Federation 'It's Whateva' album

Bay Area rappers, Federation, will release their new album - It's Whateva - on June 26 on Reprise Records. Veteran producer Rick Rock (Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, E-40) pushed the trio - Doonie Baby, Goldie, and Stresmatic - to further diversify the bass-heavy, rapid-fire hyphy sound, and deliver more than what fans may expect to hear from these pioneers.

It's Whateva has already received early critical acclaim: "Considered originators of the rap microgenre, hyphy, the Feds are back with the biggest dread-shaking album of the year. The bangin beats on '18 Dummy' and 'My Rims' will blow back your wig," raves Stuff Magazine, while Vibe says, "A label switch and admirable persistence have honed the group's energy - on this strong follow-up, Rock and Federation again advance the movement."

The forthcoming album will feature new songs, including the single, "College Girl," "Shooter" and "She Go." The album has Hyphy elements, but goes beyond that with both the usual suspects and some surprising collaborations - e.g. Travis Barker (Blink-182), Snoop Dogg, E-40, and more.

Federation formed in 2002 in Fairfield, CA, near Oakland, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Federation's 2003 debut The Album, with its homegrown hits "Hyphy" and "Go Dumb," encapsulated the burgeoning hyphy scene with witty wordplay, catchy chants, and bombastic bass lines. The group are proud of their early success, "From four people sharing one hamburger, we've been through it all with each other," says Doonie. Adds Goldie: "We're beyond brothers."

biography
For years, seismologists in the San Francisco Bay Area have been predicting the eventual yet certain arrival of “The Big One,” an earthquake of monumental force capable of sending out powerful shockwaves for miles. But what these experts have missed is that it’s already happened with Federation, the trio of Doonie Baby, Goldie, and Stresmatic that’s guided by veteran producer Rick Rock, who has helmed songs by artists such as Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and E-40. Federation is largely responsible for setting off the hyphy movement in the Bay Area, one of the most significant expressions of musical youth that the region has seen since the Summer of Love.

Like its Southern cousin crunk, hyphy is a term encompassing the wildly energetic dancing, music and car culture that was born in Oakland and spread throughout the large and diverse Bay Area. While the stunt-pulling car gatherings known as sideshows have been around for years, it never had its own unique sound propelling it until Federation made it official with its clever wordplay, rousing chants, and equally bombastic beats and basslines.

Featuring guest appearances by performers as diverse as Snoop Dogg, drummer/MTV reality star Travis Barker, and even the Walter Hawkins Choir, Federation’s second album It’s Whateva brings an expanded light into the musical machinations of a group that’s committed to avoiding the pigeonholes of the trends it sets while furthering the elastic definition of the hyphy sound.

Federation’s 2003 debut The Album, which yielded the club and local radio hits “Hyphy” and “Go Dumb,” was far ahead of its time for the world, but it galvanized a real movement back home in the Bay Area. The hyphy movement, characterized by the musical blueprint laid down by Federation, has recently gotten international attention due to the top 10 success of the E-40 album My Ghetto Report Card, which was co-produced by Rick Rock and debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, and lead single “Tell Me When To Go.” Federation guest star on “Go Hard Or Go Home,” a popular cut on Bay Area radio, while Stresmatic also makes two additional appearances on the album (“Gouda,” “Block Boi”). Federation’s participation on E-40’s album is a shining example of how they’ve spent the last few years cooperating with other Bay Area artists in a concerted effort to see the whole region get the exposure it deserves.

Rick Rock and Doonie Baby’s friendship and collaborative work dates back to the early ‘90s in Alabama, where they recorded as 2/3 of the group Cosmic Slop Shop. After Rick Rock was established in the Bay Area town of Fairfield (about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco), where he was helping to define the local sound, Doonie joined him out there and never looked back. Growing up in the neighboring communities of Vallejo and Fairfield, Stresmatic and Goldie’s friendship dated back to when they were children attending the same church, and rekindled with the shared love of rap music. Stres met Doonie through a local record store formerly known as the Funky Chicken, where the two – both former street battle rappers – engaged in friendly combat. Goldie was just 16 at the time, then confined to a wheelchair after being shot, but even then his abilities were clear to Rick, who first met him at a local mall.

“We really took our time building relationships with everybody,” says Doonie. “We really tried to be a family at first. We did music, but that wasn’t the focus. And I think that’s why our chemistry is so good.”

Another part of their chemistry owes to the fact that they’re not all alike.

“Goldie’s the super hyper dude, and Doon and I are really laidback,” explains Stresmatic. “I’m like the calm one. I’m actually real quiet sometimes. Goldie’s always gonna step up and say what he wants to say.” And as animated as their personalities are on record, the dynamics truly come alive on stage: “Live shows are really what we are about,” he says. “We give you what you picture in the records, we’re not just standing there.” Back in the Bay Area, Federation has been known to ignite sports arenas and ampitheaters filled with kids ready to get hyphy.

There was a shared struggle, as the group tried to keep afloat while starting to pursue this dream around 1999. “We did everything together,” says Doonie, “from four people sharing one hamburger, we’ve been through it all with each other. Goldie put it best on one of the songs on the new album. He said, ‘We’re beyond brothers.’”

Because of this history and the stabilizing role that he was able to play, the trio is quick to give Rick Rock his proper due for forming and nurturing this group; all assert that without him, there would be no Federation.

“Basically, Rick supported us all,” remembers Stresmatic. “We all even lived with him at one point, or I’d go back and forth between Rick’s and my mom’s house. And it wasn’t just about the music or what we might do for him some day. It was the type of thing your family would do for you.”

While he acknowledges that big brother role, Rick is a relatively humble guy that doesn’t seem anxious to have the spotlight cast on him; he’d rather it go to Stresmatic, Doonie, and Goldie – which, as he sees it, are worthy superheroes in the making that inspire him to produce some of what is unequivocally the best work of his own career.

As producers and artists in the Bay Area and throughout the rap world continue to scramble back to their drawing boards in a futile attempt to duplicate the innovation and energy of Federation’s work, the group has a simple strategy that keeps it ahead of the pack.

“We keep putting paint where it ain’t,” asserts Rick Rock.

“We haven’t even gotten started yet,” adds Goldie. “We’re just saying hello.”

Anthony Cadwell - Goldy
Thomas Jackson - Stresmatic
Marvin Selmon - Dooniebaby
Ricardo Thomas - Rick Rock

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Federation - It's Whateva