FRIDAY AKA RICKY DRED

Born in Montreal and raised between Montreal and New York City, Friday moved to downtown Toronto to find stardom in the Hip Hop game. He has held various jobs in the music industry including being a cross-Canada Street team leader promoting albums for Sony Music, Warner Music and various independent companies. In February of 2000 Friday was hired as the business manager for AWOL Records Inc. an independent record label founded by childhood friend Lord Raz. The first group under the label was SoulJah Prophets which included Lord Raz and Friday and they produced their first demo/release Real World. Over the years the group disbanded but the two remained friends and business partners in the label. Friday went on to start managing various artist as well as putting out his first solo mixtape “The Connect” The highly streets oriented product received minor notoriety but Friday’s name was still building as a prominent artist manager and executive producer.
Upon the release of “The Connect Vol.2” Friday met artist/ASU college basketball star Bunz in front of the once popular urban night club Phoenix and auditioned him on the spot to become a new artist for the resurgence of AWOL Records. The two soon released the mixtape “Ghetto Newz/Deuces and Trays” where the two of them shared various industry beats as well as original production. The mixtape garnished with a cover that resembled the popular Toronto Star newspaper gained a decent buzz in Toronto as well as across Canada.
Soon after Friday met the notable battle rapper Scandalis through mutual friends. Scandalis was becoming a big name in the city from winning almost every organized battle that went on, as well as being part of the Hip Hop super group Empire who was responsible for releasing the famed mixtape series called S.A.R.S (Sick Artist Runnin’ Sh*t). That year Friday appeared on S.A.R.S. 3 and started managing Scandalis’ solo career making him one of AWOL Records’ premiere artists. He released Scandalis’ first mixtape “After The Battle” mixed by DJ Law and executive produced Scandalis’ first video “Bad Mann” as well as Friday’s own video “Straight off Tha Block” which appeared on the notorious RapSheet DVD series. Friday also appeared on the highly controversial “Real Toronto” DVD which attracted a lot of negative attention due to the potentially violent content but he received positive attention due to the lack of that content in his Parkdale segment. Always busy Friday also released Bunz’s first solo mixtape “Welcome to Deuces and Trays” mixed by DJ Law accompanied by the video “All We Got” directed by then up and coming director Aaron A.
With a now proper buzz going on Friday released The Connect Vol.3 “Gwop Season” mixed by DJ Law which featured Friday rapping along side of various Empire members as well as many up and coming Canadian rappers from Toronto to Vancouver. The release gained great notoriety across Canada as well as many other countries thanks to the insurgence of Myspace and other social websites. Friday then took on the huge task of becoming the manager/executive producer for the Empire with thoughts of releasing their highly anticipated debut album “Get It”
Now with a strong label Friday executively produced various products for the label including S.A.R.S 4 and 5 as well as Empire videos Impossible/Run up in the Spot, Boom n Pound (Return of the Boom Bap) and One Thing Wrong to promote the upcoming album. He made sure Empire was booked for a plethora of live performance in and outside of Toronto along with a slew of radio and television interviews. He also released Bunz’s second solo CD “Above the Rim” and his own mixtape The Connect vol.4 “Newz of The Ghetto” Friday and his label gained the attention of popular website Hiphopcanada.com as they were on the verge of making a deal with E1 Music (Formerly known as Koch Records). The companies came to an agreement and AWOL Records signed a distribution deal with HHC/E1 Music to release various products under the label.
With a now heavy buzz AWOL finally released the anticipated Empire “Get It” LP under their new distribution deal on Itunes as well as many other digital services along with various retail outlets. He also released Bunz’s third solo effort “He Got Game” as well as Empire mixtapes “Before You Get It”, “The Nas Tribute” and “The Mobb Deep Tribute”. Unfortunately a few months after those releases Friday was arrested and convicted for gun and drugs possession and trafficking charges. He spent a year between the Provincial and Federal institutions but was still able to release The Connect Vol.5 “Crackstravaganza” mixed by DJ Law.
Finally home on parole conditions Friday has already released the new collaboration effort “Instant Classic” with Bunz mixed by DJ LAW and is on the verge of releasing his first novel “15 Minutes” (Kani Publishing). His video “Long Way” directed by The Klapeffekt is already creating a steady buzz and now he brings to you “Home But Not Free” a collection of tracks recorded after the 1 year of incarceration. The tracks consist of the positive outcomes he’s experienced through his negative circumstances along with some of that ol’ street Hip Hop that he is known for. We hope you enjoy the ride and look out for Friday’s first full length album “Born to Win” coming soon on AWOL Records Inc.
AWOL Is still the team and always will be.
Bless
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