#30thAnniversary – Freestyle Fellowship “Innercity Griots”

by Kramos of The CooksApril 26, 20232 min read

In early 1993, the influence of Jazz music in Hip Hop was already well established, with multiple producers digging in that genre for inspiration and samples. But both styles never merged so perfectly until LA’s Freestyle Fellowship’s second album “Innercity Griots”. The follow up to their debut LP “To Whom It May Concern…” is a lost masterpiece, where organic live music and boom bap beats merge perfectly with the unique melodic flows of Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., and Self Jupiter. Released on 4th & B’way Records, the label had a hard time promoting this left-field rap project, probably because it was so ahead of its time, most people were not ready to fully embrace that kind of experimentation, especially in the middle of the west coast G-Funk era. But anyone who likes musicians who push the envelope will still enjoy this beautiful piece of work, even more than 30 years later!