Notion has been a busy man in 2014 - dropping videos for singles 'Young & Crazy' and 'Lift Up (Remix)', and featuring in the visual for Cee & Dr. MaD's 'Another Day' (original and the Fresh Kils Remix); mixing, mastering and featuring on Cee's internationally charting debut album 'This Is All I Know'; hitting up three Canadian tours (The Golden Tour with Relic, Ghettosocks & Fresh Kils; The Palmer Squares debut Canadian Tour; The Bodega Brovas debut Canadian Tour); and opening for heavy hitters like Jeru Tha Damaja, Hilltop Hoods and Black Milk. However, he's been relatively quiet on the new music tip since dropping his debut EP 'Pride On My Cufflinks' back in December 2013.
Producer Cool FD hosts a show by the name of 'Independent Coolness' on 96.2FM out of Orleans, France, syndicated in Orlando and Detroit on HipHopRevo.com. On Saturday October 18th, Cee was featured as the Emcee Of The Week, where not only did Cool FD spin a selection of Cee's catalogue for 45 minutes, but he premiered a brand new song from both artists, 'Be Healthy 2014'.
On Monday October 20th, Cee and Notion, along with Digital Junkie on the decks, opened for the legendary Black Milk in Montreal. Peep game.
Coming to you, all the way from Orleans, France is 96.2FM's elite DJ and Beatmaker CoolFD (@CoolFDBeats) features nothing but hand-selected,100% pure boom-bap from independent talents worldwide.
Throughout most of 2014, Notion probably seemed a little quieter than usual - but in fact, the reality is quite to the contrary. He kicked off the year with his video for 'Young & Crazy', the first single from his seminal debut EP 'Pride On My Cufflinks'; he featured on the visual for Cee & Dr. MaD's 'Another Day' (the recently released Fresh Kils remix as well); he dropped features for numerous artists, including Melbourne's Justified, iLLvibe, The Movement Fam and of course, TMF's Cee; he completely remixed and remastered the Deluxe Edition of Cee & Dr. MaD's 'Steps To The Peak' EP; he completed three Canadian tours with the likes of Ghettosocks, Relic, Fresh Kils, The Palmer Squares and The Bodega Brovas; he made his Canadian television debut last weekend on V-MIX on OMNI; but most recently he's been living in the studio preparing his acoustic EP with guitarist Derek Kelly and his debut LP, 'Heart On My Sleeve Music'.
On September 13th 2013, Cee teamed up with Montreal based producer/DJ Dr. MaD to release their debut collaborative EP (and the first official EP either artist had dropped), 'Steps To The Peak' - an 8 track love letter to the 514. Seeing as we're about to celebrate the first birthday of the project, we figured there's no better time to launch the Deluxe Edition.
The incredible video for Cee's world first 100% ode to craft beer was directed, shot and edited by 9Block Productions' Shane Russell and collaborator Richard Bastarache in microbreweries, brewpubs, dépanneurs and home brew shops around Montreal.
For those who've been following The Fam recently, Cee teamed up with US based craft beer merch brand BrewHeads to create not only a dope track and music video (which launches Tuesday August 26th), but this awesome limited edition collaboration pack! The black and gold box set contains: -BrewHeads Bière Sommelier Glass with 22k Gold Print -100% Made in the USA Snapback -Digital Download of the "BrewHeads" Track -Of course a ton of goodies (stickers, coasters, etc)
St-Ambroise x 9Block Productions x The Movement Fam Present the premiere of the world's first craft beer rap song - "BrewHeads"! Come down to the gorgeous terrasse by the Lachine Canal on Friday August 22nd from 7pm until 11pm - we'll be screening the video for the FIRST TIME IN PUBLIC! It won't be available online until Tuesday August 26th so this will be something special!
Now although a song and video like this is big enough news in itself, what truly makes this special is that Phil and Cee have created a super limited edition merch collab which will be available via the BrewHeads website for preorder* starting today, Thursday August 14th! The black and gold box set contains a gorgeous BrewHeads Bière Sommelier Glass with 22 carat gold print; a custom 100% made in the USA snapback, complete with hop print under the brim and gold-stitched barley on the flip side; and, of course, a digital download of the track (the first 10 preorders come with a physical copy of Cee's album "This Is All I Know", while the second 10 come with Cee & Dr. MaD's "Steps To The Peak" Deluxe Edition EP).
So to give y'all a little something to tide you guys over until the next major release, our good friends and partners over at 9Block Productions put this gem of a video together to the soundtrack of Cee's remix of The XX's 'Intro' from his mixtape 'The Indie Experiment Volume 1'. The footage was shot from the East Coast of Newfoundland to the West Coast of British Columbia, while it also captures some of the best views in the world, stretching more than 7,000 miles (>11,000 km) from the Nepalese Himalayas to the coasts of Maui.
HollaPalooza is in a few weeks! Come catch Cee and Notion tear it up alongside some of the finest MCs in Toronto at the 420 friendly Big Picture Cinema!
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.
Thanks to the homie iLLvibe, Cee will be part of the crazy lineup hitting the stage on Friday June 20th for the second annual HollaPalooza in Toronto! Cee, Notion and Dr. MaD did it up proper at HollaPalooza Montreal in 2013, so this gonna be a dope event.
Cee and Notion will be joining Chicago's The Palmer Squares on their first Canadian tour ever! Alongside the good homies The Nicest, Fresh Kils and Dan Doesn't Sleep, Loudmouth and D.R.O. (also hailing from the Chi) will be tearing up four cities across Quebec and Ontario in May:
Cee linked up with Philly resident Hezekiah (Bilal, The Roots, Talib Kweli) for this soulful head nodder. Shot in Mile End (the hipster HQ of Montreal) by long-time collaborator Richard Bastarache, the visuals for 'It Ain't Over' are simple yet fun, as the contagious energy of the two MCs perfectly compliments the positive vibes and strong message of the track.
The journey doesn't end here, however. Today, Thursday April 10th (Cee's birthday), his album is officially released worldwide. The first week sales contribute to the final chart figure, and as vague as iTunes are with their numbers, the team and our supporters are vigilantly checking to catch the highest position. So we still need all the support we can get! Give Cee the best birthday gift ever - a debut #1 charting album!
What's life without having lofty goals? The Movement Fam are 100% independent, yet we have the most powerful element at our disposal to help us achieve a career milestone - YOU. Cee is shooting to at least hit the Top 100 Hip Hop Albums on the Canadian iTunes charts with this LP, and y'all can help him get there!
