Free Frost

Over the decades the sweet sacred soil of Mississippi has produced some of the greatest musical talent that the world has ever known. Aspiring to add himself to the State’s abundance of musical talent is a 23 year old rapper by the name of Free Frost, whose debut LP Free World is destined to put him on the road to fame and fortune.Born Quentin Orlando Baggett in the small town of Mt. Olive, Free Frost spent the early part of his young life in the impoverished community known to locals simply as “the jungle,” a place he describes as riddled with poverty and drugs. As for his household things weren’t much better either simply because his parents weren’t on civil terms all the time. As a result, Free Frost became a witness to many family arguments and domestic violence, some of which were directed towards him.“My mom and dad stayed into it,” says Free. “He used to beat her, shoot at me, all types of stuff. We moved from Mt. Olive to Prentiss, to Illinois, back to Prentiss then back to Mt. Olive.”Although his living situation was a bit unstable, Free’s mother, a deeply religious woman, did the best she could to instill in him the morals and values that a young Black man would need to succeed in life. This meant, reading the Bible, going to church and no rap music. “She used to make me go to church all the time when I was little,” says Free. By 1995, his musical taste changed when he was introduced to Master P’s street anthem “Bout It, Bout It.” According to Free “Bout It, Bout It” “was the first rap record that I ever heard that I said I wanna hear that again.” From then on he became an enormous fan of the music. He started listening to artists like Puffy, Jay-Z, Tupac, T.I. and Mississippi rapper Boo da Boss Playa, all of whom he cites as major influences. Of course, his mother never knew anything about this. But her strict religious ways were soon to collide with Free’s desires to escape the clutches of Mississippi poverty. “Growing up seeing my mama struggling with bills,” says Free “I decided to get out there and help her with the bills.” That meant defying her wishes and running the streets hustling. Eventually his hustleling caught up to him and Free was kicked out of his mother’s house.While on the grind he and a childhood friend formed a group called Tax Free Players and released an album called Get Ya Hustle On in the year 2003. The record sold well and made them local celebrities. It also taught him a legal way to hustle as Free saw the amount of legit money he could make doing shows and selling CDs. He hit the ground full throttle doing shows and hustling his new product. Unfortunately his partner didn’t see things the same way.“After we had the CDs pressed up and we got ‘em back, my partner who was rapping with me didn’t even help me sell the CDs. I was selling them all by myself. He’d never attend shows. He’d always have an excuse, saying he couldn’t make it. I started cutting his verse off the songs and just have my verse on there and he got mad. So I just decided to do it on my own.”In 2005 Free formed his own record label called Tax Free and organized his own click called the Tax Free Family. In 2006 they recorded an album called Stop Stuntin’ but decided to shelve it in lieu of dropping Free’s debut album entitled Free World.The first single of Free World is entitled “Wipe Free Down,” which is a song aimed at shady ladies. “Basically it’s like I’m telling the females that I got love for them but I don’t trust ’em.”“Forgive Me Mama” featuring Lil Boosie and Tonya Youngblood is one of the most heart-wrenching songs on the album. It’s a deeply introspective song with a bluesy feel dedicated to Free’s mother. “That song really means a lot to me,” says Free. “I was just telling her that I was sorry for talking back, actin’ grown and selling crack outta her home.” It is easily one of the best songs on the album.Another serious song is the iconoclastic, a rowdy up tempo politically charged track “U to Mars.” According to Free, the song was inspired by an instance of injustice where the Mt. Olive Police tried to pin false charges on him.“ I was charged with two aggravated assault charges that I didn’t do. The [cops] knew I didn’t do it but they still charged me with it. I was facing twenty years. I took it all the way to trial and I won the case. I was like the first Black person to win a case in Covington County in forty something years. It made history. It was on the news and everything. After I got off I was kinda mad so I took out my frustration on the mic.”Produced by KJ3, Lil Jones and Antezy, Free World contains a bevy of hard hitting bass-laden beats, catchy hooks, tight lyrics and Free’s incredible flow. All of these musical elements come together to make Free World one of the most intriguing albums to come out of the state of Mississippi this year.