Freestyle Professors Biography

Hip Hop is not often a game of second chances. But for the Bronx-bred circle of artists known as the Freestyle Professors, die-hard fans would provide a rare second chance to make the music they love.
After dropping a little-known EP titled “Your Pocket’s Been P:cked” in 1994, recorded in Jazzy Jay’s Bronx studio and with a gem of a beat from the legendary Showbiz of D.I.T.C., the Freestyle Professors slid into obscurity hastened by familial problems and discouraged by the industry as a whole. Over the years, their 1000-press vinyl-only EP attained holy grail status, changing hands for $400-500. The leader of the crew, Branesparker, was approached many times in the late 90’s and early 00’s about reissuing this underground gem. A consummate musician, his interest lay in the possibilities of making new music rather than dwelling in the past. No offer or proposition satisfied him. Meanwhile, the Japanese bootlegged the EP in 2004 and, after selling out immediately, again in 2005.
In early 2006, with the help of Amed (aka DJ Timbalan of the original Freestyle Professors and an accomplished producer who has worked with Freddie Foxxx, Milano and O.C. among others) Branesparker and Ed Catto met and drew up a revolutionary plan to bring the Freestyle Professors back into the Rap scene. They went into the FP’s vaults and dusted off 4 unheard tracks from the same 1994 sessions that had spawned the “Your Pocket’s Been P:cked EP”. The cuts were slated for the full-length LP but never saw the light of day. Hearing these cuts again after all those years, Branesparker and Ed Catto figured both those that had the original EP and those that were still on the hunt would pay to support the crew and hear these tracks. By packaging these cuts together with the cuts from the original EP, some unreleased instrumentals and two newly recorded cuts (one produced by Showbiz and the other by Branesparker), the Professors would bring out the long awaited ”You Pocket’s Been P:cked” 2xLP, 12 year sin the making. They envisioned a limited, one-time pressing of 500 copies that would be sold for $100 to fans of the group and would thereby finance the newly reformed Freestyle Records.
When the product dropped in August of 2006, the response was overwhelming with 300 copies selling in two short months. Rave reviews came from the likes of Dave Tompkins (The Wire, November 2006) and a lengthy interview/review in German-based Juice Magazine (with the largest readership of any German Hip Hop magazine) by Stephan Szillus in November of 2006 (see attached). The Freestyle Professors now had their budget to record new music. The crew’s lineup remained much the same with the only change being the departure of rapper Don Q who was replaced by Giff (formerly Geo of Geo & Ricochet, a satellite Freestyle Professors crew). The group hit the studio with a vengeance and banged out the Vintage EP during the Fall of 2006.


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