Freddy Will

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Freddy Will @ East-side Gallery (September 2018)

Freddy Will (born August 11, 1977 , real name Wilfred Kanu Jr. ) is an American-Canadian writer, philanthropist and hip-hop artist. He is the author of several books - three of these books have been published with music accompanied by hip-hop albums. His portrait can be seen on four limited-edition stamps in Sierra Leone . He has worked with both Juno Award winners and Canadian jazz musicians such as Eddie Bullen and Liberty Silver, as well as five-time US Grammy Award gospel singer Carvin Winans. Freddy Will was nominated for a Grammy Award (2010) for his musical contribution to the charity project "Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough To Eat" album.

Life

Freddy Will was born at the Brookland Maternity Center in Brookfields, Freetown , Sierra Leone. He is the eldest son of the Reverand Leroy Wilfred Kabs Kanu Esq, who was the plenipotentiary minister of Sierra Leone to the United Nations and is the editor of the widely read Cocorioko newspaper in Sierra Leone. His mother, Mrs. Tigidankay B. Kanu, is the nursing director, minister, and founder of the Covenant Child World Ministry, a church in New Jersey, USA. His father is descended from the Loko and his mother from the Mandinka . In his biography "My Book of Chrymes" he says that his parents moved to Monrovia when he was two years old, where his father taught English. The family later moved to Kakata , where his father became a lecturer in psychology. In his book he also describes his experiences in the first Liberian civil war and his hardships as a refugee in West Africa during the civil war in Sierra Leone . Since his grandmother was an African American who lived in New Jersey with her husband, his parents immigrated to the United States. Freddy stayed in Sierra Leone for the time being at the end of his high school and was waiting for his permanent settlement permit in the USA. When the civil war reached Freetown, he had to flee the country and moved to his uncle in Gambia and Dakar in Senegal .

Career

Freddy Will attended St. Mary's and St. Christopher's Catholic Schools in Monrovia and Kakata, Liberia, and later Christ the King College in Bo, Methodist Boys High School, and Ansarul Muslim Secondary School in Freetown, Sierra Leone. After graduating from high school, he studied drama at Raritan Valley Community College and completed training in accounting and hotel management at the Edison Job Corps Academy in New Jersey (USA). Freddy Wills was naturalized to the United States while he was being certified as a Phlebotomist in the medical field at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and was doing his Bachelor of Science in Organic Chemistry.

To pursue his music and writing career further, he moved to Toronto , Canada . There he released five studio albums with his music label Ghetto Breed Entertainment and Swift Nightz Entertainment (see discography). During this time he also published his first five first books with Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing, his publisher, Freddy Will Publishing in Ontario , Canada. During his interview with award-winning Ghanaian journalist Jefferson Sackey, Freddy Will said that he had already started rapping in Liberia . He was shaped by Kool Moe Dee , Queen Latifah , Naughty by Nature , the legendary Sierra Leonean rapper Jimmy B, Dr. Dre , Tupac Shakur , Scarface , Snoop Dogg , The Notorious BIG, Nas , The Luniz and LOX as one of his most important musical influences in hip-hop. He received significant literary inspiration from his father, John Grisham , Shakespeare , Langston Hughes , Caresse Crosby , Maya Angelou and Pacesetter Novels. Freddy Will was impressed by Idris Elba , Ice Cube , John Singleton and Spike Lee in the theater and acting genre .

After ten years in Canada, he moved to Brussels, Belgium in the winter of 2016. His books are in the Library of Congress and the Library and Archives of Canada. He is a member of the Rotary Club and Master Mason at the Grand Lodge of Ontario, Canada.

Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough to Eat (Grammy Nomination)

Freddy Will was featured on the New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods' charity children's album, which was nominated for a Grammy Award by The Recording Academy in 2010 . This nomination made him the first Sierra Leone musical artist to be nominated for this award. Jim Cravero, Paula Lizzi, Steve Pullara and Kevin Mackie from the "East Coast Recording Company" produced the album collection consisting of music and word performances. Freddy Will wrote and performed the song "Future", which appeared on the second CD of the double CD album. "Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough To Eat" is a charity album with the message to parents and children to eat healthily. Various musicians, word artists, children's book authors, chefs worked together on this project to raise awareness of type 2 diabetes . Other artists on the CD include a. Moby , Julian Lennon , Jessica Harper , Amy Otey, Sara Hickman, Tom Chapin and Russell Simmons . The album was nominated in the "Best Spoken Word Album for Children" category.

Limited edition of postal stamps in Sierra Leone

In recognition of his success as a musician and writer, who was the first musician from Sierra Leone to be nominated for a Grammy for his musical achievements, a limited edition of postage stamps was issued. This was initiated by the Sierra Leonean Postal Administration, which is a member of the Philatelic Agency, to which 70 international state postal authorities belong. The Intergovernmental Postal Consultants (IGPC) issued four limited edition stamps with Freddy Will's picture in his honor.

Discography

Albums

  • While I'm Still Young - The Talking Drums (2008)
  • Dark Horse from Romarong - a City of Kings (2010)
  • Laboramus Exspectantes Vol. 1 (2014)

Mix albums

  • While I'm Still Young - The Talking Drums 1.2v (2009)
  • Views from the 7 (2017)

EP

  • City of Kings: Reloaded (2012)

Mixtape

  • Stay True (2006)

Cooperations

  • Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat (2010)

bibliography

Books

  • My Book of Chrymes (2009)
  • The Dark Road from Romarong (2010)
  • Hip Hop Kruzade - Path of a Legend (2014)

eBooks

  • The Sandmann's Journal Vol. 1 (2016)
  • The Sandmann's Journal Vol. 2 (2017)
  • The Sandmann's Journal Vol. 3 (2018)
  • The Sandmann's Journal Vol. 4 (2018)

Grammy Awards

year Song / album category role Result
2011 Healthy Food For Thought, Good Enough to Eat Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children Vocals, lyrics, songwriting nom

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sally Kamara: INTERVIEW WITH FREDDY WILL: AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR & ARTIST . iRep Salone. January 30, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b Phila Mirror: Sierra Leone: Stamps on Grammy-Nominated Artist . philamirror. November 2, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ken Cowle: Hip Hop Kruzade . Soul Asylum. December 10, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  4. ^ Andy Johnson: While I'm Still Young - The Talking Drums 1.2v (Sierra Leone) 2009 . Ghetto Breed. June 19, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  5. ^ Wilfred Kanu Jr .: My Book of Chrymes . Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing, Ontario, Canada 2009, ISBN 978-0-9812160-1-0 , p. 5 (accessed April 22, 2018).
  6. ↑ Kab's Kanu: THE HISTORY AND ORIGINS OF THE COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER . Cocorioko. August 16, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ Sierra Express: Kab's Canoe Day . Sierra Express. March 29, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  8. ^ Newspaper Critique Echo: memorial-1 . Critique Echo. March 20, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  9. ^ A b Jonah Editor's Pick: Freddy Will - Dark Horse From Romarong . Discover Music. November 2, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  10. ^ Wilfred Kanu Jr .: My Book of Chrymes . Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing, Philadelphia, PA 2009, ISBN 978-0-9812160-1-0 , pp. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 (accessed April 22, 2018).
  11. ^ Wilfred Kanu Jr .: My Book of Chrymes . Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing, Philadelphia, PA 2009, ISBN 978-0-9812160-1-0 , pp. Chapter 4 (accessed April 22, 2018).
  12. ^ Wilfred Kanu Jr .: My Book of Chrymes . Soul Asylum Poetry & Publishing, Philadelphia, PA 2009, ISBN 978-0-9812160-1-0 , pp. Chapter 6 (accessed April 22, 2018).
  13. ↑ Ken Cowle: Shop / Music / My Book of Chrymes . Soul Asylum. December 10, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  14. ↑ Jefferson Sackey: JSR FREDDY PROMO-people and blog . imperiya. March 11, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  15. ↑ Wilfred Kanu Jr .: My Top 10 Influences in Literary & Publishing Pt. 2 . Freddy Will's blog. September 8, 2016. Accessed December 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ Alex Otey: Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough To Eat (A Children's CD) . Alex Otey. August 3, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  17. ^ Carolyn Scott-Hamilton: Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough To Eat (A Children's CD) . Health Voyager. August 30, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Will, Freddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kanu, Wilfred junior (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American-Canadian writer, philanthropist, and hip-hop artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1977