The Mind of Eddy J. Free

Years ago I had a dream. There were those (the majority) who...

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:29:54 -0400

Years ago I had a dream. There were those (the majority) who didn’t believe it could come to pass. There were those (the majority) who never took me seriously. Slowly but surely I am proving them & everyone else wrong. I think at times even I didn’t believe 100% in my dream. But not now. Now I know that nothing is going to stop me from achieving success. It’s good to prove your doubters wrong, it’s even better to prove yourself wrong and surpass your greatest expectations. I’m working harder everyday and with more commitment and passion than ever before. I have a plan and The Creator is on my side. Watch out world. Here I come.

“CITY LIGHTS” 2013

afro-art-chick: “I consider my musical ability to be a gift...

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:31:19 -0400

afro-art-chick:

“I consider my musical ability to be a gift from the Creator. It’s not that I try to work hard or nothing like that, it’s a gift, it was given to me, and I appreciate it.”

“I believed in myself, and I’ve always worked very, very hard as an artist, and I am an artist in every sense of the word.”

“I don’t feel like I need to preach to the world or nothing like that. I just feel like I share what I say, and if listeners get it, they get it. And I never underestimate the audience’s ability to feel me.”

“Personally, I don’t choose any particular religion or symbol or group of words or teachings to define me. That’s between me and the most high. You know, my higher self. The Creator.”

“What does music mean to me? I don’t think I would really be much without it, without it coming through me. It’s my means of communication, my means of growth, my means of transportation from one point in my life to another.”

“Hopefully my music is medicine, some type of antidote for something or some kind of explanation or just to feel good.”

“As Erykah Badu, it has nothing to do with me, the way I look, my hair wrap, my style, it’s about you and what you feel for my music. If I can make you feel like the way that people who influenced me made me feel, that’s completion.”

Happy 41st Birthday to singer-songwriter, record producer, activist and actress Erica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu (b. February 26, 1971)

Beastie Boys Co-Founder Adam Yauch Dead at 48

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:09:20 -0400

By ROLLING STONE

May 4, 2012 12:55 PM ET

Adam Yauch aka ‘MCA’ performs with The Beastie Boys in Irvine, California in 2004.

Chris Polk/FilmMagic

Adam Yauch, one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 48, Rolling Stone has learned. Yauch, also known as MCA, had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. The rapper was diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.

Yauch sat out the Beastie Boys’ induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, and his treatments delayed the release of the group’s most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2. The Beastie Boys had not performed live since the summer of 2009, and Yauch’s illness prevented the group from appearing in music videos for Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.

Yauch co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz in 1979. The band started off as a hardcore punk group, but soon began experimenting with hip-hop. The band broke big with their first proper album, Licensed to Ill, in 1986, and further albums Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication cemented the band as a true superstar act.

In addition to his career with the Beastie Boys, Yauch was heavily involved in the movement to free Tibet and co-organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts of the late Nineties. In 2002, he launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Dubbed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest...

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:43:54 -0400

Dubbed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Joni Mitchell has influenced artists like Prince, Stevie Nicks, Bjork, Anita Baker, Led Zeppelin, Cyndi Lauper, The Roots, Alanis Morissette, Kurt Cobain and has been sampled by artists such as Janet Jackson and Kanye West. Her influence has pervaded popular music in all its forms.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to handle the...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:51:25 -0400

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to handle the mastering on this outstanding new release from Ray Curenton. Take the time to check it out. Definitely worth listening to - over and over.

Just in time for Easter--"WHITE RABBIT" by B.SLADE produced by EDDY J. FREE

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:03:00 -0400

Just in time for Easter--"WHITE RABBIT" by B.SLADE produced by EDDY J. FREE:

International singing star and multiple-grammy-nominated B.Slade delivers another powerful dancefloor smash with “WHITE RABBIT.” This song appears on his album “Stealth” as well as Eddy J. Free’s album “I Am The Mad Hatter.”

<a href=”http://eddyjfree.bandcamp.com/track/white-rabbit-b-slade” data-mce-href=”http://eddyjfree.bandcamp.com/track/white-rabbit-b-slade”>WHitE RaBbiT - B.Slade by Eddy J. Free</a>

MY THOUGHTS ON TRAYVON MARTIN'S EXECUTION by Patsy Moore on Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:45:43 -0400

(This was posted by my friend Patsy Moore on facebook and I’m re-posting it here with her permission.)

You know, let me just statethis before getting on with my day: The issue of race remains the great ‘un-had’ conversation—and I mean authentically engaged in conversation—in this country. And I don’t know how that works or how we move forward if that continues to be the case, given the role race relations have irrefutably played in this country’s history. This latest tragedy, involving Trayvon Martin, didn’t happen in a vacuum. It speaks to climate. It speaks to culture. It speaks to history, which is doomed to repeat itself if those who know better continue to look the other way… to do nothing… to say nothing outside of clucking disapprovingly.

Let’s wake up, people. This should be grievous to ANYONE of sound mind and compassionate heart. And while we may, in theory, be “created equal”, we live in a world where the greatest sermons, most inspirational founding documents and seminal pieces of legislation have failed to drive that into hearts of darkness.

Suffering is a major part of the human condition—we all have our stories—but, surely, we recognize the unevenness in our shared story. Surely.

It’s the 21st century, and I still experience being followed nervously and questioned suspiciously when I browse in high-end shops. I’ve still had to deal with my credit union attempting to hold my paychecks for longer than normal periods “just to be certain they clear”. (‘Led to a court case, in fact.) I’ve still stood in my workplace, civilly addressing a customer, and had said customer scream that I’m “an ignorant nigger!”. I still have people tell me that I “talk white”. Or “eat white”. (What the hell??!!??!!??)

I get it. Dialoguing about race makes us uncomfortable… makes us angry… makes us ashamed… overwhelms us… frustrates us… ‘Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen. Trayvon Martin’s sad tale, and the countless others cut from the same cloth, every single miserable day, signal that it should happen.

So, this, my dear friends, is a bit of what I want to leave with you, this morning, as my heart is bruised by this young man’s senseless death:

Let’s talk, but I encourage thinking beforehand… thinking with more parts of us than our heads, because…

I don’t know how much longer I can handle statements about the black man in the White House being some indication that we live in a “post-racial” America. (Who, in God’s name, wants to live in a “post-racial” anywhere? Post-racist, perhaps, but “post-racial”? Diversity, I believe, is to be embraced and celebrated. It keeps us interesting and interested. And yeah, yeah… we’re technically all of the same human race; therefore, the real thing at issue here is ethnicity, so grab onto whatever construct-minded semantics make you less likely to blow a gasket, but get the gist of my point. Please.)

I don’t know how much longer I can endure rants about how the playing fields have been leveled, so there’s no need for government (or society at large) to concern itself with such matters. That’s a fairytale. Pure and simple. Stop it.

I don’t know how much longer I can stomach callous diatribes, like the one I read here on Facebook, one MLK Day, about how blacks in America should follow the example of the writer’s Irish forebears, who “got over it” and went on to make something of their lives. As though his ancestors never had the advantage of skin privilege once they took a generation or so to drop their brogue. As though the unfortunate bigoted era of “No Irish Need Apply” can in, no way, be seen as a false equivalency for 465 years of slavery, another 100 years of Jim Crow laws, and institutionalized racist policies that exist to this day. As though his progenitors and mine both arrived, at these shores, willing immigrants. As though no blacks have ever made anything of themselves despite their beleaguered place in the American narrative. In the very face of it.

I don’t expect you to understand the chapters of my experience that differ markedly from your own. How could you? But what if you were open to understanding that you won’t understand those chapters even notionally without open ears, open minds, and open hearts? What if you decided that anything that might read as injustice for you will likely read as injustice for anyone else? What if?

Peace.

Patsy

B.Slade's "Get Over U" is charting big on overseas dance charts and now in the U.S. Don't miss this if u love great dance music. Produced by the legendary Frankie Knuckles.

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:11:05 -0400

B.Slade's "Get Over U" is charting big on overseas dance charts and now in the U.S. Don't miss this if u love great dance music. Produced by the legendary Frankie Knuckles.

This EP is inspired by the short story “The...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:52:00 -0500

This EP is inspired by the short story “The Darkness” written by Eddy J. Free and can be purchased at http://eddyjfree.bandcamp.com

PRAISE FOR “THE DARKNESS” EP:

-Tim Dillinger ‏(Recording Artist/Singer/Songwriter) -‘Of anything you’ve ever done…this is my favorite…honest, beautiful, intimate…i’m really moved.’

-B.Slade (Grammy-nominated, multiple award-winning artist/singer/songwriter/producer) - ‘Loving this EP…felt like I was watching a film short. Incommunicado…my type of vibe. Very Remy Shand.’

-I.K.P. (Recording Artist/Award-winning Rapper) - ‘EXCELLANT production on this piece! Cant get enough of this one.’

-Jim Allio (Recording Artist) ‏- ‘LOVE “The Darkness” possibly your best to date.’

-DJ SirRah of Outing the Music Industry (BlogTalkRadio Host) - I heard the songs for the first time today and was like WOW. Now I gotta read the short story.

REVIEWS FOR “The Darkness” short story available at www.eddyjfree.com and on Amazon.com:

The Darkness is a short story, which probably took me about 20 - 30 minute to read. It is told from the point of view of an American man, suffering from depression following the death of two close friends. He takes himself to London for a break, and here he meets a stranger who offers to show him the `real’ London; the London not usually found by tourists.

Free’s story telling and writing style is excellent, and it really sets the scene of a dark and sinister story. You could feel the man’s apprehension as he delved further into `The Darkness’ and the book, particularly the early half, is very atmospheric.

The book is billed as a sci-fi thriller, but I wouldn’t describe in that way, I’d describe it more as an atmospheric thriller. The story moves at a great pace and has a nice little message for us all at the end.

As stand alone short stories go, this is one of the best I’ve read, and I’ll be looking out for more of Eddy J. Free’s books and stories in the future.

-Sarah Burns ~ on behalf of the Kindle Book Review

I don’t really read fiction but knowing Eddy J. Free as a songwriter and music producer, I was interested to see how the story of “The Darkness” matched the soundtrack that he created by the same name. And man was I surprised! The story written from the point of view of a depressed man who has had a recent loss of two of his best friends and goes to London to get away. He then meets a stranger that gives him a tour of the “underground” sites of London and then some. And that “and then some” is where it all gets twisted.

It is a quick read, no fillers, and that’s part of why I couldn’t put it down. I just couldn’t help but wonder, what’s gonna happen next…

I can definitely see a short movie being made based on “The Darkness.” Heck, maybe even a full-length feature, because all the elements are there.

Good job Eddy!

-Steve Harris (DJ SirRah - Outing The Music Industry)

Looking for a short, fast-paced, anxiety fueled story? Eddy J Free delivers with The Darkness.

A man, wrestling with his depression, goes to London and is drawn into the under-belly of the city. You will learn that it is true that you should never trust a stranger.

I anticipate more great stories by this author and suggest you grab this short tale.

-Laura Thomas (Goodreads.com)

<a...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:18:44 -0500

The new single from “I Am the MaD hAtTeR” by Baltimore emcee DDm. Download for free. Just hit the ‘download’ button above. Spread the word!

Pick up a copy of my short story “The Darkness,”...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:35:53 -0500

Pick up a copy of my short story “The Darkness,” which was ranked #13 today on Amazon’s Top 100 free short stories list. Available on Amazon for the Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can get the Kindle app for your phone or PC for free.

Here’s a description of “The Darkness”:

In this short story, a depressed, despairing man travels to London to get his mind off the recent death of his two best friends. He wanders Soho’s dark streets alone at night, drinking himself to sleep since he’s almost lost the desire to live. When he meets a curious stranger named Vincent who invites him to meet his friends, he soon realizes something isn’t quite right as the group of enigmatic Londoners invite him to a spectacular dinner and then offer to show him a side of London, hidden deep in its underground tunnels, that most tourists never see; wondrous and cryptic but with a sinister side.
Who are these strangers? Are they human or something else entirely? Will the main character get to the bottom of these mysteries before his time runs out? Or does he even care anymore, so far gone in depression and helplessness?
‘The Darkness” is a suspenseful sci-fi thriller. It’s a quick and exciting read that deals with finding purpose in life, coping with grief and loss and poses the question “What would you do if offered an extraordinary, god-like power?”
Read “The Darkness” to see how this unsuspecting traveler from the U.S. fares and whether he chooses a supernatural, miraculous yet macabre life or a bizarre, sacrificial death.

I never thought about the fact that nobody can sing like this...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:53:31 -0500

I never thought about the fact that nobody can sing like this because there was always a Whitney. But now that there isn’t a Whitney, I realize nobody else can sing like this

pushers: Eddy J. Free [@EDDYJFREE] presents THE DARKNESS.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:19:27 -0500

pushers:

Eddy J. Free [@EDDYJFREE] presents THE DARKNESS.

I dedicate the song “Chill” from my solo EP...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:22:30 -0500

I dedicate the song “Chill” from my solo EP “The Darkness” to the memory of the incomparable Whitney Houston. We miss you and love you Whitney. You are dancing and singing with the angels now.

bobrudes: Rihanna - WE FOUND LOVE (L.A. Underground Remix)...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:54:00 -0500

bobrudes:

Rihanna - WE FOUND LOVE (L.A. Underground Remix) 03:30

MJ/Jay-Z/Kanye - BILLIE JEAN IN PARIS (Mash-Up) 04:39

Nicki Minaj - SUPERBASS (Berlin Wall Remix) 03:48

Etta James ft. Flo Rida - GOOD FEELING (Etta James Tribute Remix) 03:32

Wale ft. Miguel - LOTUS FLOWER BOMB (Eddy J. Free House Remix) 03:39

Adele - SOMEONE LIKE YOU (London Philharmonic Remix) 04:43

Katy Perry - E.T. (Eddy J. Free’s Star Trek Remix) 03:37

Gloria Estefan - There Ya Go (TURN THE BEAT AROUND Remix) 03:25

Katrina & The Waves ft. The Soweto Gospel Choir - WALKING ON SUNSHINE (Eddy J. Free Remix) 03:30

Remixes by Eddy J. Free.
released 23 January 2012

* courtesy of a beautiful stranger, Jim Allio’s Facebook post. Thx!

“Lotus Flower Bomb” - Wale ft. Miguel (Eddy J. Free...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:27:00 -0500

“Lotus Flower Bomb” - Wale ft. Miguel (Eddy J. Free House Mix) Download for free now.

REMIXES vol. 1 can be downloaded for free at...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:51:49 -0500

REMIXES vol. 1 can be downloaded for free at eddyjfree.bandcamp.com. This is my first ep consisting entirely of remixes and features artists like Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Michael Jackson, Flo Rida, Etta James, Nicki Minaj, Adele, Wale, Miguel, Katy Perry and more.

Download this track and more for free at...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:00:39 -0500

Download this track and more for free at eddyjfree.bandcamp.com. From my EP “REMIXES vol. 1”

pushers: Eddy J. Free [@EDDYJFREE]: Good Feeling (Etta James...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:29:00 -0500

pushers:

Eddy J. Free [@EDDYJFREE]: Good Feeling (Etta James Tribute Remix)

Practicing Love & Equality; A personal reflection on being gay in 2012

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:50:00 -0500

Watching a recent Republican Presidential debate got me thinking. What century are we living in? Who are these people and how did they get to where they are with such incredibly xenophobic and discriminatory views? So many years after the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and we still have so much work to do.

I’m not talking about race right now, but about views toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. Some of Dr. King’s biggest supporters and friends were lesbian and gay and they marched beside him time and again, yet we rarely hear about that. As a gay man, on this important day I feel that it’s important to express myself regarding discrimination towards LGBT people.

If someone tells me they have zero tolerance for homosexuality and it’s a ‘sin,’ I say ‘I have zero tolerance for ignorance and bigotry. Now go get a life and stop worrying about who I love.’

If someone tells me being gay is a choice, I say ‘Why would someone choose to be ridiculed, hated, told they’re going to hell, spit on and discriminated against in every way possible.’

How can you tell me it’s a choice when you’re NOT gay? Trust me, I know I never ‘chose’ to be gay. I JUST AM. When did you CHOOSE to be straight?

And don’t try to argue the Bible with me. If you choose to follow every Levitical law including not getting tattoos, not cutting your hair, never masturbating, not get any piercings, not eating any ‘unclean’ foods including pork, and dozens of others, then you can still can’t say anything because Christ came so we wouldn’t have to follow that law. That’s why we no longer sacrifice animals like the ancient Hebrews did.

Christ never spoke once about homosexuality but he did speak about divorce.

I thank God for particular friends in my life who showed me by example how to love and accept myself for me.

I refuse to let anyone keep me from loving me or tell me how to live my life. If I’m not bringing harm to anyone else and I’m treating others the way I want to be treated and doing my best to follow the 10 Commandments, you can’t say anything to me because I’m seeking to live in truth and light and I have God on my side. I know because I talk to Him everyday.

The simple truth is, if we lived according to the teaching of Christ “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and the teaching of Dr. King who reminded us that all men are created equal, our world would be a much better place. Politicians especially would do well to not just remember these axioms, but to practice them daily in both their private and public lives.