Farley Flex (born Farley Fridal, August 9, 1962) is a Media Consultant,

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

artist manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

, and motivational speaker. He is best known for being a judge on the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

''.

Early life

He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, to Trinidadian parents.

Career

Flex was instrumental in founding

FLOW 93.5 CFXJ-FM (93.5 FM, ''93.5 Today Radio'') is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Stingray Group, it broadcasts an adult hits format. CFXJ's studios are located at Yonge and St. Clair in Toronto's Deer Park neighbourhood, whil ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, the first

urban music Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

-format radio station in Canada when it first went on the air in 2001, and where he was the station's first Music Director and Vice President of Business Development. His success as an artist manager, radio personality and executive along with the success of the station prompted ''Canadian Idol'''s producers to select him as a judge before its 2003 launch. He is the recipient of the Bob Marley Day Award (2009),
Harry Jerome Award
(2007), the

Urban Music Association of Canada The Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC) is a Canadian non-profit organization focused on showcasing and expanding Canadian urban music established in 1996. UMAC offers a variety of service such as workshops, tours and also hosts the ''Canadi ...

's Special Achievement and Media Personality of the Year Awards, and was inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame. Flex is the founder of R.E.A.L. School - Reality Education & Applied Life Skills a not for profit organization that engages primarily youth from inner city and marginalized communities worldwide. "What celebrity does is that it creates an umbrella under which you can do all those things with a higher level of impact." Flex was the original manager of

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited by his ...

, Canada's first mainstream rapper, and has also taken several former ''Idol'' contestants under his wing to promote their albums, such as

Gary Beals Gary Beals (born October 25, 1982) is a Canadian singer who is best known for being runner up in the first season of the reality television series '' Canadian Idol''. He is a resident of Cherry Brook, Nova Scotia and named "Best Halifamous Per ...

and

Toya Alexis Toya Alexis (born July 16, 1980) is a Canadian vocalist and actress from Ajax, Ontario. Career Alexis won a "Rising Star" contest and sang at the Apollo Theater. In 2001 she appeared, as LaToya Lesmond, as a contestant on season one of ''Po ...

. Flex currently operates FUSE Restaurant Entertainment Emporium, a restaurant in the historic district of Corktown in specializing in global cuisine and live entertainment.

References

External links

CTV.ca Canadian Idol biography

speaker profile at The Lavin Agency {{DEFAULTSORT:Flex, Farley 1962 births Black Canadian broadcasters Canadian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Canadian Idol Canadian music managers English emigrants to Canada English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Living people People from Scarborough, Toronto