Freestyle Fellowship

Last updated

Freestyle Fellowship
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres Hip-hop
Years active
  • 1991–1993
  • 1998–present
Labels
Members
Past members

Freestyle Fellowship is an American hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California. It consists of Aceyalone, Myka 9, and Self Jupiter. [1] The group was a prominent part of the Good Life Cafe collective and are part of the Project Blowed collective. [2]

Contents

History

While in high school in the late 1980s, Aceyalone, Myka 9, and Self Jupiter formed the short-lived MC Aces, a precursor to Freestyle Fellowship, at the Good Life Cafe in Los Angeles, California. [3] Subsequently, former high school friend P.E.A.C.E. was added to form Freestyle Fellowship. [3]

Freestyle Fellowship released the debut studio album, To Whom It May Concern... , in 1991. [4] In 1993, the group released the second studio album, Innercity Griots . [5]

Freestyle Fellowship went on hiatus due to the incarceration of Self Jupiter. [6] In 1998, the group reunited to record the Shockadoom EP, which would be released in 2002. [7] The group released Temptations in 2001, [8] and The Promise in 2011. [9]

Style and influences

According to Los Angeles Times , Freestyle Fellowship incorporates "jazz rhythms into its raps, which have the improvisational ebb and flow and the random explosiveness of a jazz solo." [10] In a 1993 interview with Los Angeles Times, the group's member Myka 9 said, "What we are is liberators, liberating rap from its R&B/funk structures—that 4
4
(time) prison." [10]

The group has been described by LA Weekly as "the astral jazz-cracked geniuses of sherm-strafed South Central, rapping with caged bird cadences about sleeping on park benches, biblical books, and gangsta rap carpetbaggers." [11]

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Mixtapes

EPs

Singles

Guest appearances

Compilation appearances

References

  1. ↑ Serwer, Jesse (October 16, 2012). "35. De La Soul "Transmitting Live From Mars" (1989) / Freestyle Fellowship "Sunshine Men" (1991)". Complex . Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ Weiss, Jeff (December 15, 2011). "It's Your Anniversary: Underground hip-hop Project Blowed is 17". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (2019). "Aceyalone". In Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn; Fonseca, Anthony J. (eds.). Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 2–3.
  4. ↑ Steiner, B.J. (October 5, 2013). "Today In Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Releases 'To Whom It May Concern...'". XXL . Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  5. ↑ Madden, Sidney (April 28, 2015). "Today in Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Drop 'Innercity Griots'". XXL . Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  6. ↑ Weiss, Jeff (June 18, 2010). "Knowledge of self: Self Jupiter talks Freestyle Fellowship reunion, returning to school, and the West Coast underground". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ Chennault, Sam (July 14, 2002). "Freestyle Fellowship: Shockadoom". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ Haywood, Brad (February 12, 2002). "Freestyle Fellowship: Temptations". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  9. ↑ Breihan, Tom (July 25, 2011). "New Release: Freestyle Fellowship: The Promise". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Hunt, Dennis (June 29, 1993). "Liberating Rap With Jazz Sound : Freestyle Fellowship Adds Riffs to Rhymes". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  11. ↑ Weiss, Jeff (September 27, 2011). "Having Already Influenced Every Rapper You Like, Freestyle Fellowship Are Back". LA Weekly . Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2017.