Freestyle 101: Big Noyd

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Along with Rakim, Marley Marl, Nas, Cormega and his Mobb Deep brothers, Big Noyd helped put Queensbridge on the map as far as New York hip hop goes. His debut verse was on "Stomp 'Em Out" from Mobb Deep's 1993 debut Juvenile Hell, but it was on 1995’s "Give Up The Goods (Just Step)" from Mobb’s classic album The Infamous that put him on the map. “Yo, it's the R-A-Double-P-E-R N-O-Y-D, ni--as can't f--k with me!” Noyd practically got his first record contract from that line alone.

His debut album, Episodes of a Hustla, was released in 1996 on Tommy Boy Records while he was locked up. Once he was released, he was able to promote his 2003 follow-up, Only The Strong, and 2004’s On The Grind, with a steady stream of live shows and interviews. He also appeared in 2004’s Mobb Deep-produced Murda Muzik The Movie.

So to celebrate the release of his latest album, Illustrious, and the release of Mobb Deep founder (and Freestyle 101 vet) Prodigy’s new album H.N.I.C. 2, we present Big Noyd!

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G4's own web-series, Freestyle 101, has won the 2008 Webby Award for music! That's right, of the tens of thousands of pieces submitted to the Oscars of the Internets, Freestyle 101 is the greatest. There can be only one...and it's us, baby. Check it out!

“It’s truly an honor to win this award,” Frank told TheFeed. “This proves that videogames, nerds and hip hop have much more in common than people think. There are so many people at G4tv that helped make Freestyle 101 what it is, so congratulations, all y’all!"

"But it’s the artists who make the show so special with their incredible freestyles, insightful interviews, and passion for hip hop," Meyer said. "Freestyle 101 would be nothing without the rappers and their talents, so thank you to everyone that has contributed to or supported Freestyle 101. This is an amazing moment for hip hop on the web!”

To see what all the Freestyle buzz is about, click-on every Tuesday at 9 AM, when the hottest and hardest of hip-hop rhyme off-the-top about videogaming, tech and all the things you care about, or check the Freestyle 101 archives and the video below:

Freestyle 101: Sav Killz

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Freestyle 101: Sav Killz

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Up and coming Brooklyn rapper Sav Killz is making a lot of noise on the East Coast hip hop scene and for good reason. The dude has skills, personality, presence and dope lyrics. He also has the backing J-Ronin, a hot mixtape DJ who has been guiding his career and overseeing his mixtapes. Their recent collaboration, Success is Inevitable, is part of J-Ronin’s All Elements series and is a banger and finds him teaming with heavyweights such as Sean Price, Teflon and Smif-n-Wessun. You can head to Youtube and watch the video for "Champion Rap" with Planet Asia or hit him on MySpace to score his Determination Thru Time mixtape to get an overview of his past work.

He honed his skills among the Wu Tang Clan, Sunz of Man and Brooklyn Zu having spent many a night rhyming in 36 Chambers studio and Restoration Plaza in Brooklyn which was run by Clan elder Popa Wu. Sav also performed at many open mic events, where he gained a rap as one of the illest in the scene. Since then he has shared the stage with the likes of Killah Priest, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Shabazz the Disciple, Cormega, Slum Village, AZ, The Beatnuts, M.O.P., Jeru the Damaja, Saigon and more.

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Freestyle 101: Tha Alkaholiks

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Tha Alkaholiks are legends on the West Coast, point blank. Over the course of their five classic albums they brought booze and beer to the otherwise smoke-heavy scene of hip hop via tracks like “Hip Hop Drunkies,” “Only When I’m Drunk,” and “All Night.” They were one of the first hip hop acts to jump on the rock-centric Warped Tour and hold their own amongst the headbangin’ and moshin’ sect. Their live shows will go down in history as some of the most rowdy, fun-filled and wet concerts fans have ever witnessed. And if you saw Tash solo on Freestyle 101 last year then you know he’s a beast on the mic on the improv tip.

So we were beyond excited when Tha Liks stepped into The Engine Room in Hollywood for their first performance in front of the camera in nearly three years to kick off their reunion tour (wrapping up this week, so check here for tour dates). Ya see, after 2006’s Firewater, rapper J-Ro moved to Sweden, so the group has been on hiatus for a minute. But J-Ro has continued his grindin’ with his Rare Earth B-Boy Funk mixtapes, while Tash issued his solo effort Rap Life and is about ready to drop his long-awaited followup, Control Freek.

Bustin’ hard over a Messiaz A-Team-style military beat, Tha Liks truly go of the top, as you can see when J-Ro starts rappin’ about livin’ in Sweden and pulling items out of his pocket to rhyme about, and Tash tries to work in his girlfriend’s name in his rap moments after she paged him. DJ E-Swift just laughs along at his rowdy bandmates as they rock the mic and bounce off the walls …literally! This was easily one of the most high-energy Freestyle 101s yet, so enjoy.

Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday. Next week we bring you newcomer Sav Killz, followed by Big Noyd, Immortal Technique, Kool Keith, M.O.P. and many more. Make sure to dig our behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and rant in our Forums. And if you dig this watch more Freestyle 101s from West Coast rappers such as Ice-T, B-Real, Ras Kass, Gift of Gab, Planet Asia, and Del.

Freestyle 101 is nominated for Best Music Series in The Webbys, so please vote for us today here: http://pv.webbyawards.com/account/pv_login

Freestyle 101: Buckshot

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Ever since Buckshot made his hip hop debut as a teen in 1992 with Black Moon on the hits “Who Got The Props?” and "I Got Cha Opin," the BDI Thug has been known as a MCs MC. He was one of Tupac’s favorite rappers, he  was picked by super-producer 9th Wonder to be his lead MC on 2006’s Chemistry and the brand new The Formula, and is currently recording a collaboration album with legendary hip hop icon KRS-One. How’s that for credibility?

Buckshot is also the leader of the supergroup Boot Camp Clik and one of the principal’s behind their long time label Duck Down Records, which is having a major renaissance with artists like Kidz In The Hall, Sean Price and Buckshot himself. Throw in the newly rejuvenated Heltah Skeltah (on the show later this summer) and Smif-N-Wessun and you have yourself a monster roster of heayhitters. He’s released one solo album, two with 9th Wonder, three albums with Black Moon and three albums with the Boot Camp Clik. The man is a workhorse…and a badass freestyler.

Promoting his highly anticipated new collaboration album with super-producer 9th Wonder, The Formula, Buckshot allowed Freestyle 101 to pop by Dan The Man’s Studio in New York, where Boot Camp record most of their material. He spit a ridiculous freestyle over a soul-drenched R.N.S. beat in one take and even threw in references to Halo 3, NASCAR and G4 to connect it to y’all.

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Freestyle 101: B-Real

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Cypress Hill frontman B-Real knows hip hop…and knows weed! Which is why he is the perfect MC for our special 420 Freestyle 101.

One of L.A.’s biggest rap groups ever, Cypress Hill practically put smoking on the hip hop map with their 1991 debut CD and hits like “Stoned Is The Way of the Walk” “Insane In The Membrane” and “Dr. Greenthumb.” Though producer DJ Muggs gets much acclaim for the group’s distinct sound, it’s B-Real’s nasally voice (armed with partner in rhyme Sen Dog’s gruff backing vocals) that is the most recognizable element of the Cypress Hill sound. All you need to hear is one second of B on the mic, and you know your jammin’ to a Cypress joint…so to speak.

So Freestyle 101 was honored when the stoned raider himself dropped by The Engine Room in Hollywood to spit an off the top rhyme over a dope Messiaz dub beat, and chat about the early days of hip hop in L.A., KDAY, The Wake Up Show and Radiotron. He even threw in references to NBA Live and SoCom for you gamers. He’s promoting his killer new mixtape Gunslinger 3 (available in stores and on brealonline.com) and hyping y’all on his upcoming solo album and the the next Cypress Hill album (in the works now).

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Freestyle 101: Ice-T

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For me, filming a Freestyle 101 with the mighty Ice-T was like jamming with Miles Davis, riffing with Jimi Hendrix or crooning with Frank Sinatra. The man is a master of his craft, one of the most influential MCs in the game, fronted one of the best (and first) rap-metal bands ever, is a terrific actor, and is a true original.

Yes, Ice-T is a legend, straight up. He also happens to be one of the reasons I got into rap music. The day I heard the gangland murder-spree of “Colors” I was hooked. By the time I got to classic albums like Power, Iceberg/Freedom of Speech and O.G. Original Gangster, I had been sworn in for life.

Yet it’s too easy to classify Ice-T as simply a great gangsta rapper. Sure, he practically invented the style with early cuts like “6 ‘N Da Mornin’” and the aforementioned “Colors,” but along with Public Enemy he also ushered in politics in rap, infusing a strong political and social consciousness into hip hop. His book, The Ice Opinion, is a must read if you want to hear about how politics and rap bang heads, and his speeches as  a TV correspondent and on the lecture circuit are educated, thought provoking and inspirational. That he took his career as America’s favorite “Cop Killer” and turned it into a respectable career playing a police detective in everything from New Jack City to TV’s Law & Order Special Victims Unit is downright astounding. 

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Freestyle 101: Chill-E Will-He?

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Ladies and gents, despite it being April Fools Day, we here at Freestyle 101 are intent on keepin’ it real.

Very real.

Very, very, very real.

So real, in fact, that we have invited the greatest rapper on Planet Earth down to The Engine Room in Hollywood to spit a freestyle so dope, so complex, so fresh, it’ll make your head explode into a bulbous, fleshy mess. Seriously. The dude is that good.

Meet Chill-E Will-He?, America's best rapper!

Rapper extraordinaire Chill-E Will-He? practically invented freestyling. All those battles scenes in 8 Mile? They were really about his age of come-up, not that punk Eminem. Hell, Chill-E raps circles around Slim Shady! In his sleep! With one leg tied behind his back, kid! Accompanied by his DJ Mike Risha, Chill-E spit a killer rap off the top of the dome and chatted about what it takes to spit, how he prepares for battle, and reverse racism in hip hop. Hey, the guy is from the streets, so he preaches what he knows: thuggin’, crime, his mic prowess and fly rhyme skills.

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Freestyle 101: Pack FM

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Brooklyn, New York’s Pack FM hates rappers. In fact the title of his upcoming QN5 Music album is I F***ing Hate Rappers, so there’s no debating this point. And he has reason to, given that his rhymes and flow put most rappers to shame, as is evident on his current album WhutduzFMstand4? and EP Baby Blue for Pink.

Known for his street single "Stomp" and the graffiti anthem "Click Clack Spray" off the Marc Ecko Getting Up soundtrack, the one-time 88HipHop MC Battle Champion was the last man standing out of 32 MC's in the Braggin' Rites tournament. In 1999 he swept the competition at Next Generation Battle at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He also won the TDK sponsored 24 Hour MC Battle for three months in a row. In 2000, he was a finalist in the Rock Steady Crew's annual MC Battle, and then placed 2nd out of 100 MCs in the Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype Live MC Battle Tournament. Pack even appeared in the acclaimed independent film Freestyle alongside Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, Supernatural, Biggie and Tupac. 

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Freestyle 101: Del The Funky Homosapien

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Whether you know Del The Funky Homosapien as a member of Gorillaz and the rapper on their smash alt-pop hit “Dirty Harry,” as the leader of Bay Area hip hop collective Hieroglyphics, as Ice Cube’s warped younger cousin, as one of the godfathers of Nerdcore, or as the guy who teamed with Dinosaur Jr. on the Judgment Night soundtrack, one thing is for sure: IF YOU KNOW HIP HOP, YOU KNOW DEL.

Celebrating the release of his long-awaited new studio album, The Eleventh Hour (on ultra-hip indie label Def Jux), Del stopped by Purple Reign Studios in Inglewood to drop a mean freestyle about videogames and chat about rappin’ in the Bay. Del was joined by Hiero bandmate A+, who introduced him before he let loose with a rapid-fire impromptu rhyme over a crazy Messiaz beat that proved yet again why this cat is one of the best in the game. Plus, he threw in references to Super Mario, Zaxxon, Yoshi, and even Congo Bongo! The man knows games. And with his sly, Cheshire cat grin in full effect, Del also chatted about how freestyling and battling started in the Bay Area and where it’s at now. And he should know!

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Freestyle 101: Fat Joe

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Fat Joe is a hip hop legend, point blank. From his 15 years in the game as a solo artist, to his days in rap supergroup D.I.T.C. alongside O.C., Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Showbiz and A.G., Buckwild and the late Big L, the man has repped hip hop. He also helped put Latinos on the map in the rap game, founding his crew Terror Squad in the process, which launched the careers of MCs like Cuban Link and Remy Ma and introduced the world to his protégé, the late, great Big Pun.

So it was with much honor and respect that Freestyle 101 accepted Fat Joe’s offer to meet him in New York while we were in the Big Apple and catch him spittin’ at a grand piano, Sinatra style. A true Don through and through.

In his interview, Joe takes us back to the glory days of hip hop, back when New York was the Mecca of hip hop and KRS-One and Lord Finesse ruled the freestyle circuit. It’s a rare glimpse back into the golden era of rap music and hip hop culture. Joe was there. He knows of what he speaks. (And who knew he was a Ninja Warrior fan?!?!)

Pick up Fat Joe’s excellent new album, The Elephant In The Room, and check out our behind the scenes photo gallery from the New York sessions. Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday, and next week we bring you a videogame-themed rap from the one and only Del the Funky Homosapien. Stay tuned for Pack FM, Ice-T, Buckshot, Ali Vegas, Big Noyd, Kool Keith and many more.

Make sure to visit us on MySpace, watch past episodes, rant in the Forums or check out some past freestyles from fellow New York MCs Sheek Louch, Shyheim, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Termanology,  Papoose, Joell Ortiz and Cormega.

Freestyle 101: Sheek Louch and Bully

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It’s hard to explain what a huge fan of Sheek Louch I am. But I’ll try…

As a member of The Lox, alongside members Jadakiss and Styles P, he helped put New York street hop on the map in the ‘90s. After getting discovered out of Yonkers, New York by Mary J. Blige, The Lox signed with Puffy to Bad Boy and began their rise to fane, which found them teaming with Biggie, leaving Bad Boy after one hit album amidst the legendary "Free The Lox" campaign, and signing to DMX's Ruff Riders label for their sophomore effort. Eventually they bailed and start their own label and crew, D-Block.

As a member of The Lox’s D-Block crew, he helped discover hood artists like Bully, Team Arliss and J-Hood and took on 50 Cent in a legendary diss track sparring match that continues on to this day. And as a solo artist, he is responsible three amazing albums (Walk With Me, After Taxes and the brand new Silverback Guerilla) and some of my all-time favorite mixtapes (Year of the Wolf, Still A Wolf and The Howling). Yes, Sheek Louch is one of the best on the mic out there, no doubt.

So image my surprise when after months of waiting for Sheek to roll out to L.A. on tour, he agreed to film a Freestyle 101 while we were out in The Big Apple. I was even more stoked when he invited us out to D-Block’s studio in Yonkers to hang with him, his protégé Bully, Lox sniper Styles P, and famed in-house engineer Poobs. It was truly an honor to be shooting in this legendary studio that I had seen in so many Youtube videos and where so many of my favorite songs were recorded. (Thanks to Supa Mario, Koch and Lamont for making it happen!)

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Freestyle 101: Insane Poetry

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Before there was horrorcore, before Gravediggaz, before Insane Clown Posse, there was Insane Poetry. Though the world got its first taste of the blood-splattered lyrics of rapper Cyco and his posse via the 1992 album Grim Reality and single “How Ya Gonna Reason With A Psycho,” Insane Poetry actually first hit wax the previous year on Rodney O-Joe Cooley’s single “Get Ready To Roll” and an appearance at the legendary Coolin’ In Compton Festival in 1990 alongside N.W.A., Compton's Most Wanted, and Big Daddy Kane.

So IP's street cred is rock solid...yet this ain’t no irrelevant, old school outfit either. Like Kool G Rap and Kool Keith, Insane Poetry has managed to stay one step ahead of the underground rap scene and relevant as hell. Fallen From Grace is Insane Poetry’s latest album, and it’s every bit as intense as classics like Blacc Plague and Faith In Chaos. Recent death-metal-rap collaborations with Sutter Kain found on IP’s MySpace page proves Cyco is always a step ahead of the trends.

Freestyle 101 was thrilled when Cyco agreed to stop in and drop an insane freestyle over a swaggering Messiaz beat, and talk about the SoCal hip hop movement. He even rapped about Batman, The Matrix, flesh eating zombies, and gave some props to his Insane Clown Posse Juggalo homies. Nice…

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