Renegade Masters: Freestylers

Perhaps needed now more than ever, industry heavyweights Freestylers are stepping up to the plate with brand new sounds that destroy genre boundaries and offer a strobing light at the end of the tunnel that is 2021. Their sixth studio album ‘Other Worlds’ is set for release on the 20^th August 2021 via Mama’s Pie.

After a 20 year career, the Freestylers have covered a full 360 degrees in the Bass Music genre, having played all the biggest festivals, the most talked about nightclubs around the World and even the quintessentially British music show, Top Of The Pops. Having achieved the kind of success most artists can only dream of, they’ve not rested on their laurels.

Aston and Matt started working on Music together in the mid-’90s after discovering a mutual love of Hip-Hop, Electro and Beats. They released their first two Albums ‘We Rock Hard’ and ‘Pressure Point’ on the legendary Breakbeat label Freskanova. ’Raw as F**K” and ‘Adventures In Freestyle” were released on Against The Grain another Breaks powerhouse based out of Brighton, UK. From being voted ‘Best Band’ by Muzik Magazine in ’98 to touring with Lenny Kravitz on his ‘American Woman Tour’ (he asked them himself as he was so impressed with their act), rocking a crowd of 30,000 at Glastonbury Festival ’99, performing at MTV’s Times Square Millennium Party, playing Big Day Out ’05 – it’s fair to say these guys have had one big adventure so far.

The Freestylers began their career as an Urban Electronic Music Act, and their early Tunes ‘B-Boy Stance’, ‘Ruffneck’ and ‘Warning’ set the marker. As their music progressed so did their anthems with the seminal tunes ‘Punks’, ‘Boom Blast’, ‘Fasten your seat-Belts’, ’Painkiller” and more recently ‘Cracks’ to list a few. In addition to their status as Underground Heroes, they have gained commercial success with their Global Hit ‘Push Up’ and have had their Music synched in many TV Commercials and Films, including the hugely successful comedies, ‘Zoolander’, ‘Dude Where’s My Car’ and the more recent ‘Sisters’.

The first single from their new album was released recently and was initially created for big-room, festival-worthy summer touring, this early-rave inspired anthemic track will still have you dancing round your living room. It’s a great shame we can’t hear ‘Happiness’ live, but hopefully, it keeps spirits alive that one day we will dance together again. The no-nonsense breakbeat, vocal triumph has still gained huge momentum though and has proved a firm fan favourite in the duo’s lockdown livestream sets – as well as gaining support from some of the biggest names in the business, including the likes of Krafty Kuts and Rat Pack to name a few.

Following on from the opening single, ‘Other Worlds’ delves into a mishmash of Drum & Bass, Hip-Hop, Electronica, Dub, Breakbeat and everything in between. It also showcases incredible talent from across the globe, including Plump DJs, Blapps Posse, Laura Steel, Spyda, Tenor Fly, Hyperactive MC, Mad Doctor X, K-OSS and Scarlett Quinn, whose vocals feature on the grooving next single, ‘Fabulous.’ On creating the new record, Freestylers added:

“We were feeling nostalgic, so went back to our roots bringing what we think is the new sound of the old school”

 

Cometh the hour, cometh the men – Freestylers are here to rescue us all and take us to other worlds with a brand new exclusive mix for our Renegade Masters series! Below you can listen to the mix and read a short Q&A with the guys! The Freestylers ‘Other Worlds’ album drops this Friday (20th August), make sure you GRAB A COPY FROM HERE

Q&A

Sum up this mix in 10 words…

It’s 60 minutes of the best thing since Sliced Bread!

What’s your personal favourite track on it?

Too hard to choose one. They’re all my current favourites, have to be diplomatic!! haha

What’s the special ingredient in this mix?

Most of the tracks have been either remixed by us or they’re our original tracks so I guess that’s the ingredients that bind it together 

What’s the best gig you’ve played recently? (if you’ve been able to play any!)

Playing a live stream in my garden to a bunch of Squirrels 

What have you got coming up? 

We have a new artist album out in August called ‘Other Worlds’ which is exciting, plus we’ve been working on a new project called ‘Pirate Jams’ and nearly have an album’s worth of material there too. Hopefully, the world will open up soon so we can start travelling and performing again. In saying that August onwards is looking busy with club shows and festivals.

And finally, do you have a special message for our readers?

Thanks for supporting us throughout our musical journey all these years and if you’re ever in Tottenham make sure you go to Chick King, they do the best Fried Chicken and Chips! Enjoy the mix and the album!

Tracklist:

DEIBEAT ‘RISE UP’ (FREESTYLERS REMIX)

KOOL G RAP & POLO ‘POISON’ (FREESTYLERS EDIT)

FREESTYLERS FT PLUMP DJS ‘I AM’

SHY FX & UK APACHI ‘ORIGINAL NUTTAH’ (STANTON WARRIORS REFIX)

ASTON FT PIRATE JAMS ‘U KNOW THE SCORE’

FREESTYLERS ‘HAPPINESS’

DEEKLINE & ASTON PRESENT PROJECT 5 ‘EVERY1’

CHRIS LAKE ‘I REMEMBER’ (FREESTYLERS EDIT)

MASC & FAST EDDIE ‘RISE UP’

GUAU ‘NO MORE ACID’

FUTURE FUNK SQUAD & CRYSTAL METHOD ‘LOCKDOWN’ (PLUMP DJS REMIX)

FREESTYLERS FT HYPERACTIVE MC ‘ACTION JACKSON’

FREESTYLERS FT NAVIGATOR ‘RUFFNECK’ (CTRLZ REMIX)

FREESTYLERS FT MC SPYDA ‘MY SOUND’

BEYOND THERAPY & ANGIE BROWN ‘HIGHER’ (BEYOND THERAPY RAVE MIX)

OTON ‘MALIBRAN’

A ZONE ‘CALLING ALL THE PEOPLE’ (FREESTYLERS SOUNDCLASH REMIX)