Artist of the week - Free Style

May 15, 2007

PROFILE:

Mino (Lyricist, rapper)
Real Name: Choi Min-ho
Date of birth: July 24th, 1977
Blood type: AB
Hobbies: Writing

Zio (Songwriter, rapper)
Real Name: Choi Ji-ho
Date of birth: July 24, 1980
Bloodtype: AB
Hobbies: Playing the guitar, scratching

BIOGRAPHY:

Our featured artiste this week is the hip-hop duo Free Style. Freestyle is made up of brothers Mino and Zio. The duo debuted in November 1999. Even though their style is commercial hip-hop, they did not catch the attention of mainstream audience until their 3rd album in 2004. At that time mainstream hip-hop tunes started to boom. The title song "Y (Please Tell Me Why)" became their biggest hit. This mid-tempo hip-hop ballad stayed on music charts for nearly half a year. This song was also re-released in 2006 as a digital single and featured As One as vocalists.

However, their 4th album was a disappointment as it did not produce any hit songs. They tried more fun and oldie style up-tempo song "Hey DJ" as their title song but it failed miserably. Free Style was able to reverse this fortune on their latest album. The title song "Addresses Not Found" became their first top 10 hit. This song used the same formula as "Y". It is a mid-tempo hip-hop ballad and it also features a female vocalist Jang Hyun Yi. Looks like Free Style has found their niche of success.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Freestyle (1st album, 1999): Free Style, Start Again, Party Time (Stage 1), Joy (Stage 2), Love of Just One Day, Pause 1, Think About It, Yesterday’s Memory, Pause 2, That’s Enough, It’s Still That Way, Life Is.., Joy (MR), It’s Unfair

Free Style 2 (2nd album, 2001): It’s Ok, Scent of A Woman, Clock, Why?, Pathetic Boy, 1nce Again, Deep Attachment, Don’t Look Back, Dirty Talk, Life, Tears, It’s Ok 2, Life (MR), Injustice

Free Style 3 (3rd album, 2004): Y (Please Tell Me Why), Thorny Path, The MC’s Speech, Circus, The Last Chapter, Irrelevant Answer, Tale of Two Men, 1,2,3,4, Player’s Interview, Playboy, Lost Anger, Man’s World

Funkist Family Juice (4th album, 2005): Old Skool, Diggin’ On James Brown, Hey DJ (70’s Remix), Conversation pt.1, And After That, Memories, Conversation pt.2, Tale of Two Lazy Men, Make Me High, Funk Delight, Soul City, Funk Delight (Inst.)

FREESTYLE 1st SINGLE (Digital single, 2006): And After That (feat. As One), Y (Please Tell Me Why) (feat. As One), Tell Me You Love Me (Chinese version)

Addresses Not Found (5th album, 2007): Addresses Not Found, The Girl’s Full Story, Soliloquy (Interlude), Habit, The Road I’ll Take, Lovin’ You, Y (Melosoul Remix), Last Journey, This Is The Kind Of Man I Am (part II)