Freestyle Fellowship

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.{{cite book|editor1-first=Melissa Ursula Dawn|editor1-last=Goldsmith|editor2-first=Anthony J.|editor2-last=Fonseca|title=Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2019|pages=2–3|first=Melissa Ursula Dawn|last=Goldsmith|chapter=Aceyalone}} Subsequently, former high school friend P.E.A.C.E. was added to form Freestyle Fellowship.

Freestyle Fellowship released the debut studio album, To Whom It May Concern..., in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://www.xxlmag.com/news/hip-hop-today/2013/10/today-hip-hop-freestyle-fellowship-releases-may-concern/|title=Today In Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Releases 'To Whom It May Concern...'|work=XXL|first=B.J.|last=Steiner|date=October 5, 2013|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224233710/https://www.xxlmag.com/news/hip-hop-today/2013/10/today-hip-hop-freestyle-fellowship-releases-may-concern/|archive-date=December 24, 2015}} In 1993, the group released the second studio album, Innercity Griots.{{cite web|url=https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2015/04/today-hip-hop-freestyle-fellowship-drop-innercity-griots/|title=Today in Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Drop 'Innercity Griots'|work=XXL|first=Sidney|last=Madden|date=April 28, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712171906/https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2015/04/today-hip-hop-freestyle-fellowship-drop-innercity-griots/|archive-date=July 12, 2015}}

Freestyle Fellowship went on hiatus due to the incarceration of Self Jupiter.{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/06/knowledge-of-self-selfjupiter-talks-freestyle-fellowship-reunion-going-back-to-school-and-west-coast.html|title=Knowledge of self: Self Jupiter talks Freestyle Fellowship reunion, returning to school, and the West Coast underground|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Jeff|last=Weiss|date=June 18, 2010|access-date=August 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620045328/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/06/knowledge-of-self-selfjupiter-talks-freestyle-fellowship-reunion-going-back-to-school-and-west-coast.html|archive-date=June 20, 2012}} In 1998, the group reunited to record the Shockadoom EP, which would be released in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3190-shockadoom/|title=Freestyle Fellowship: Shockadoom|work=Pitchfork|first=Sam|last=Chennault|date=July 14, 2002|access-date=August 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304044900/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3190-shockadoom/|archive-date=March 4, 2014}} The group released Temptations in 2001,{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3189-temptations/|title=Freestyle Fellowship: Temptations|work=Pitchfork|first=Brad|last=Haywood|date=February 12, 2002|access-date=August 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802015605/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3189-temptations/|archive-date=August 2, 2016}} and The Promise in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/43291-new-release-freestyle-fellowship-the-promise/|title=New Release: Freestyle Fellowship: The Promise|work=Pitchfork|first=Tom|last=Breihan|date=July 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208075306/https://pitchfork.com/news/43291-new-release-freestyle-fellowship-the-promise/|archive-date=December 8, 2015}}

{{Listen

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| description = Trained in the art of freestyling, members of the group deliver complex, intricate rhymes atop bebop-influenced beats. The track "My Fantasy" showcases Aceyalone's rapid delivery, twisting rhymes, and stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

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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."{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-29-ca-8220-story.html|title=Liberating Rap With Jazz Sound : Freestyle Fellowship Adds Riffs to Rhymes|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Dennis|last=Hunt|date=June 29, 1993|access-date=May 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417084911/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-29-ca-8220-story.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019}} 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."

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."{{cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/music/having-already-influenced-every-rapper-you-like-freestyle-fellowship-are-back-2403051|title=Having Already Influenced Every Rapper You Like, Freestyle Fellowship Are Back|work=LA Weekly|first=Jeff|last=Weiss|date=September 27, 2011|access-date=May 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405034948/https://www.laweekly.com/music/having-already-influenced-every-rapper-you-like-freestyle-fellowship-are-back-2403051|archive-date=April 5, 2015}}

• To Whom It May Concern... (1991)
• Innercity Griots (1993)
• Temptations (2001)
• The Promise (2011)

• Version 2.0: To Whom It May Concern... Remixed by J. Sumbi (2001)

• Power Plant (2011)

• Shockadoom (2002)

• "Bullies of the Block" (1992)
• "Hot Potato" (1993)
• "Can You Find the Level of Difficulty in This?" (1999)
• "Sex in the City" (2001)
• "Temptations" b/w "Ghetto Youth" (2002)

• Nobody - "Planets Ain't Aligned" from Soulmates (2000)
• Abstract Rude & Tribe Unique - "Heavyweights Round 4" from P.A.I.N.T. (2001)

• "Hot" from Project Blowed (1994)
• "Can You Find the Level of Difficulty in This? (Hive Remix)" from Defcon 4 (2000)
• "Ummm" from We Came from Beyond (2001)
• "Crazy" from Constant Elevation (2002)

{{Reflist}}

• {{AllMusic|id=mn0000802928|label=Freestyle Fellowship}}
• {{Discogs artist|Freestyle Fellowship}}

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Category:Hip-hop groups from California

Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles

Category:Musical groups established in 1991

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993

Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1998

Category:Five percenters

Category:Project Blowed

Category:1991 establishments in California