Who Is The True King Of Freestyle?

So, the time old question that has been asked by so many for the past 20 something odd years!!  Who is the true king of freestyle?  Who really honors and cherishes that title?  So many have considered such artits like Stevie B, Johnny O, George Lamond or Noel to be the True King of Freestyle!  But the question remains, who can really claim that honor?

Its hard to gauge what artist really is better then the other and who can claim as the absolute best; hence, THE KING.  Lets look at Noel.  Noel, a talented artist, no doubt a HUGE contributor to the genre.  With timeless classics such as Silent Morning, Like A Child, City Streets & the Question just to name a few.  His success brought him all over the world with appearances on MTV, billboard charts and his own videos.  However, he never really broke out after his debut album.  He did have a follow up album, Hearts On Fire, that was a complete departure from his dance roots.  So, again, Is he the TRUE king of freestyle?

George Lamond, the latin heart throb, of our genre.  If anyone would be considered the GQ of Freestyle, hands down, Mr. Lamond would be that.  On top of that, the man can sing – wow!  George Lamond has had a very successful and colorful career from his days in freestyle with hits like Bad of The Heart, Distant Heart & Where Does That Leave Love just to name a few.  He blew up with stints on MTV, Rick Dees & a slew of videos, billboard chart success and a huge deal with Columbia Records.  He then found further success in 1999’s salsa smash, Entrega, winning several awards with his new music.  He definitely has kept himself diversified in all genres of music even tapping into the reggeaton market with 2007’s Oye Mi Canto album.  Now, in 2010, signed with Robbins Entertainment, he is still putting out music.  But, for a better part of the past 15 years, he really hasn’t come out with a FULL freestyle album.  He has realeased some freestyle tracks here and there under the Robbins label and others.  Despite haveing a great career overall and being a very talented singer, has this success warranted him the TRUE king of Freestyle?

Now, we come to Stevie B.  I would say hands down, probably the most successful out of any freestyle artist having not only scored #1 hit on the billboard hot 100 for 6 weeks beating our Madonna and Whitney Houston, but also having 4 platinum albums and several gold records.  He, of course, is known all over the world for his classic ballad, “Because I Love you.”  He also is known for  his top 40 hits Spring Love, In My Eyes & I Wanna Be The One and for 1994’s top 40 hit, Dream About You.  Despite these successes, Stevie B for the most part has stayed true to the genre of Freestyle by consistently putting out freestyle albums in 1998 with “Its So Good” and with several others during the early to mid 2000’s such as 2006’s “Time” album.  In all of those albums, you would always hear a ballad some R&B but for the majority it always was freestyle.  so, does this consitency in putting out freestyle make him the better artist?  Does this define him as the King of Freestyle?

Finally, we have Juan Ortiz or as the world knows him, Johnny O.  Johnny O came out in 1987 with the world wide club hit, Fantasy Girl.  Then scored a billboard success hit with fellow label mate, Cynthia, with “Dream Boy Dream Girl.”  Of course, in the freestyle world, his follow up album to his debut album and his 1995 album on Exit Records were huge underground hits, he really never gained commercial success after “Dream Boy Dream Girl.”  Then in 2001, he released his much anticipated album, “Sounds Of My Heart” with his most recent one, “Peace On Earth” in 2007.  Similar to Stevie B, he has for the most remained consistent with freestyle but has introduced other forms of it by incorporating Euro Trance and Dance Beats versus the traditional freestyle sound. 

So after looking at these 4 talented individuals, how can we gauge who is the king of freestyle?  Is it about what their record sales are?  Is about who has remained consistent in putting out freestyle music?

1 thought on “Who Is The True King Of Freestyle?

  1. Everybody is going to have their own opinion based on who they like as an artist. I would say If I had to choose, it would be Noel because I love his music. But if you were going to take out the feeling of how one feels and look at success within the genre, then Stevie B would be it. It depends on how you look at it.

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