ThaFormula.Com - Describe your style, and what you think you might set you apart from others…

Free Speech - I think what's unique about my particular style is that I'm really wordy; I cram a lot of content into each bar or each line. I think the problem with a lot of artists these days is that the artists tend to hide behind beats. The trend now is to kind of let the production carry you and it's not really content driven. I believe in free speech and letting my voice be heard.

ThaFormula.Com - How long have you been rhyming and what got you started, what was it that convinced you that MC'ing is what you were gonna do?

Free Speech - I think I wrote my first song in like 6th grade and then I went on a little hiatus. I got real frustrated with Hip-Hop in the early 90's…

ThaFormula.Com - You got upset with Hip-Hop in the early 90's? (laughs)

Free Speech - I mean there was music that impressed me but overall it kind of fell off.

ThaFormula.Com - So you weren't feeling the "gangster" era then?

Free Speech - Yeah, I mean people weren't really saying anything. Then kind of around like '96 or '97 my brother was sending me Tony Touch tapes back when mixtapes were hot and used to have real artists on them, like when DITC was hot and Big L. These guys were like the consummate lyricists like Big Pun and Big L and artists of that nature and that kind of piqued my interest again and I started writing again. I went to college and did that whole thing and even though I had a degree I realized that I wanted to do Hip-Hop and I had a passion for it. I moved out to LA in 2001. Once I was there I told myself I wasn't gonna record anything for like 3 years. So I just stayed quiet, listened to everything that was out there and studied the Hip-Hop game. I wrote for 3 years and when I felt I was ready I started to put it down.

ThaFormula.Com - Now that you're out in LA, what do you think of the scene and where do you think you fit into it?

Free Speech - The thing about Los Angeles…look at New York, it was the home for a lot of hungry and talented MC's and I felt like it's a little over saturated there. Los Angeles is a little different. I feel like there's a huge underground Hip-Hop market here especially with all the colleges (USC, UCLA etc) and there's a huge following, but what I kind of noticed is that very few people are servicing that community. Like Dilated Peoples who are hot, but they haven't really been servicing that community with material and taking complete ownership of that community. You have guys that are rising up like Planet Asia and Medaphor but honestly there are very few artists out there that can say they are truly taking ownership of the underground Hip-Hop community. It just seems like the West Coast had fallen off and there aren't any icons or any big name. I see it as an opportunity.

ThaFormula.Com - Aside from the people you roll with in LA, you're part of an international collective of artists called "The Classic Team," tell me about them ad how you got down with them…

Free Speech - Essentially I connected with the Classic Team who consists of Djimon from France, an MC named Watson from France, Willmatic from New York but is also out here in LA and Ilwill these cats from Ohio and I connected with them through the internet. Initially I connected with Djimon on the Justus League website (www.thejustusleague.com/lawn) and he sent me a CD, and I sent him some of my stuff and he liked it and we've just been laying down tracks since then.

ThaFormula.Com - Do you produce any of your music or do you rely on your team for that?

Free Speech - I wish I knew how to use an MPC and I know they have like beat making games on the Playstation and stuff (laughs) but I just can't do it, I leave it to the professionals. I've got a lot of talented producers behind me namely my boy Ro who's got his "Early Morning" mixtape about to drop and it's crazy. I've also done tracks with people outside the immediate family like with Forge from North Carolina and this cat named Sol Eternity. I'm just trying to connect with a lot of cats because there's a lot of talented, hungry producers out there. I mean, it would be nice to get a big name producer on a track but…

ThaFormula.Com - Yeah, because for what one joint from them would cost you, you can probably almost do your whole album…

Free Speech - Exactly, I'm trying to build from the ground up and I know there's other out there doing that too so why not build together?

ThaFormula.Com - I've seen you at a few shows out here in LA and at a couple of our events and you're quick to jump on any mic anyone will hand you…talk about the importance of getting yourself as a new artist out there like that…

Free Speech - I think it's very important to get out there shake hands and show you pearly white you know what I mean? Because a lot of it is about networking, especially in LA and you need to get yourself exposed and you've got to put your music out there. If it means handing out some CD's then you gotta do that and do whatever you can to get yourself out there, even at the hole in the wall joints because you never know who's out there. I mean, it's so hard to sell records. How are you just gonna tell somebody you're nice and expect them to cop you record when the market is so saturated. I mean, when people come up to me with new music, I never give people the benefit of the doubt, I know it's sad, but I'm always under the impression that they're wack. Because the reality is 99% of the people out there are wack. The reality of the situation is that everyone wants to be a superstar but not many really put a lot of thought or effort into their music so the majority of the people really are garbage.

ThaFormula.Com - You started to touch on this, but who were some of the artists that drive you to write and made you want to get involved…

Free Speech - Big Punisher. He was truly amazing. When I first heard that in like '97, "You Ain't a Killer" I flipped. Just because of his style. It was so wordy and fast but not so fast you couldn't understand him. The multi-syllabic rhyme scheme and his whole delivery was just perfect. Big L, who was also just amazing, Ras Kass, Canibus a lot of the older Eminem material, Nas, Kool G Rap. All of those artists had a big influence on me.

ThaFormula.Com - You had a quote in the bio on your site that I thought was dope. You said that "the race to platinum is like the Special Olympics, no matter who wins you're still retarded" and something about the public having a hard-on for the mentally challenged. (laughs) Expand on that for me…

Free Speech - Basically it's about the race to profitability in the music industry. If that's your main objective (making a platinum record) then you're not really coming from the heart. I feel that Hip-Hop is a powerful sincere form of expression and it's not necessarily about being in the club, or how much money is in your pocket or driving a phat car. But ever since we found out that there was huge market for it that's what it turned into so that's what a lot of people do these days.

ThaFormula.Com - Tell me about what you're working on now and when it's gonna drop…

Free Speech - Well we just finished up my boy Ro's "Early Morning" mix tape that I mentioned and that's gonna be coming out really soon. I'm finishing up my album "First Amendment." I got tracks on there with Median, Willmatic and a couple other local cats. I sent a track out to C.L. Smooth so I'm trying to reach out to him and hopefully I get something back but we'll see (laughs). I still don't know the fate of the project, whether I'm gonna try and sell it myself, try and get someone to distribute it for me or try and shop it to a label but you're gonna be hearing about it soon.

ThaFormula.Com - Where else can people find out more about you and your music and what your crew's up to?

Free Speech - You can check out my website which is www.freespeechmusic.com, it's a lot of material and information there and you can check out The Classic Team at www.theclassicteam.net.

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