Fort Erie International Academy<\/a> (FEIA) basketball program, the same high school in the city that sparked his love for both music and sports. In his newly appointed role, he says he\u2019ll continue to shine a light on the growing institution, as well as ensure that the students enrolled achieve the best experience possible.\u00a0<\/p>\nBorn and raised in Fort Erie, Ontario, Murda has become one of the most popular and in-demand producers in hip-hop, working with some of the biggest superstars in the world \u2014 from Drake and Cardi B to Travis Scott and Migos. But now, he\u2019s turning his attention back to his hometown in partnership with Adidas, showing his support to a basketball program that\u2019s quickly rising to become a national powerhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a special time for Fort Erie,\u201d Murda told Now Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember being a kid and wanting my dreams to come true. So just to be able to help kids, wherever they\u2019re from, to help them get into a school where they can chase their dreams and get a good education on top of that\u2026 that\u2019s really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since its founding in 2020, FEIA has grown into one of Canada\u2019s top basketball institutions. The school now hosts two competitive teams and a development program that has already produced multiple Canadian players, including Minnesota Timberwolves rising talent Leonard Miller. Most notably, FEIA captured the 2022 OSBA Championship, ultimately defeating the top-ranked Montverde Academy. Murda says the program continues to solidify Canada\u2019s place in the game, adding that the academy has seen players recruited from as close to home as Scarborough to as far as the Netherlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think 100 per cent they\u2019ve been sleeping on Canada\u2026 Canadian basketball has always kind of been a thing, but in the last 10 years, the way it\u2019s growing is amazing,\u201d Murda said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of opportunity for people outside of Canada to come play and develop their skill in Canada, and get a shot at the big leagues. And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening here at the Fort Erie prep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murda reflected on Fort Erie, describing it as a \u201csmall, chill town,\u201d where everyone around him had big NHL dreams. While he laughed at the fact that he might possibly be the only Canadian who cannot skate, he says that pursuing music was where he maintained his tunnel vision. Some of the most recent records he\u2019s had a hand in are \u201cHood Politics\u201d featuring Big Sean and Babyface Ray, as well as Gucci Mane\u2019s \u201cMoney.\u201d But for Murda, some of his all-time favourites would have to be Travis Scott\u2019s \u201cButterfly Effect\u201d as well as Toronto entertainer Drake\u2019s \u201cNice For What.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI produced both those beats in Canada,\u201d he shared, also adding Mississauga songwriter PARTYNEXTDOOR\u2019s \u201cBuzzin\u201d to one of his best timeless hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked who he\u2019d want to add to his extensive collab list, he said none other than a fellow Canadian: Justin Bieber.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that could be dope,\u201d he said, \u201cI feel like Canada and like Toronto specifically, we\u2019ve always been the underdogs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Murda takes on this new ambassador role \u2014 which he says is just the beginning of his plans to support young talent \u2014 his connection to Fort Erie comes full circle, from a small-town kid making beats in his bedroom to an international hitmaker inspiring the community that raised him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel good, and it\u2019s something that I want to do more and more of in my life and in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cAny way I could really help,I want to be a part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six-time GRAMMY-nominated Canadian producer Murda Beatz is adding a new title to his laundry list of accomplishments, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[461,49,48,75,123685,341,82,3302],"class_list":{"0":"post-269311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-murda-beatz","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-toronto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}