Freestyle Fellowship are rappers Aceyalone, Mikah Nine, P.E.A.C.E. and Self Jupiter. This collection of people came together in 87 or 88 at the Good Life Cafe in Leimert Park, California. Leimert Park is a center of black culture inside Los Angeles (think, similar to Harlem in N.Y.) and a place where creative people come together, and Freestyle Fellowship is a prime example of that.
Freestyle Fellowship in the 80’s started as very large loose collection of Good Life regulars, but was reduced to just the 5 most dedicated by 1991, when the the group officially formed with their independently released first album, ‘To Whom It May Concern’ which created a buzz in the L.A. underground. Their sound is unique, in that it is the original (or at the least, among the original) group to do very fast rapping. Factor in their incorporation of Jazz, Scat, Electro, and vocal harmony, and a truly unique sound was born; Unique even even among most of their peers at the Good Life. Their message was often a positive, Afrocentric and intelligent commentary on life in inner-city Los Angeles and black culture in general. Here are some choice cuts from ‘To Whom It May Concern’:
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - My Fantasy (Download) (1991)
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - 7th Seal (1991)
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - Sunshine Men (1991)
This first album caught the ears of (now defunct) big label 4th & Broadway (a division of Island) and their second album had a proper multi-format single, release, promotion and distribution. The second album is titled, ‘Innercity Griots’ and is pure classic material. Have a listen and you’ll know why:
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - Inner City Boundaries (feat. Daddy-O) / Bomb Zombies (1993)
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - Hot Potato (1993)
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - Pure Thought (1993)
‘Innercity Griots’ was the last album the Freestyle Fellowship released 8 years. In that time, solo careers began, with the most prolific being Aceyalone’s debut solo record titled, ‘All Balls Don’t Bounce’ imprint on Capital Records. This album album established Aceyalone as a great solo artist and put him on path for the great solo career he continues to have today. I present you two songs from ‘All Balls Don’t Bounce.’ One, featuring other Good Life alumni and close associate, Abstract Rude of Abstract Tribe Unique:
MP3: Aceyalone - Deep and Wide (feat. Abstract Rude) (1995)
MP3: Aceyalone - Arythamaticulas (1995)
Aceyalone released several other solo albums and continues to do so. He has collaboration albums with producers Mumbles, RJD2, and projects with Abstract Rude and in the group Haiku D’etat which consists of Aceyalone, Mikah 9 and Abstract Rude. Good songs have been produced through these various incarnations, but I can only post so much(!) and if you like what you hear you should buy everything! Here is one song titled, ‘The Balance’ selected from ‘A Book of Human Language,’ a concept album with producer Mumbles:
MP3: Aceyalone - The Balance (1998)
Perhaps the second most successful solo artist to emerge from Freestyle Fellowship is Mikah 9, who was signed to Capitol Records around the same time as Aceyalone, but he never released an album for the label due to problems with the label. But Mikah 9 has never stoped or even slowed. Releasing independent albums and holding residencies at Koncrete Jungle (r.i.p., when they were in L.A. too) and constantly at Project Blowed. Enough type! More tracks from Mikah 9’s, ‘Timetable’ an 2001 record that archives many songs and freestyles from his career up to that point:
MP3: Mikah 9 - Life Or Death (Click Track version) (2001)
And more recently here’s a track off Myka Nyne’s (Mikah 9, he changed the spelling), the Citrus Sessions, released in 2006. This is a certified winner and proof that these dudes still have it—whatever it is. This track is titled ‘Viles’ and features P.E.A.C.E.:
MP3: Myka Nyne - Viles (feat. P.E.A.C.E.) (2006)
P.E.A.C.E. and Self Jupiter have other projects, but I’ll mostly leave that for you to discover on your own as this post is growing to mammoth proportions—drop me a comment if you’re really dying for a sample. However, I will give up offer up this Diplo track off his, ‘Florida’ album which features P.E.A.C.E.:
MP3: Diplo - Indian Thick Jawns (feat. P.E.A.C.E.) (2004)
Freestyle Fellowship is a group that seems to have come together and fall apart more than once. Initially the group disbanded in 1993 when Jupiter was incarcerated for a while. But, the group reunited in 1998 for a few concerts including benefits for a project called ‘Mumia 911′. The last time the group came together for a studio album was 2001’s, ‘Temptations’. An album which had a different sounds than their debut 10 years prior, and frankly, I didn’t like it and can’t think of a song on it that is worth sharing, although some people love it as Amazon reviews indicate. Also they released a remixed version of the their debut album titled, ‘To Whom It May Concern 2.0′ which I thought was downright shameful. However, just before the bad stuff started, they did have one song released as a 12″ in 1999 on Celestial Recordings that is fantastic, perhaps because of the great production by OD. The song is titled, ‘Can You Find the Level of Difficulty in This’. This is the song that gave way for the (flop) reunion album (which was produced by someone else):
MP3: Freestyle Fellowship - Can You Find the Level of Difficulty in This (1999)
For anyone tho loved that, there is a Hive remix that is totally worth tracking down.
Freestyle Fellowship is a hard one to tackle and I hope that someone one out there enjoyed this post and will support the artists because they are makers of great Hip-Hop music. If you like what you hear, be sure to, at the least, pick up ‘To Whom It May Concern’ and ‘Innercity Griots’ because they are full of classic tracks and the songs above are just the tip of an iceberg. These two albums have been re-released and can be found at well-stocked hip-hop shops and online at Amazon. If you desire original pressings, your best bet would be secondary markets like eBay and Amazon affiliates. And I’ll tell you what, first Freestyle Fellowship fan that comments with Aceyalone’s real name, I’ll send ‘em a minty-fresh O.G. copy of ‘Innercity Griots’ on compact disc for your ear-hole pleasuring. Let’s see who actually reads this thing and isn’t just browsing pictures and tracks! I know entirely too much about this stuff and this weekly is my outlet. How you guys digging it?
P.S. If you love the early production, try sourcing these LPs from this old Palms Out Sounds post about Freestyle Fellowship sample sources.
