Freestyle Fellowship - Innercity Griots
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Freestyle FellowshipEdition: Music CD
Format: Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 1993-04-27
Music Label: Fontana Island
Soundtracks:
- Blood/Bullies On The Block
- Everything's Everything
- Shammy's/Heat Mizer
- Six Tray
- Danger
- Inner City Boundaries/Bomb Zombies
- Cornbread
- Way Cool
- Hot Potato
- Mary
- Park Bench People
- Heavyweights/Tolerate
- Respect Due
- Pure Thought
Free Music Notes for Innercity Griots
Free Music Review: Let it grow on you, and you'll be glad you did
Hit: 4 Stars
I admit it took a long time for me to really get into "Innercity Griots," but after a few months of sporadic listening, I was glad I took the time. It didn't impress me at all upon my first few listens, but it grew on me once I began to appreciate the Freestyle Fellowship. In 1993, the LA crew of Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Aceyalone, Self Jupiter, DJ Kiilu and producer J-Sumbi bring a whole lot to the table, and most of it is beyond the surface. Many of Freestyle Fellowship's rhymes are, indeed, freestyles. It's hard to characterize them; they're artistic, conscious, humorous, clever, and immensely talented. Each rapper is distinctive and incredible in his own right, and putting them all together is pretty amazing. Aceyalone stands out as the lyrical wizard, and Self Jupiter stands out as a funny performer. Mikah 9 is notably multitalented, and P.E.A.C.E. is the most laidback and abstract. Freestyle Fellowship emphasizes the performance aspect of hip hop, and I'm not sure that the studio album even does them full justice (I'd LOVE to see them live). Each song has a very loose, live, and free-flowing vibe, and at times the songs' structures will bring to mind improvisational jazz. These rappers also use incredibly quick deliveries and sometimes use exclamations and noises that will remind you of Fu-Schnickens. Their chemistry is awesome, and most of their hooks consist of all four guys just yelling together. The production is for the most part minimalist, bringing the live performance vibe to the forefront, and I think that's a wise move. Freestyle Fellowship profiles a place and time where hip hop was fun.
You can't listen to this like you would a regular album. The songs don't really relate to each other, and sometimes it sounds like more of a compilation, with some solo songs and posse cuts thrown in; sometimes it feels like a long rap battle party. But if you appreciate lyricism, then you can't overlook the rap performances on here, because many are nothing short of incredible. They twist and bend syllables for rhyme structures like you've never heard before. There are some songs that you can skip over, and the sound quality at some points is a little suspect, but the highlights make this an album more than worth the purchase.
The album opens with "Blood/Bullies of the Block," which starts with a cool a capella intro and gives way to an old-fashioned boom bap, braggadocio freestyle track with upbeat production. They assure the listener that "Everything's gonna be alright" on "Everything's Everything," which has impressive verses delivered at lightning speed between party and instrumental breaks. "Shammy's/Heat Mizer" is a song all about hoodrat females, with a silly outro. The beat is very simple and emphasizes a spontaneous, loose feel. P.E.A.C.E.'s solo track "Six Tray" is more laidback and funky, and "Danger" puts their tag-team approach to the forefront. The first real highlight comes in the wonderful "Inner City Boundaries/Bomb Zombies," a track that has a really catchy beat and perfect hook delivered by Self Jupiter. This song is conscious and even a bit Afrocentric, standing out from the other songs by not only boasting amazing performances but a worthwhile message as well. "Cornbread" is Aceyalone's remarkable hook-free gem, with a beatbox-style backing, and "Play It Cool" brings to mind a Nervous Breakdown-era Fu-Schnickens track. "Hot Potato" doesn't stand out but is actually decent, and the ragga-influenced weed ode "Mary" is okay. The most outstanding track on "Innercity Griots" is the breathtaking "Park Bench People," where Mikah 9 sings a breezy, classy, soulful and jazzy R&B song about views from a park. The production is absolutely gorgeous and the entire song is perfect, it's amazing how multitalented this guy is, especially because this song was inspired by his homeless experience. "Heavyweights/Tolerate" is a huge posse-cut freestyle tag-team, with a good outro, and the album closes with "Respect Due," a celebration of hip hop, and "Pure Thought."
In 1993, the best year of hip hop in my opinion, good albums such as "Innercity Griots" were overshadowed by Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Doggystyle, Midnight Marauders, Return of the Boom Bap, and the other monumental rap classics released that year. But looking back, "Innercity Griots" is a pretty darn impressive recording, even despite its few flaws. For those who enjoy this album, I recommend the solo albums from each member, where you get to appreciate each MC in his own right. Only Aceyalone's are even mildly well-known, but stay on the lookout. In the meantime, if you haven't already, I recommend checking out "Innercity Griots," and make sure you give yourself some time to let it grow on you.
Innercity Griots Poster
Los Angeles in the early 1990s was a creative hotbed for hip-hop innovation, and much of it took place at the Good Life Cafe--a South Central health-food store where the city's finest microphone fiends would gather to showcase their freestyle skills, spitting ghetto wisdom straight off their respective domes. The first group to rise from the scene was Freestyle Fellowship, comprised of Aceyalone, Mikah Nine, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter, and DJ Kiilu. As the follow-up to their independent debut, To Whom It May Concern, Innercity Griots is a progressive hip-hop masterpiece and an incredible display of lyrical elevation. Freestyle Fellowship expand rap music's boundaries wider than their lungs right before they let loose the verbal acrobatics. Groundbreaking songs like "Inner City Boundaries," "Park Bench People," "Bullies of the Block," and "Hot Potato" brilliantly build on the concepts of old-school jazz improvisation in a present tense, as the MCs bounce verses off each other and the cool, jazzy beats. --James TaiR&B Music CDs
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