Meet the BESPOKE Mentors!
MMF Canada is excited to see our BESPOKE MNTSHIP Program Mentors take action and help lead the new wave of emerging managers and self-managed artists.
JD Era
JD Era has worked with artists such as Nas, Gza, Kardinal Offishall, The Clipse, and has also cut several tracks with Drake. In 2013 he was nominated for Rap recording of the year and won “Best Rap Artist” at the MOBO Awards. Since then JD ERA has gone on to release music and navigare all sides of the music industry and accomplish many accolades as a self-managed artist. In 2022 he was on tour in South America with rap legend ONYX promoting his latest project ``Yellow Goose”. Raised in Mississauga Ontario JD Era is known in his hometown as the Sauga Boss. When JD is not on tour this hip hop music pioneer helps guide some of the city's emerging rappers to find their footing and build a sustainable music career for themselves.
Maestro Fresh Wes
Wes Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes) has recently become the first rap artist to ever have a song inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. His legendary single “Let Your Backbone Slide”was the first rap recording to reach Gold and Platinum Status and is also considered to be a seminal intergenerational classic. As an actor, Wes has appeared in several film and television projects, including eight seasons on CBC’s hit sitcom “Mr. D” playing the role of teacher / vice principal, Paul Dwyer .
Wes is also the author of the 2010 motivational book “Stick To Your Vision” and has been selected to do several national presentations, including the 2013 & 2017 Ted Talks on the subject of Self-Revision Wes Williams has written theme songs for the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2015 Pan Am Games, as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics. His song “Underestimated” was included in the 2017 EA Sports NHL17.
Maestro Fresh Wes is currently on air radio host of “Maestro in the Maritimes' ' on 97.3 The Wave. The show features the best hip hop from the 90s and early 2000s.
Dreyah
Skilled in Music Business Development, Event Management, Artist Relations, Music Marketing, and Brand Management, Dreyuh has grown to be a multi-hyphenate who is constantly creating new opportunities for herself and others around her. With a demonstrated history of working in the music industry – from building INK’s urban media imprint RAPSEASON to now a lead marketing manager at Universal Music Canada, Dreyuh's hustle and passion is undeniable. When she's not working, Dreyuh can be found listening to music and drinking coffee with her phone on DND.
SUN SUN
Sun Sun is a queer, Toronto based, Italian Canadian producer, DJ, rapper and the Co-CEO of Heart Lake Records. As the producer and member of Above Top Secret and producer/DJ for alternative r&b act Witch Prophet, SUN SUN provides a diverse soundscape of hiphop, jazz, r&b, electronic, grunge and dub beats.
She has had the opportunity to share the stage with and open for great acts like A Tribe Called Red, JPEGMAFIA, Lido Pimienta, Shabazz Palaces, Lal, Tasha The Amazon, METZ and Fucked Up to name a few. With her solo debut project ALTRO MONDO, SUN SUN experiments into the club/rave scenes of the ‘90s with soundscapes that flow, expand and travel into new dimensions throughout each (5min long) track. ALTRO MONDO is another world. A 32min, 6 track collection of house, jungle, and electronic beats with vocal samples created to make you dance.
Past sync placements include songs on VICE, Inside Out Film Festival Trailer and CBC’s Letter Kenny. Recently SUN SUN celebrated the Polaris Prize Short List nomination for Witch Prophet’s sophomore LP ‘D.N.A. Activation’ which she co- produced alongside Witch Prophet.
Ron Kitchener
Ron is Founder of RGK Entertainment Group (RGK) includes: Open Road Recordings, Canada's #1 country music record label, publishing companies Roots Three Music and Rogue 11 including and RGK One Shot Productions and DART Events. With a strong focus on artist management and development. RGK has been Recognized as Management Company of the Year eight times (six years in a row 2009 – 2014), with Kitchener himself named Manager of the Year 14 times at the Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA).
RGK Entertainment has offices in Toronto and Nashville and had a breakthrough moment at start-up when Open Road Recordings acquired partial Canadian rights to crossover country act Taylor Swift. Ron has since built an impressive roster of Canadian acts including; The Road Hammers, Tim Hicks, Madeline Merlo,Hunter Brothers, Sons Of Daughters, Jessica Mitchell and.
Recently an artist under RGK Madeline Merlo music appeared on NBC’s Songland season premiere episode and won the opportunity to collaborate with Lady Antebellum on a song that has now become a major single release in the US.
https://www.rgkentertainment.com/
Clifton Reddick
In 2005, Clifton “KLFTN” Reddick, Founded Battle of the Beat Makers, which has served as the ultimate launching pad responsible for discovering such producers as Multiple Grammy Award Winning and Multiple Diamond Selling producer Boi-1da, Grammy Award Winning producer and Multiple Platinum Selling producer T-Minus, Grammy Award Winning and Diamond Selling producer Nineteen85, Multiple Grammy Nominated and Multiple Platinum Selling producer Sevn Thomas, Grammy Nominated and Multiple Platinum Selling producer WondaGurl, Multiple Platinum Selling producer FrancisGotHeat, Platinum Selling producer Pops, Grammy Nominated producer Arthur McArthur, Grammy Nominated producer DZL, Grammy Nominated producer and Platinum Selling producer Jordon Manswell, Platinum Selling producer Blank and Multiple Platinum Selling producer Bijan Amir, as well as, numerous other highly talented producers including Y-Not, Pro Logic, Mvgic, Sarcastic Sounds, Denise De'ion and many many others. https://battleofthebeatmakers.com/
Michie Mee
Michie Mee is known within the music industry for her unique rap style of combining reggae and dancehall with hiphop. Many successful artists have followed in Michie's footsteps using this gifted technique. With over two decades in the entertainment industry, the Juno nominated rapper and actress is not only an inspiration for female musicians, but also all artists nationwide. Michie is also a mother who makes it one of her duties to keep involved with today's youth. Knowing first hand the twists and turns artists often face in entertainment, she is a an avid supporter of children striving to achieve a good education. Michie herself left university after her music career began to soar and has always spoken openly about the importance of education. Along with an impressive musical career she also played lead role in the popular 'Da Kink in My Hair asTianna (2007-2009) and was featured in the 2011 CBC hip hop documentary "Love, Props and the T. Dot," This trailblazer's saga still continues as she joins MMF Canada as mentor and is currently working on crafting her skills as an author with an autobiography due to be published in 2024. Michie Mee is the recipient of the 2012 DJ Stylus Hall of Fame Award, 2014 Black Canadian Award for Best Female Rap Act, and made History in 2014 winning the Toronto Arts Council 'Roy Thomson Hall Award' The Roy Thomson Hall Award recognizes creative, performing, volunteer, or philanthropic contributions to Toronto's musical life. She produces live events as "On This Mic" Showcases and the Annual Scorpio Bash . Currently Michie sits on the Jamaican Music Conference advisory Board and is also apart of the Generation Hip Hop Global Board based in Brazil, including HipHop BLVD Advisory Board in NYC. https://michiemee.ca/
Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith is an established music professional with a demonstrated history of success in the entertainment industry. He is a skilled Artist Manager, with over 10 years of experience working with both developing and established artists. Jeff is currently President at DreamSpace | MGMT where he manages 2021 JUNO winner R&B SInger Songwriter Savannah Ré + YogiTheProducer. You can find Jeff sharing his thoughts on Twitter at: @JeffSmithjs
David Leigh
David is the founder of ALLWON Management, a company with a focus on artist development and creative collaboration. ALLWON is home to JUNO winning rising star, TOBi, and a growing roster of singers, songwriters, and producers whose music has garnered over 100 million streams across platforms and counting. https://www.allwon.co/
Katrina Lopes
Katrina Lopes is the president of KL Management whose roster includes platinum selling, Juno Award winning artist/producer Shawn Desman, pop duo and production team RadioClub, soul artist/film, composer/Sephora collaborator TiKA, and pop singer/songwriter/producer Kayla Diamond. Her clients have toured with Backstreet Boys, Selena Gomez, opened for acts such as NAO, John Legend, Nas, SWV, Van Hunt and have performed alongside Sir Elton John.
Together with her clients KL has garnered accolades including. MMVA Video of the Year, SOCAN #1 Award, SOCAN Pop Song of the Year, and numerous platinum and gold singles, and over 50 million streams. She executive produced the film "ALIVE", the cornerstone of an innovative campaign to promote Desman's album, winning “Outstanding Short Film” Reelworld
Kat’s Film awards include; Canadian Screen Award nominations for “Best Youth Program/Series” and “Best Direction in Youth Program/Series”. She also produced the short documentary film “Good Love” w/ Gary Beals which won the Emerging Lens Best Short Documentary Award.
She is a Keychange alumnae, a global network working towards a total restructure of the music industry in reaching full gender equality; and was named as an honouree on the global “Alternative Power 100 Music List 2020”. https://www.klmanagement.co/