FREAK - rap artist - Brief Article

Interview, Nov, 2000 by Vivien Goldman

THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD'S NEW EVERYTHING BAGEL

Ask this twenty-three-year-old why he's called Freak, and he just smiles and says his mother gave him the name. She must have suspected something, because the truth is the guy is freakishly talented. For example, not long after moving to New York City, with scant acting experience, Freak so charmed the producers of Mande Dahi, an upcoming kids' TV series backed by Susan Sarandon, that they wrote him a lead role as a multi-instrumentalist who looks out for all the youth. He then scored a lead in the upcoming indie flick The Sure Thing Effect and a role in Ben Stiller's Zoolander.

But acting (and timing) aren't the only things Freak excels at--when he was eighteen and convalescing from a car crash, his father handed him a guitar and an old Wes Montgomery CD; though he'd never played an instrument before, Freak learned the album by heart and went on to master bass, double bass, violin, sax, flute, and trumpet. He then formed three different bands--playing hip-hop, alt-rock, and R&B--all of which went on to win radio station contests in his hometown, Chicago.

Now this half Anglo-Jewish, half-Jamaican ex-art student who has been a backroom music man for the likes of Mariah Carey and R. Kelly has got labels clamoring for his own sweet-flowing, thoughtful raps. "I play all the Mr. Freak music live; the only thing preprogrammed is the drum machine. It's hip-hop/funk/jazz/R&B, with intelligent lyrics, not profane, advocating humanity and a lot of strength."

Vivien Goldman is a frequent Interview contributor.