“Innercity Griots” was released on April 28, 1993 on 4th and Broadway Record, which is probably best known as being the label home of Eric B. & Rakim. “Innercity Griots” is the second studio album by the group Freestyle Fellowship, out of South Los Angeles. The group members include Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E. and Self Jupiter, all whom met in high school. During a time where Jazz’s influence was very prominent in Hip Hop, Freestyle Fellowship embodied the Avant-garde element of Jazz. The used their voices as instruments and t’s like you can hear them reacting to each other the way some Jazz players would while playing live. The album was produced primarily by the Earthquake Brothers and featured a lot of live instrumentation, adding to the uniqueness that is this album.
Guest review with Marissa (@champagnemari_)
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Chris: “Innercity Griots” dropped in 1993 but to be honestly with you, I didn’t become familiar with Freestyle Fellowship and Project Blowed until 2000. I had befriended this dude and I can’t even remember where I even met him, the only thing I can remember is his AIM screen name, but anyway, he put me on to a lot of great Hip Hop that I had never heard before. He had a lot of dope shit on his AudioGalaxy. Haha I just realized that you probably have no idea what AudioGalaxy is or probably not even Napster, LimeWire, SoulSeek, BearShare or Kazaa. I’m big on supporting the artists but I would have never known about some of these acts if it weren’t for these peer sharing services and the people I met on there, so I am thankful. So I’m curious about you though, what are your sources for finding good music? Before peer sharing and stream services, we had to listen to a lot of bad shit to have something good, can you image a time like that?
Marissa: In all honesty, it’s been rough trying to find good music lately and I do feel like I’ve been forced to listen to bad music just to find a song. I’ve been in this phase where I’ve listening to more nostalgic music and being more appreciative of the music. But when I do find good music, it’s either from my cousins/friends sharing with me or by putting on a random Spotify playlist that matched the vibe of music I was wanting to listen to at that time. I remember in high school we used to all sit at the computer in DECA class and would watch different music videos, sharing music with each other.
Chris: Normally the format of these reviews is that the guest will choose the album for us to review but you asked me to choose, so I wanted to first, find something that you probably hadn’t heard before and second, something that best represents what I enjoy most about Hip Hop. I chose “Innercity Griots” because I remember how I felt when I first listened to it and that it is that is blew my mind. There was so much on it, which we’ll delve more into in the rest of review, but also, it’s just a fun album to listen to. It has a good energy to it. Had you heard of Freestyle Fellowship before this review and can you describe how listening to “Innercity Griots” made you feel?
Marissa: I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Freestyle Fellowship before this review. This was my first time listening to the group and “Innercity Griots” and I can say this was a very interesting, but cool album. Freestyle Fellowship reminded me of Wu-Tang mixed with The Pharcyde. The album made me feel like I was at an underground club in the middle of the Bronx, NYC. Haha I definitely agree this album was fun to listen to. So many different vibes in each track.
Chris: Hey! I really dig that comparison, a mix between Wu-Tang and The Pharcyde. The Pharcyde is actually from the same area as Freestyle Fellowship and they both came up performing at open mic nights at this place called Good Life Café. There is this really cool documentary about it called “This is the Life” that you should check out.
Chris: One of my favorite aspects of this album is the harmonizing. In particular, on songs like “Hot Potato”. For me, it’s an ode to the old school Hip Hop that I grew up listening to, like the Cold Crush Brothers or Fantastic Five. Listening to it now, really brings up some nostalgia, so I really appreciate it on that level. Were you a fan of the tracks that featured harmonizing?
Marissa: The harmonizing gave the tracks some pizzaz along with the Jazz vibe it had going on. I’m fan of the harmonizing on the track “Mary”. I thought the track’s harmonizing matched up to what the track was actually about. I felt like on was floating on a cloud while listening to the track. Even on “Park Bench People”, it really lived up to the harmonizing and Jazz. I really enjoyed the harmonizing of the saxophone in the background.
Freestyle Fellowship – “Hot Potato”
Cold Crush Brothers – “Live @ Harlem World 1981”
Chris: The Freestyle Fellowship really embraces the spirit of Jazz music on this album. The album actually features a lot of live instrumentation with the band doing to improvisations on some Jazz classics. A track I liked was “Inner City Boundaries” and what I liked about it is how the band lays back and the guys just kind of freestyle and do different things with their voices. To me, it’s very reminiscent of Avant-garde Jazz and the guys’ voices are like horns being played and they’re just going for it. And I have to say, I think it was kind of cool listening to this album after watching “Soul”. How did you feel about the Jazz that this album brought? Could you see yourself listen to more Jazz after listening to this album?
Marissa: I totally agree with you about “Inner City Boundaries”, I really enjoyed this track and it reminded me of “Soul”, as well as “Way Cool”. I think it’s so cool when Hip Hop tracks include Jazz, since Jazz played a big role in the creation of Hip-Hop in the first place. Whenever I study, I listen to Jazz rap or JazzHop, I’m not sure if you’ve heard the genre or not, but I think it’s a nice genre to listen to if you like Lofi Hip-Hop and smooth Jazz.
Chris: I have heard of those as genres and I’m as fan as well. Funny story, Ella is into LoFi beats as well and she was telling me about a producer she likes and she was pronouncing LoFi as “Low Fee”. Made me smile.
My indoctrination into Jazz music and pretty much every other genre of music was through Hip Hop. Listening to Gang Starr, Ultramagnetic, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, D.I.T.C., Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Boot Camp, Madlib and so many more were my jump off point for a love of Jazz music. I’m glad to hear that you have a love for it as well.
Freestyle Fellowship – “Way Cool”
Kool & the Gang – “Love the Life You Live”
Chris: Did you have any favorite tracks from the album?
Marissa: My favorite tracks from this album are “Respect Due” and “Inner City Boundaries”. I branched out and listened to other songs by Freestyle Fellowship. I like “Sunshine Men” from the “To Whom It May Concern…” album.
Chris: All great songs! My favorite is “Cornbread”. It’s a hype song from the start with the drums from “I Ain’t No Joke” and the lyrical content is really nonsensical but presented in a really fun way. It’s like what you’d hope your drunk cyphers at a party sound like.
Freestyle Fellowship – “Inner City Boundaries”
Freestyle Fellowship – “Cornbread”
Chris: Something that stood out to me while listening to the album again was how much at time they sounded like other artists I’m familiar with. It was really trippy on songs like “Mary” where it sounds like Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs N Harmony is rapping or when I listen to “Bullies on the Block” I hear Nice & Smooth and Chubb Rock, on “Heavyweights” I hear Sticky Fingerz from Oynx, on “Everything is Everything” I hear Lords of the New School and on “Way Cool” I hear Gravediggaz. Did you catch any of those?
Marissa: Yes! When I heard “Mary”, I thought Krayzie Bone was on the track as a feature. When I was listening to “Bullies on the Block”, there was a verse that sounded very similar to the hook on “Batter Up” by Nelly. I thought that was kind of cool because Nelly was a big part of my childhood from spending time with Auntie Sonya haha.
Freestyle Fellowship – “Mary”
Chris: A griot is “a member of a class of traveling poets, musicians and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history in part of West Africa”. After looking at that, the title of the album seemed perfect. I felt like the traditions of Jazz and Hip Hop are well maintained on this album, especially on songs like “Respect Dues” which features some classic Hip Hop breaks like “Hihache”, “Pot Belly” and “Big Beat”. Do the Freestyle Fellowship does a good job of maintaining the tradition of what you see as Hip Hop music?
Marissa: For me, I did hear a sample of songs I grew up listening to from my Mom, older cousins, and uncles. For example, I did hear “It’s a Musical” by Bootsy on “Bullies of the Block” and one Earth, Wind and Fire interlude on “Respect Dues”, if I’m not mistaken. Also, on “Way Cool”, I did hear a sample of Kool and the Gang’s “Love the Life You Live”. I find it very cool to see rap groups sampling classic bands and their music I grew up listening to. To answer your question, I do believe Freestyle Fellowship does a great job of maintaining the tradition of what I see as Hip Hop. Hip Hop began with Jazz then to DJs and MCs simply, the evolution of Hip Hop.
Chris: Wow! I’m impressed!
Freestyle Fellowship – “Respect Due”
Lou Donaldson – “Pot Belly”
Chris: Thank you so much for doing this review with me. As your older cousin, I have admired your taste in music and I had really been hoping to do a review with you! Thank you! Do you have any final thoughts on the album? Has it inspired to check any of their other projects?
Marissa: Thank you for inviting me to do this review. It was truly an honor. My music taste wouldn’t be anything if it wasn’t for you, Bristol and Des. My final thoughts on the album was I really enjoyed the Jazz aspect of the album. It inspired me to check out more of their music, like “To Whom it May Concern…” and other related groups’ projects, like Gang Starr. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to review some music!
Chris: Of course! We’ll definitely do it again! For me, “Innercity Griots” definitely stood the test of time and I have a much deeper appreciation for what they did now than what I had before. It’s a really good album, in my opinion.
