on social media. It all has truly helped and we're well on our way. We've got two weeks left 'til it wraps - we really want to keep the momentum going so by letting your people know, y'all are making our next step as independent musicians a reality. <3
We created a campaign via IndieGoGo to help us raise the funds required to make this tour a reality - we've included a bunch of cool perks, and we appreciate anything you can contribute. Even if you can't help financially, just sharing the campaign via your blog or your social networks is extremely valuable to us.
'Pride On My Cufflinks' is a milestone in the now 30 year old MC's career. The EP showcases both Notion's lyrical prowess and his production skills, all the while soaking up his rollercoaster ride experience of leaving his life in Australia and moving to Canada to pursue his music. The often dark yet sparse soundscapes make way for his potent, thought provoking narratives, garnished with equal parts optimism and concern for the future. Production comes courtesy of the USA's Remot (Kidz In The Hall, K-Os), Hungary's Diaz & Sima, Sydney's P.R and of course, Notion handles the vast majority of the work. The guestlist is as international as Notion himself; Ohio's Copywrite, Southern California's Gravity Christ, Australia's NeeQ, Toronto's iLLvibe and B3auu, the legendary DJ Grouch, and Notion's older brother Cee. This project is the perfect appetizer before Notion drops his debut LP, 'Heart On My Sleeve Music', in summer 2014.
When I saw the email that David Dallas signed with Duck Down and is moving to the US, I was stoked. It proved that dudes from our side of the world can come to North America and make moves in Hip Hop. We're doing the exact same thing but on a smaller scale (for now), so this is hella inspiring. Check the vid after the jump...
Aaaand we back with the first TMF Artist Feature on the new site, so it's extra fitting that we kick it off with our good homies Tokyo Cigar and Cyclops of The Plexiglass Fountain. These cats are some extremely talented and dedicated artists...but I'ma shut up and let the boys do the talking... Cee: What up fellas? Y'all are about to drop your sophomore album, is that correct? What's changed between the making of Left Of The Scenery and this joint?
Tokyo Cigar: We pretty much just stepped it up on all levels. We had more time to put the album together so it's way more potent overall. Left of the Scenery was a hard album to follow up cause we were on a straight mission when making it. This one is more relaxed but more focused in terms of cooking it up.
Cyclops: Not too much has changed in the actual making of the album. Since this is the 2nd time around, I’d say the group chemistry is pretty solid and we have a more comfortable dynamic. We both record in different spots so Tokyo just sends the beats and then we both start writing and recording and sending everything over email. Even though it’s an unconventional process it works well for the group.
Cee: It's been like a year between PGF albums, but you've both dropped numerous solo projects in the meanwhile. Tell us about those, and how the fuck y'all get so prolific!
Tokyo Cigar: haha. For me it's pretty much based on big bags of Bionic (shout out Sour Diesel). I'm addicted to music so when I finish projects up I get a little depressed so I stay working. The "Megaman Theory 2" came from a blunted convo with one of my homies who loved the first part. "Frozen Flesh, Ugly Soul" was an instrumental album I was working on for a couple of years. "The Ladies In The House" was me just wanting to work with singers and testing my production with vocalists. "The 12 Fingered Musician" happened cause keb0 got at me for beats and the EP we did was crazy.
Cyclops: I dropped my solo album 'Oceans'. That was more of a soulful, jazz infused album. It was very laid back. The album had a lot of different production including EOM, Half-Centric, Tone Spliff, Razorsharpe and Cenzo Beatz. With PGF we have a really left field sound, so with Oceans I wanted to make something more boom bap to balance that out.
Cee: Break down the new album for the people...
Tokyo Cigar: It's a lot darker and more raw. The lyrics are more personal and the cockiness factor is turned wayyyy up. Overall it's a brutal album. The beauty parts are Brutally beautiful and the Hard parts are brutally hard. We got songs that are probably gonna start fights in clubs if the DJ plays them. We also made more effort to get more guests on the album.
Cyclops: The new album is called 'Midnight Hindsight'. It’s basically the same PGF sound but elevated; we stepped up our game on every aspect of the project. The beats, lyrics, and delivery are all improved. Like the 1st album, we touch on a wide variety of topics and have a bunch of different sounds. Overall, I think the whole album is even better than the 1st.
Cee: Tokyo, were you on the beats the whole time for this LP as well?
Tokyo Cigar: Yeah. Most def. I was raised on cats like RZA, DJ MUGGS, PETE ROCK & CL SMOOTH, and GANGSTARR. So I'm more in tune with the one producer thing to give a cohesive sound to a project.
Cee: Any guests you wanna reveal?
Tokyo Cigar: Well The Movement Fam is pretty much Ghostface on Cuban Linx status haha. Cee & Bekah and Notion are on 2 joints. Da Capo who did "The Article" with K Def is on a track. Mally and Cause are on a joint and keb0 came through and blessed a track. I called up Jadakiss but he was busy haha.
Cee: You guys worked with The Movement Fam's Cee & Bekah on the single 'Carpe Diem'. Tell us how that came about and break down the song for us.
Tokyo Cigar: When i made the beat I kept on saying to myself "We NEED Cee and Bekah on this!" I just caught a crazy vision for that. Cyclops loved the beat and then I sent it to Cee and Bekah and they loved it too. I came up with the overall concept of going for your dreams with music and when everyone did they parts for it I was like "woooooooooooooooooow!" I felt it was gonna be a great track but when I actually heard it finished I damn near shit my pants. Shout out to Notion for the incredible mixdown too.
Cyclops: We’ve been cool with TMF for a while and even do a little writing for the blog so it’s only natural that the collaboration came to fruition. “Carpe Diem” is a song about coming up in the music industry and some of the experiences that are related to that. Even though it’s about music, anyone trying to make something of them selves can relate. It’s all about working hard and making moves, so it’s a pretty positive message.
Cee: I heard y'all might be doing a video for this joint, what's up with that?
Tokyo Cigar: Yeah I was building with the homie Cee and we came up with some dope ideas. We gonna try and wrap it up and give heads a crazy visual vibe for the song. Shit would be wild.
Cyclops: The video right now is in the planning stages but when TMF comes to North America it’s a wrap.
Cee: You also worked with TMF's Notion on the bangin' 'Head Trauma Scholar'. That's some wild shit. Tell us about that joint.
Tokyo Cigar: Yeah. I stay cooking beats so i just made that and I saw Notion going crazy over that. Actually I remixed a whole album of Notion's a while back. I won a spot on TMF's remix album for my remix of "New Wave" I loved dudes style and flow and charisma lyrically so I wanted to work with him for a minute. The song is straight Gorilla rap over a soulful beat so I felt he would be perfect for it. He really went in crazy on that joint. One of my favorite tracks on the album for sure.
Cyclops: The song is crazy. Notion has been helping us out with some mixing and mastering so it was long overdue that we all got on the same track. Tokyo and I had the song and we thought Notion would be a perfect fit so we just sent it over and he had an incredible verse. Basically, the song boils down to all of us spitting some crazy bars.
Cee: Do you guys plan to get some shows crackin' to support the release of the album?
Tokyo Cigar: That's the only complicated thing. We are in different states so linking up to perform is an issue. We're gonna work around it. I may go up to Jersey to link up and lace some shows. But we gonna work it out. We on some Phonte and Nicolay shit right now ha ha.
Cyclops: Because we live in different locations that’s pretty difficult but it’s definitely a possibility and something we’re working on. Shows are really important so it’s one of our goals for the near future.
Cee: So what's the plans from here? Should we expect another PGF release any time soon? Many solo projects on deck?
Tokyo Cigar: Oh yeah for sure. The crazy thing is that we are already working on our third and Fourth project. We also have a top secret project were doing that should blow some peoples minds. Cyclops also has a solo album called "When Inspiration Hits" which I produced entirely for him. We dropping that in December. That joint has some of my BEST beats ever. I'm also lacing an EP called "The Last Dragon" for my man Ra that is gonna be retarded.
Cyclops: We’re working on a few projects actually. I have a new solo album produced by Tokyo coming out in December, called “When Inspiration Hits.” We’ve been working on this album for a while and it’s definitely my magnum opus as a solo artist. Tokyo has some of his best production on that album and I have my best lyrics so the album is going to be something very serious. I also have a project coming out produced by Half-Centric. It’s a very soulful sound and is going to have collaborations with Cee and Notion. Recently, I started on another solo album that’s going to be somewhat of a sequel to Oceans. It’s tentatively titled “The Red Morning Sky.” There’s only 1 song completely finished for that project called “You Don’t Understand” produced by Razorsharpe and everyone I’ve played it for has gone nuts.
As for new PGF shit, I don’t know how much I’m supposed to talk about LOL but we are planning a bunch of different shit. We’re working on our 3rd album, which is on some take it back to 94 shit. I mean, I was only 2 then but you get the idea. We’re also planning a Trip Hop project infused with some poetry and prose. That’s not really fleshed out yet, but I’m sure it’s gonna be insane once we get the ball rolling.
Cee: Any message for the people?
Tokyo Cigar: Please support the Plexiglass click. Our motto is "Music is my Life, Life is my hobby" so we really put our heart and soul into this.
Cyclops: To everyone who supported us and listened to the music, thank you. We work hard to put out the best music possible and when people respond to that it means a lot. To everyone who hasn’t checked us out or is waiting to, please take a few minutes out of your day and listen. All of the music is available for streaming and free download so there’s no reason not to check it out.
Cee: Hit us with the science where folks can grab the music and get more info on Tokyo Cigar & Cyclops.
Tokyo Cigar: We got the website http://www.theplexiglassfountain.com/ and Bandcamp http://theplexiglassfountain.bandcamp.com/
We also got Twitter http://twitter.com/Tokyocigar http://twitter.com/CyclopsCaliberX
Anyone interested in beats get at me thought the homie Big Cee at ceefeezy@gmail.com and Tokyocigartalk@gmail.com.
Cyclops: Check out http://www.theplexiglassfountain.com. Anything that we do as a group or solo gets posted there so it’s pretty much a 1 stop type thing. If you want go to http://www.theplexiglassfountain.bandcamp.com http://www.cyclops.bandcamp.com or http://www.tokyocigarmusic.bandcamp.com if you want to download our stuff.
Cee: Peace guys.
Tokyo Cigar: Peace. Thanks for the interview. AUG. 10th "Midnight Hindsight" support the album. ZOOM.
Cyclops: Good looking out on the spotlight. It’s really appreciated.
Week #2: Connecting The Dots
Alright, so Australian rappers. Weird, hey? I’m assuming it’s mainly North Americans reading this, as the concept isn’t that far fetched for locals. And besides, this is only the second instalment in this blog so I can’t expect everyone to be on board just yet. But we’re working on it.
So like I was saying in the last post, we (The Movement Fam) recently hit up the USA and Canada on a networking and radio trip, but I wanna start a bit before that. We’ve all been making music together for years, at least the best part of a decade, but we only really came together strong as a crew in 2008. So the real hustling took place this year. We’d dropped a couple mixtapes in the past and rocked a bunch of shows and what not, but we all had a feeling about The Movement Fam and these new releases (The Soul Movement Volume 2 and World Domi-NoTiOn). That’s why we took the plunge and made the trip across hemispheres. And by the way, we’re totally independent, we all work full time to support our music, so this wasn’t a decision we took lightly. Financially it was a struggle, and we’ll all be paying it off for a minute, but to us, we believe in our music so much that it really wasn’t much of a gamble as an investment in our future.
Of course, we wouldn’t just leave our shores on an expensive ass trip without laying down the groundwork and hooking up a gang of activities beforehand. So how does a group of Aussie Hip Hop/Soul artists connect with folks across seas? How we’ve been doing it for years – we were pen pals. And what happened to the old-fashioned pen pal system? That shit was raw. The excitement of receiving a letter written in a foreign hand, on foreign paper with foreign scents just doesn’t compare with a message in your inbox. But I digress.
Clearly, the internet is the only way to efficiently and effectively communicate with like-minded folks all around our fair planet, and to be honest, we wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the net. As the manager of The Fam, I spend the vast majority of my spare time split between the net and the studio. It’s the main tool in our arsenal, besides the music, of course. And the beautiful thing about it is how things just randomly fall into place. For example, how are you reading this blog from relatively unknown Australian artists on www.Loud.com, a premier Hip Hop website in North America? Well, long story short, I hit up a producer on MySpace for beats; he put me in touch with his manager; we hit it off as he lives in Toronto and Bekah and myself lived there a few years back; he put me in touch with a respected blogger who jumped on board and has supported us unquestionably since; said blogger put us in touch with an industry friend; we met up with him in the US on the trip and clicked, and boom…here we are. All thanks to the internet. Oh, and our unwavering persistence. But that’s for another week.
Plug of the week: So y’all can even feel what we’re saying, you’re best to check our tunes.
Go cop yaself a free download:
Cee & Bekah – The Soul Movement Volume 2 (link to: http://www.planeturban.com.au/download_mixtapes/cee_and_bekah_soul_movement_vol_2)
Notion – World Domi-NoTiOn (link to: http://www.planeturban.com.au/download_mixtapes/notion_world_dominotion)
‘Til next time, love yourself, love your mother, love the internet. And the porn. It’s heaps good.
Blessings,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.
If you're in Canada or the USA, you're lucky enough to be able to see Judd Apatow's new movie Funny People on July 31st. Those of us in Australia need to wait until September 10th... not cool.
Funny People is Judd Apatow's third film, his previous ones being the hilarious "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" - two of the funniest in this new era of comedy films. It stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Eric Bana... but this post is all about Aziz Ansari.
Aziz plays Randy, a stand-up comedian on the rise. The team behind the film have put out three viral videos so far to introduce us all to Raaaaaaaandy (that's 8 A's). They are classic. Watch below.
I'm quite impatiently waiting for Notorious to finally drop locally. Seven more days. Apparently it's due for release in Australia next Thursday, 12 March.
To help you compare, it dropped on 16 January 2009 in the USA. That's two months. Granted, the release delay is a lot shorter than for a lot of movies in the past, but it's still not good enough. You'd think the movie studios would wanna hit everywhere in the world at once. Especially with all the piracy around these days and the ease at which people can find and download a high quality copy of most movies.
Why does it take big films like Watchmen, which released around the world today, for there to be a simultaneous worldwide release? From Belgium's opening on the 4th of March through to Japan's opening of 28 March. Less than a month is a beautiful timeframe. Less than a month is something I can handle.
What makes it worse is that Fox Home Entertainment have just released pics of the DVD and Blu-Ray covers for Notorious. Like I need to be drooling any more than I already am.
Something tells me I will one day own that "Collector's Edition" Blu-Ray. Not that I think the movie is gonna be outstanding, but it'll probably end up being one of those Hip Hop movies you bust out every now and then.
Anybody out there seen Notorious yet? Drop a comment and let us know what you thought.
This is a dedication to Jeremy Lusk one of the greatest motocross stuntmen ever, that died at the age of 24.
Barack Obama has now officially been named the President of the United States of America. Today was a day that I personally never thought I would see in my lifetime. Who would have ever thought that less than 50 years after segregation ended, an African American man would become the commander in chief of our great nation?
This truly is a historic day for the world. People are celebrating and countries that once would not communicate with our leaders are now trying to open a dialog with President Obama. Maybe this can be the catalyst to help our world unite. Times are rough for everybody not just people in the United States, but folks in Europe, Asia, Africa, and every corner of the globe. It is time for a change.
People like Harriett Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas, my grandmother, slaves, and many many people all dreamed that one day there would be equality....and now in 2009, much has been gained, but there is much more to be done. At the end of the day, Barack Obama being elected has brought hope that no dream is too big and anything can be accomplished.
In life, getting anything worth having is going to be tough but worth it at the end of the day.
-Wise Old Man
Peace to all.
DJ Grain/The Movement Fam
This week was another wild and crazy week in the world of Hip Hop. 2009 has been great thus far - I just hope it continues to be great. Here are some of the happenings this past week:
The auction of Death Row Records has now concluded. It was auctioned off for $18 million, $7 million lower than the previously highest bid. The Canadian based company called Wide Awake Holdings now owns the master recordings from Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and other Death Row members, as well as various memorabilia from the label.
Slim Thug has now signed with Koch Records, officially ending his deal with Geffen/Star Trak.
Lil Wayne was on ESPN earlier this week with Skip Bayless. Suprisingly, he did very well and he had a thorough knowledge of college football. I'll admit I was impressed. Shouts to Wayne.
Barack Obama, the first African American President of the USA, will be officially taking office on Jan. 20th. Over 2 million folks are going to be in DC for the inauguration and conformation of his election as the 44th President of the United States of America.
T.I. is coming out with a new docu-series called the Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go. The show will focus on T.I. showing teenagers across the country the mistakes he has made and the lessons he learned from making those mistakes.
Next week I have some sad news about J-Dilla's estate and rumors about DJ Drama having some problems at the premiere of Notorious in the ATL.
Y'all be safe and take care.
Grain.
This one's for all our brethren north of the Equator, in the USA and Canada.
As of October, we now have both 'The Soul Movement Volume 2' and 'World Domi-NoTiOn' mixtapes available in selected cities in both Canada and the USA! The prices range from something like $5 to $10, depending on the store, but check the list below for your nearest spot:
ATLANTA
Soul of Sisa - 504 Flat Shoals Ave SE, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
BERKELEY
B-Side Records - 2128 Dwight Way, Berkeley, California, USA
TORONTO
Da Corner - 256A Queen St W, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in the Black Market complex)
So if you're in any of these cities and wanna get your hands on a rare hard copy of the new projects (we only pressed a small amount for the international trip), roll through and cop 'em now!
For the folks Down Under (and everywhere else), we'll be pressing up a gang of copies of both mixtapes asap (plus a launch show), so we'll keep y'all posted.
Today was Black Friday in the US. Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving, when folks are trying to get a jump on Christmas shopping. This year I decided to hit the stores early. I came home empty handed.....never again will I wake up to join the crazies.
The Movement Fam's US trip in September/October is gonna be featuring a fair bit on this blog, I dare say. So much came out of it, it's crazy. Still trying to finalise everything, but we'll keep y'all posted. Video blogs coming soon as well!
Anyway, we were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with an awesome cat by the name of DJ Hyphen in the wonderful city of Seattle, WA, and he invited us along to appear on his famous Sunday Night Sound Sessions show on KUBE 93 FM, the major 'urban' (for lack of a better word) station in Sea-Town. Hyph and co-host J. Moore had us in the studio all night, played a track from Notion's mixtape and interviewed us all. Check out the link below to Hyphen's blog with all the info, plus a download of the show.
DJ Hyphen & J. Moore's Sunday Sound Sessions - Sunday 14th September 2008 DOWNLOAD
Also, keep checking 'The Audacity Of Dope' as it's a mad interesting blog, with a lotta great music and cool shit. The image is a link to it, and we have a link to it to your right. Holla.
Welcome to The Movement Fam.com!
Well, it's finally here. 'Bout damn time.
So, seeing as blogs are the way to go these days, we were all like 'fuck a website. Blogs, son.' And here it is.
Oh, for those who ain't already know, The Movement Fam is a Soul/Hip Hop collective predominantly from Melbourne, Australia. We are Cee & Bekah, a Soul Hop duo; Notion, MC/producer/engineer; Tommy Gunnz, MC/lawyer; and DJ Grain, disc jockey and The Movement Fam US Representative.
So on our blog, you'll find all the info on The Fam; shows, downloads, articles, updates, news, all of that. Currently, that info has been rolling through www.ceeandbekah.com, which will now be exclusively info on Cee & Bekah and their thoughts.
You'll also see more than just shit about us. Coz if it was, that'd be hella boring. So we'll bring you the funniest shit we find, random observations, YouTube clips, models, cool shit and basically anything we reckon the people will dig.
So stay tuned, check back regularly coz this lil bitch is finna be updated on the daily (well, it better be).
Much love,
Cee.
The Movement Fam.
PS. Shouts to the kid Jermiside for lacing us with the layout, and KidEight for the design! Much love, homies!
