Freestyle Blogs

Freestyle never went anywhere. It has always been around. It just lost it’s credibility with traditional radio due to poor productions.  Think back in the day, the artist that are still very busy traveling the country performing, acts like, Angel (OCG), Lil’ Suzy, Lisette Melendez, Lisa Lisa, Stevie B. Johnny O, Cynthia, Judy Torres, Coro, Sweet Sensation, TKA, Noel and I could keep going, and probably should so as not to offend anyone not mentioned, but I want to get to the point.  Listen carefully to their hits, listen to the quality. It’s like you can actually hear the time and passion put into them.  Back then, home studios weren’t that common, they existed, but it was rare that master productions derived from them. Those hits were recorded either in major studios or fully equipped independent facilities. These were some huge records and launched many careers. They sold lots of records and got crazy radio play till this day. But that time was also about the time that home studios started becoming more accessible and affordable to build.

Freestyle became the new dream for many Latins in New York and finally they had a chance to thrive in a business that many of them dreamt about their whole lives. Latins were only considered for Latin music, Salsa etc.. But what about the Latins in America who didn’t speak Spanish? Like myself who’s both parents are Puerto Rican, but was never taught Spanish, I understand perfectly, but to speak it, forget it.

Finally, Freestyle became the new Lain American Dream and every young Puerto Rican at the time wanted to become a Freestyle Artist.  The songs weren’t difficult to sing and the productions were pretty simple sounding.  Those who had jobs began purchasing home equipment from Manny’s and Sam Ash on 48th Street in Manhattan (I know, I was one of them.) Suddenly, the Freestyle Labels that existed in those days were bombarded with demo’s (Cassettes and DAT’s were then the norm).  The heads of those labels realized that they could put a lot more money in there pockets if they cut down production cost. So now, instead of paying high production fees in commercial studios, they began signing songs on spec, meaning, if you brought something in that they liked, they’ll pay you and release it. The money on those spec deals began to dwindle as more and more demo’s flooded the market. It got now to a point, that “would-be” artist were willing to release those tracks for nothing in hopes of becoming the new George LaMond or Cover Girl. These young dreamers were desperate for a deal, for a chance to make their mark as a recording artist.

It got to a point that when there tracks were turned down, they rushed out and produced another, sometimes in just a day or two. Finally, great songs were being written to poor productions, and labels were taking chances on putting it out, a few got through, until traditional radio began to question new releases. There was a time that traditional radio trusted the labels, since many of the owners were young and knowledgeable of the market, some even working DJs. But after awhile, traditional radio couldn’t do it anymore. This was during a time that the stations weren’t as separated as they are now. Freestyle, Rock and Rap were all played on the same station. Traditional Radio was usually categorized as Adult, youth etc.Jocks would play a high quality Rock song, followed by a Freestyle record, and then into a rap song and the quality of the three were very obvious. It got so bad that, just the thought that a particular record was Freestyle or just recorded by a Freestyle artist, marked it as unacceptable with a one way ticket straight into the recycle bin. This wasn’t realized right away and many labels continued producing and shopping records to radio, but to no avail. KTU in New York was always considered one of the leading stations in the country and many of it’s sister stations around the U.S. watched them closely and pretty much did what they did, and when KTU refused to play Freestyle or anything associated with it, so did the others.

It was a sad time for Freestyle in itself. By then New York lost it’s Dance station altogether as KTU began playing mostly Hip Hop.  Many other Freestyle artists were in their teens when they became stars, during a time when they should’ve been thinking about their futures, they were on tour. By the time the Freestyle Market went south, it was pretty late. Like a child trying to wake up his dead dog, artist were in denial, and continued producing and shopping their Freestyle songs.Now in their twenties, lots of time had been wasted and artist had a choice, continue struggling with their careers, or find a job and live their lives. Freestyle artist became a novelty in themselves. They would appear at local clubs in and around New York, performing for humiliating money, subjected to the mockery from fans who were now all Hip Hop and the club owners and promoters who booked many acts out of mere pity.This went on for many years, and slowly artist began to totally step away from the spotlight in search of another life. Many left, satisfied that they were blessed to have experienced this short yet wonderful career, others left bitter and frustrated.

Freestyle was now totally underground and visual to just the die hard. New artist came into the scene and were content with the now very small audience. Freestyle songs became classics and actually gained a little value due to the fact that they would never be repressed. I was working at Metropolitan at this time and I remember selling 12 inch singles for as high as $75.00.I myself saw a different side to the market. I love business, and I saw Freestyle as a business in need of some serious help. Thank God for the Internet! It was a Godsend to Freestyle. Due to my association with Lil’ Suzy and Metropolitan Records, I had the rare opportunity to experience Freestyle outside of New York. Even though it had pretty much died in other markets such as Texas, California, and Chicago etc. It didn’t yet disappear. Many cities featured and supported their own Freestyle Artist. Acts like L.A.W., Jocelyn Enriquez, Angelina and Spanish Fly kept the hope alive in their cities. Lil’ Suzy became a national Freestyle Phenomenon and she was respected highly in many many cities and till this day packs clubs and concerts all over the country all by herself. I would mention to many of my now promoter friends if they were familiar with some of the other Freestyle acts, but unless I actually sang them a song or two, they would be clueless.I knew many acts would do great in these other markets, but I also knew that it wouldn’t be an easy task. It would take time and lots of energy to try and break even the older acts back into those markets.  I started an Newsletter back in the day called “The Stylin’ Free Network News”  many die hard remember and even still have copies. I had built a huge mailing list (emails weren’t popular then) and with the help of my small Stylin’ Free staff we wrote, printed, folded, stamped and mailed out those Newsletters every month. It was my way of connecting Freestyle throughout the country and it was working.The Newsletter was a lot of work, and technology wasn’t on my side yet so I was very limited as to what I could do, so we had to stop it. Not long afterwards, I started the La’ Entertainment message board with the help of WebMaster Dave, that’s another blog that I will get into at another time. I used the same networking skills I used for the Newsletter and began promoting the board. Their was another board up at that time ClubFreestyle, but many of the members on that board were bogus so I knew we would eventually lead that market.The La’ Board became one of the main platforms for the Freestyle community, a place where we can gather all the Freestyle Heads in one place and tell them what’s new in the market.  Eight years later, we started our own Internet Radio Station, with the goal to become the Freestyle listening Station of the world, now, not only can the fans read about what’s new, but now they can hear what’s new.One of the biggest questions I get from people when I talk to them about Freestyle is “How come artists don’t release new music?” and usually I answer… For what? Who’s gonna hear it? Who’s gonna buy it? Without away of promoting new music, producing becomes and expensive waste of time. Their have been new songs, more than any of us even know.  Everyone knows Lil’ Suzy’s “Take Me In Your Arms and Promise Me”, but are you aware that she has release six albums with no less than ten songs on each? Of course you didn’t! Because Traditional Radio never told you. Look at Angel (OCG), yea everyone knows her hits Show Me, Because Of You, Inside Outside and My Heart Skips A Beat”… But what about “No One In This World”, “Once Upon A Time” or ”One Night Affair” or the many others she had recorded and released but not too many people know. Every artist you can think of in Freestyle has songs that were recorded and released, that were great, sometimes even better than the hits that we don’t know about because we didn’t get the traditional radio support we needed.From the beginning of Radio, it has always and still is considered the absolute primary tool used by the major record companies to promote a new release.  They know how important radio rotation is and that without it, everything else is a waste of time.  Payola is against the law because jocks were paid big money to put songs on rotation, so what makes us think that we were ever going to get anywhere without proper radio play?But things are a bit different now and Freestyle is actually getting a second chance.  Thanks to technology we are soon going to be able to tell Traditional Radio to go to Hell! iRadio Stations are stepping up to the plate and becoming the new promotional tool for Freestyle. It’s taking a minute to catch on, but like email was back in the day, Internet Radio will be the new medium.Now Freestyle has a reason to go back to the studios and produce new music. Our chances are even bigger now, because Internet Radio is international.  Where as your local radio station is just that, local, Internet Radio has the ability to promote your music to an even bigger audience than KTU or other major stations. Nowadays, everyone has a computer.  As a matter of fact, I know people who have computers, but not FM Stereos. Internet Radio has listeners that listen along with their co-workers at Law Firms, Mortgage Companies and Accounting Firms. Remember, anywhere that there’s a computer, there’s an Internet Radio!Now, go back to the studio, produce some new music, then get it over to your favorite Internet Radio Station, Tell everyone you know about them. Put their logo on your photos, links on your myspace page and websites. Log on daily and stay logged on. Trust me, if you’re looking for new Freestyle music, you’ll hear it first on the net.

Freestyle 4 Life Baby!