Freestylers
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Taking the name Freestylers from their first sample (Freestyles Dont Stop the Rock), the trio released their first single, Drop the Boom (AK-48) and formed their own Scratch City Records to release it. The track was a prime slice of vocoderized electro, and became an underground club classic as far afield as bass-driven Miami. The Freestyle EP followed late in 1996, and Freestylers also released singles on Freskanova (home of Cantors many solo projects). The group even managed a chart hit (and Top of the Pops appearance) with 1998s B-Boy Stance, a collaboration with vocalist Tenor Fly. A spate of remixing followed, for Audioweb, Afrika Bambaataa and the Jungle Brothers (the latter a pair of the Freestylers prime influences). The trio also helmed the big-beat compilation FSUK 2 and contributed a Radio One Essential Mix (where Beenie Man, Public Enemy, the Fall and Whodini all rubbed elbows). Live appearances at Glastonbury and around the European festival circuit met with much praise, and the Freestylers finally released their debut album We Rock Hard in 1999. The mix album Electro Science followed a year later.
