Jason Palma & Nav Sangha
Owners: Play De Record
Co-founders of Movement Collective

For years, Play De Record has been a haven for anyone looking for the latest in hip hop, R&B, house, techno, and various other forms of dance music. Any DJ or producer who's come to city over the years just wouldn't feel at peace until they ducked into Play De Record, to check a few tunes. Recently, the record store underwent a management change, from longtime owner Eugene to a couple of Toronto DJs, promoters, and radio hosts, Nav Sangha and Jason Palma, known primarily as the collective responsible for Toronto's legendary Movement parties. In recent months, the store has had somewhat of a face lift, as well as an increase selection, due to its new record-junkie owners, and is expecting the launch of its new website in November, 2001. As the co-founders of the Movement Collective, Nav and Palma have been dedicated to bringing music and artists to the city that share a unique love of funk, soul, African and Latin rhythms.

Leon Brown
National Marketing Manager, HMV Canada

Over the course of his 14 year history at HMV, Leon Brown has had many positions designed to actually draw people into to the store to purchase music, which, at the end of the day, is the bottom line if you're speaking of the health of the music industry in Canada. Remember, there's no music if there are no supporting sales. Leon has worked his way from retail store manager through various local and regional marketing positions before taking his expertise to a national scale. As National Marketing Manager for HMV Canada, Leon is responsible for the development of marketing strategies designed to raise awarness of artists and releases through print, radio, television, and internet mediums. He lists among his key qualifications for the job -- a passion, knowledge and enthusiam for music and new trends

Celine Wong
Writer, The Source, Vibe and XXL Magazines

As a writer for three of the most widely distributed urban magazines in North America, Celine Wong has been a driving force in exposing the well of Canadian talent to residents south of the border. In her relatively short five-year career, Wong has penned articles on homegrown stars such as Kardinal Offishall, K-os, Saukrates, Rascalz and Little X, while earning the respect of many in her field for her work on The Roots, Vince Carter, De La Soul, and producer Bob Power. In addition to her freelance writing, she works by day as the editor at advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and currently acts as the Chairperson of the Rap Committee for the 2002 Juno Awards.

Jason Burke
Urban Apparel Buyer, Athlete's World

With Athlete's World controlling approximately 50% of the Canadian urban apparel business, Jason Burke, their primary buyer, must have a key sense of the current trends, as well as the nationwide demand for urban clothing. Burke plays an important part in Athlete's World's continued participation in the urban marketplace, which, in turn, has allowed for the proliferation of urban fashion in nearly every part of our daily lives, while pushing our style to physical regions rarely imagined when one thinks of black urban culture.

Adrian Aitcheson
ROOTS clothing designer

Adrian's transcendence from the arena of urban design via his company Too Black Guys, to a corporate environment is significant in the world of urban fashion. He brought an independent and underground entity to a different level. As Roots' special project clothing designer, Adrian's involvement for the Olympic Games helps to define the Canadian image at the international competition. He has designed team gear for the Sydney games and is currently working on themes for the Canadian, American, and British teams for the February 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. When considering a design, Adrian pulls from his knowledge of heritage, athletic tradition, comfort of style, climate and national pride. www.roots.com

Mike Tull
Manager, Bassment - HMV Superstore & Toronto DJ

As manager of one of the most influential retail stores, when it comes to actually breaking urban product, Mike Tull is the man many people talk to, to get a clear idea of just how big an artist might be in terms of selling records. Having played a record at almost every club in the city of Toronto over the span of his 20-year DJ career, Tull has witnessed (or had a hand in creating, either at a gig, or with partner Paul E. Lopez through their legendary radio show, Vibes & Stuff) every trend imaginable and, as a result, Mike Tull knows music. As manager of the largest urban music department in the HMV chain, Tull is often called upon to determine - indirectly - the projected sales figures for an artist nationwide (which has the effect of determining how much the company will order of a particular release and, in turn, how much the record label will be willing to promote it). Artists such as Jill Scott, Slum Village, Black Star, and Angie Stone, have all benefited from the initial support they received in the Bassment, first becoming hugely successful there, then seeing that success trickle out across the country once their potential was seen by their record labels, and other retailers.

THE DJs

Soul Controllers: hip hop, reggae, R&B - Master Plan show on CIUT 89.5 "http://www.soulcontrollers.com/enter_NONFS.html" http://www.soulcontrollers.com/enter_NONFS.html

Starting from Scratch: hip hop, R&B - Traffic Flow Mix Show on FLOW 93.5 http://www.flow935.com
www.flow935.com, "http://maddflavz.com/scratch/" http://maddflavz.com/scratch/

DJ Dave Campbell
Dr Jay - Soca, Soca Therapy on FLOW 93.5 http://www.kos.com/drjay2.htm" http://www.kos.com/drjay2.htm

King Turbo: reggae & funk mix - Morning Ride on CIUT 89.5 "http://www.kingturboent.com" http://www.kingturboent.com

HALL OF FAMERS

* John Adams aka JohnBronski - the godfather of the urban scene in Canada and the first black label rep in Canada. He also wrote for Streetsound and WORD Magazine. John is now the Director of Marketing for Blackwalk, an independent music video and film production company.

* Denham Jolly - Denham won Canada's first urban music station launched in Feb. 2001.

* Ron Nelson - CKLN 88.1 FM radio host for introducing hip hop to Canada's largest city and is busy taking reggae to the masses.