I Found My Tribe Again.

Before there was talk of bringing Beat Freaq to Augusta, there were invitations. Jah Freedom says C Boogie of Stars of Beyond had invited him to every Beats & Bars Barbecue, but the timing never worked. Then he met Kool Kim, and the invitation came again.

This time, he made it. Here’s the conversation, in his words.

01A Haven for Cultural Creation

Introduce yourself and tell us what Beat Freaq is, how it came to be, and what it provides.

My name is Jah Freedom. I’m a producer, DJ, multidisciplinary artist, cultural disruptor, and a pretty cool guy, if I do say so myself.

Beat Freaq is a platform that I started and host that serves as a haven for cultural creation. It’s primarily centered around producers, but what makes Beat Freaq different is that while we showcase incredible talent, we’re equally focused on community and what we can do for the people around us.

We’ve organized yearly food drives, mentored young artists, and hosted free workshops on things like getting paid for your music, ASCAP, publishing, and the business side of being an artist. We’ve had everyone from multi-platinum artists and Grammy winners to people stepping on stage for the very first time.

While Beat Freaq is producer focused, we also welcome poets, rappers, and MCs because we understand the synergy between the artist and the producer. We want to create a space where both can thrive.

Another important part of Beat Freaq is our mini interviews with the artists. We want people to get to know the person behind the music, not just the music itself. That human connection is a huge part of what we do.

We also have the Beat Freaq Generals, our elite producers who have shown up for the community in different capacities… whether that’s helping young artists, supporting other performers, or simply being there for the culture. They happen to be some of the most monstrous beat makers in the world, too.

Ultimately, Beat Freaq provides a safe and supportive space for producers and artists to test new material, play new beats, hear music on a powerful sound system, experiment with songs before releasing them publicly, and connect with other creatives. That opportunity to experiment in front of a supportive community is one of the reasons people continue to come back.

We want people to get to know the person behind the music, not just the music itself.Jah Freedom

02Every Year, an Invitation

How did you hear about Beats and Bars Barbecue?

Actually, I’ve been invited to every Beats and Bars Barbecue. Big shout out to my brother C Boogie of Stars of Beyond. I’ve known that brother for a long time. He’s a great MC and an even better human being.

He invited me every year, but every year something came up with my schedule and I couldn’t make it.

Then last year, Kool Kim, the founder of Beats and Bars, happened to be in my city for something else. We met and I mentioned that C Boogie had been inviting me every year. He said, “Well, you need to come.”

I told him, “You know what… he already invited me this year, and now I meet you two weeks later. I’m definitely coming.”

After he came to one of my events, we started talking about bringing Beat Freaq to Beats and Bars. It felt like a perfect marriage between what he’s building in Augusta and what we’re building with Beat Freaq.

03A Family Reunion

How did you end up getting involved, and what were your thoughts as the opportunity presented itself?

Once the conversation started about bringing Beat Freaq to Beats and Bars, it just felt natural.

When I actually got there, it felt like a family reunion. I came in with an open mind and wasn’t really expecting anything beyond having a good time, especially because Kool Kim and his wife are such amazing people.

But the experience exceeded my expectations.

As you arrived, what was the moment like?

It was like I had found my tribe again.

I’ve found my tribe a few different times throughout my life, and this was another one of those moments. Everybody greeted me. Everybody said what’s up. There was no big I, little you mentality. No hard looking, no mean mugging, nobody trying to be a tough guy.

It was just love… straight family reunion vibes, with all the cousins you actually like.

Straight family reunion vibes, with all the cousins you actually like.Jah Freedom

04When the Room Answered Back

How was Beat Freaq received at Beats and Bars Barbecue?

Man, people loved it.

I brought two of my guys with me to perform, and we also had a local artist, ilveal_da_producer, perform and open things up. His daughter got up and rapped, too, and that was really amazing.

As each of the beatmakers performed their sets, you could literally feel the energy building throughout the crowd. People were really connecting with what we were doing.

By the end, people were asking when we were coming back. So the answer is… we’re coming back.

05The Cypher, the Food, the Water

Tell us about two high points of the event.

There were a lot of highlights, so I’ll give you two personal highlights and two highlights from the overall event.

Personally, one of my biggest highlights was doing my beat set while the MCs started a cypher. Having some of the top elite MCs in the building going off on my beats was incredible.

Then seeing Percee P completely black out on one of my beats… that was legendary. I got it on film, so I’ll have that moment for posterity.

My other personal highlight was the camaraderie and networking. I got to meet people I’ve looked up to musically for years and actually have real human conversations with them. Not just conversations about music… conversations about life, experiences, and what we’re doing now. That meant a lot.

For the overall event, the food was amazing. Shout out to QP.

And then there was the boat ride. That was another special moment because it gave everyone an opportunity to slow down and really connect. QP made breakfast, we were on the water, and we got to sit around and have conversations with people we had met through music and hanging out the night before.

It was just people being people… talking about life, music, family, and what they’re working on. Being on the water made it even better.

06Coming Back

Will Beat Freaq be returning next year?

If Kool Kim will have us… hell yes!

No, seriously… absolutely. I’ve already blocked off the time and I’m already putting together the squad to come back down.

What can we expect from the Beats and Bars Barbecue and Beat Freaq collaboration in the future?

We have some ideas.

One thing I’d really like to do is set up recording stations at the event so we can capture the Rock and Rumble and expand on that idea.

As Beat Freaq continues to grow and more people discover the platform, I think we’ll have even more producers and artists participating in the open ops.

I’d also love to pair some of our producers with some of the elite MCs at Beats and Bars and have them create music specifically for that weekend. Imagine producers and MCs getting together, creating something from scratch, and capturing that entire experience while everybody is there.

And then there are some other things we have planned that are top secret… so I can’t talk about those yet.