Who are "The Freshman"......?

The following was written by Jonathan "Mo" Morales for Get Fresh Entertainment, shedding a little light on the group, goals, and being Hip Hop in DUUUVAL...




It happens everywhere that hip-hoppers congregate. Rappers, dancers and poets alike engage in battling to trump a competitor or simply to keep another's ego in check. Lyrical assaults are prized for the skills necessary to compete in a battle. Wits, presence and lyrical skill all go into a battle session, most importantly is the improvisational aspect. Nothing is scripted, and nothing is taken personally. In many instances, after confirming a winner, the rappers who have just battled come down from the stage complimenting each other and citing lines that struck them as exceptionally creative. In the hip hop world, respect and disrespect clash violently, but sometimes the competition fosters something much greater than a freestyle award.

For Get Fresh Entertainment rapper Just Will, working with his rivals is nothing new. In a local freestyle championship, Just Will has triumphed twice over the same opponent and friend, Robin Bankz, but what happens off stage isn't about bad mouthing or belittling the other guy, it's about creating music and doing so by working with artists and talents around you. I shared some time with Get Fresh Entertainment at The Lionz Den Recording Studioz to get some firsthand insight on the local hip-hop scene and how collaborating impacts artists.

"It's probably more commonly referred to as 'hating'," said Just Will as he explained to me the crab pot theory that engulfs so many rappers who are trying to make a break into the scene by discrediting the work of others. But this scene does no justice to Get Fresh, who are more open-minded to talents in the area.

By tradition, hip hop has been divisive in the sense of the 'solo rapper' making a career out of their self. Unity was not the norm and rivalries often formed between rappers common to the same community. That is starting to change. "A lot of cities now are forming together, Jacksonville is just starting to be like that," said J. Stahr, director of promotions for Get Fresh Entertainment as he comments on the movement that rappers from across America are joining by representing their community together. "No more than two years ago I'd say everybody was hating."

"It's more of a unified front now," says Just Will. Different rappers are able to share the stage now but many of the differences held between them remain. "There was a difference between the backpackers and the trappers… now you go to Hip Hop Hell and there's no beef, you see the dope boys with their hands up and then you see us jamming to their [music] too!" says Just Will as he comments on the coming together of different styles, backpackers referring to the artists who value more the lyrical sense behind rapping and trappers who rap more about the plight of life on the streets. "Now it just feels a lot better being an artist in Jacksonville since people have started recognizing everybody's talents."

After discussing some politics with the Get Fresh crew, I was allowed to step into John Dough's The Lionz Den Recording Studioz. I was led to a suite in the back of the building and soaked in the surroundings. The electronic equipment in the room emitted a low hum that filled any silence. John Dough is a friendly and quiet character, he did not waste any words and it was clear that he knew what his job was.

Backing up most hip-hop artists today are the music producers who create the tracks for the rappers. It is possible for rappers to produce their own music, but this creates the single-faceted production that Get Fresh Entertainment tries to avoid. The relationship that Get Fresh shares with John Dough Producqciouns mirrors the type of business relations between artists and producers that are successful on a national level. John Dough Produqciouns and Get Fresh Entertainment work very closely but both remain independent from a business standpoint. John Dough produces many of the beats for Get Fresh but not all. Likewise, the artists in Get Fresh employ other producers to work for them; such is the case for Just Will. He has worked with other producers such as D.V.US, a producer closely tied to Swordz, one of Jacksonville's premier rappers that actually has a metal band, HoodRock, backing him at his live events. John Dough Produqciouns though, remains the main source for beats and studio support work.

The way that John Dough Producqciouns operates fosters networking and common goal setting. From the studio, John Dough produces beats, designs album artwork and mixes and masters the recordings. I recently asked John Dough about how he goes about selling his beats; once again I was given perspective into the inter-relations and dealings of artists in the area. "All different ways," says John Dough. "Sometimes people come to me with an idea and I just make it, sometimes I just make a beat in general and sell it to whomever likes it, or sometimes I'll make a beat with somebody in mind because I know they would like that beat… all different formats."

Most notable though is how word-of-mouth benefits both John Dough and Get Fresh, while linking various artists and producers throughout Jacksonville. "That's how I get most of my clients… it comes from me doing something for one person and then another person hearing it, and being like 'yo I want some [beats] like that,' that's why I give out free beats every now and then, it's like advertising," said John Dough. That varying clientele is what keeps John Dough in business and helps Get Fresh reach status. "He might be doing something for an artist more significant at one point in their career than we are… we leech off that popularity too."

Listeners and budding artists in particular are expected to know more than who performs a song in their scene, they should have some knowledge about the production behind an act. This in turn is how artist and producers garnish a fan base and open more opportunities. "If it's a real hot song, it's always a good thing to make sure they say your name as a producer in that song," said John Dough. Publicity for John Dough equals publicity for Get Fresh, so naturally both entities will thrive upon each other's hard work and efforts. "In the end," adds Just Will, "it's all about the money."


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Just Will