Freestyle Fellowship (L.A., CA) – “Park Bench People” [Innercity Griots – 1993]

Freestyle Fellowship was formed at the Good Life Cafe in Los Angeles, California during the early 1990s. In an interview, Myka 9 stated that he knew and grew up with Aceyalone and Self Jupiter since elementary school, and he met P.E.A.C.E. in 10th grade. Before Freestyle Fellowship was formed, Aceyalone, Spoon (of Iodine) and Myka 9 had been in a group called the MC Aces in high school.

Freestyle Fellowship released the first album, To Whom It May Concern…, in 1991. Their second album, Innercity Griots, was released in 1993.

Freestyle Fellowship went on hiatus due to the incarceration of Self Jupiter. After his release, the group reunited to record the Shockadoom EP in 1998; it was released on Whig Music in 2002. Their third album, Temptations, was released on Ground Control in 2001. They released the fourth album, The Promise, on Decon in 2011.

Freestyle Fellowship’s vocal techniques focusing on the method of freestyle rap and their successful infusion of hip hop and jazz established the group as forerunners in the sub-genre of jazz rap and placed them amongst prominent West Coast underground hip hop acts of the early 1990s such as Hieroglyphics and The Pharcyde.