The Federation is an American hip hop group from

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco ...

. The group was formed in 2002, composed by producer Ricardo "Rick Rock" Thomas and consists of three rappers: Anthony "Goldie Gold" Caldwell, Marvin "Doonie Baby/Doon Koon" Selmon and Thomas "Stressmatic" Jackson. The group released their debut studio album in 2004 on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

and their sophomore album through

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

in 2007, which is, to date, their recent effort.

History

Rick Rock Ricardo Thomas, also known as Rick Rock, is an American record producer originally from Montgomery, Alabama and based in Fairfield, California. He is a founding member of the former rap group Cosmic Slop Shop and the Federation with fellow ...

and Doonie Baby’s friendship and collaborative work dates back to the early ‘90s in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, where they recorded as two-thirds of the group

Cosmic Slop Shop Cosmic Slop Shop was an American hip hop group from Oakland, California. The group was composed of Antron "Big Lurch" Singleton, Marvin "Doonie Baby" Selmon and Ricardo "Rick Rock" Thomas. Their single "Sinful" from their only studio album ' ...

along with Big Lurch. At age 16 and using a wheelchair after being shot, the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

-born, Fairfield/ Vallejo-raised Federation member Goldie Gold met Rick Rock at a local mall, impressing Rock with his rapping skills.The Federation
artist profile at EMI In 2002, Rick Rock recruited Doonie Baby, Goldie Gold, and Mr. Stress to form the group.Jeffries, David. The Federationbiography at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

The group debuted on Vallejo producer Mike Mosely's 2002 release ''Major Work: The Soundtrack'' with the Rick Rock-produced track "The Sickness", which sampled

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...

's 1983 song "Moments of Love". Their first single "Hyphy", featuring

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...

, debuted in 2003, the title was based on a slang term established by Keak the Sneak in the 90s

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

hip hop music. Hyphy became an instant hit in the Bay Area. The song even induced a riot when The Federation performed "Hyphy" during halftime of the AND1 Live Tour at

Oracle Arena An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ''o ...

in June 2004. On the strength of "Hyphy" and their second single "Donkey", the group's self-titled debut album was released under

to critical reception. In 2005, Rick Rock signed the group under

, releasing the group's follow-up album '' It's Whateva'' in the summer of 2007. In 2009, Stressmatic was featured in an interview in the book ''

How to Rap ''How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC'' is a book on hip hop music and rapping by Paul Edwards. It is compiled from interviews with 104 notable rappers who provide insights into how they write and perform their lyrics.Edwards, Paul, ...

'', along with several other rappers, including E-40,

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N.O.R.E. Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names Noreaga and later N.O.R.E., is an American rapper. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop du ...

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Discography

Albums

Singles

Featured singles

Members of the Federation have also appeared on many other songs by other Bay Area rappers, some of which received radio airplay locally. Their appearances are highlighted in bold.

References

External links

Federation's Official justRHYMES.com profileFederation's Myspace Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federation, The Hip hop groups from California Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area Virgin Records artists Reprise Records artists People from Fairfield, California Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area