Even if you’re not familiar with the name Freddie Dredd, you’ve most likely heard his music at one point or another without even realizing it. He has one of the most unique sounds in all of Hip-Hop, and to say that he is strictly Hip-Hop is definitely underselling him. While his beats typically utilize a somewhat grainy, Lo-Fi style that often uses samples along with other elements that might partially bring you back to the more nostalgic golden era of Rap music, his lyricism is ruthless and even more hostile, which definitely brings his music to new levels. While I’m not overly familiar with Freddie myself, I enjoy what I’ve heard so far and I’m interested to see what he has up his sleeve moving forward.
Just a week ago, Freddie dropped off his brand-new EP called SUFFER, and it’s undoubtedly one of the best tastes of his music we have yet. “Devil’s Work”, one of the project’s standout singles, also just received a music video today, giving even more life to the previously released track. As for the instrumental, dark, demonic synths combine with speaker busting 808s and kick drums as well as lighter, more minimalistic percussion to truly provide an underworld feel that Freddie simply seems to feel at home on. As Freddie begins to introduce the song, all of the pitched-down vocal effects and alterations to his voice make him sound just as demonic as the production itself, pairing well with the instrumental and consuming your brain from the inside out.
When he gets into his verse, his cadence remains somewhat consistent with that of the introduction, but his vocals are no longer pitched down. Many of the original effects remain the same, but his words come through a bit cleaner than before, although the gritty filters continue to mask his true vocals. His lines are kind of segmented as he spits a few words before pausing for very brief moments, getting right back into the next bar as soon as he takes a breath. As far as the lyrics are concerned, Freddie mentions a multitude of dark thoughts involving the Devil, anxiety, pain, and violence, among many other themes that accompany the song pretty perfectly.
When it comes to the visual, a sort of anime-inspired cartoon style is used as we’re literally taken to the gates of Hell, or Hotel 666 as it is called in the video. A wide-eyed regular looking gentleman drops from the sky flat on his face at the entrance to this place, and Freddie is there to greet him as the front desk receptionist or bellhop of some sort. Accompanying the two individuals is a variety of oddly shaped characters that have to represent demons and other netherworld individuals. Eventually, the original guy nervously signs a contract that basically sells his soul, and the Devil, who is labeled as the boss in the video, comes over and pats Freddie on the back, giving him a thumbs-up of approval. Freddie then takes the guy on an elevator ride to the very bottom floor and as soon as the doors open, the gentleman is snatched up by a creature and toyed around before ultimately getting bit in half by the Devil, bringing the visual to an end.
Freddie’s music might not be for everyone and although it might not be my absolute favorite subgenre of all time either, I can’t help but respect the originality and effort that goes into the music he makes. He has steadily built an extremely sizeable following, partially due to the success that some of his songs have had on TikTok, but mainly because of the inventiveness he portrays in every single one of his songs. His use of old school samples combined with the granular, gritty stylistic choices he makes really helps him stand out from a group of clones, so he should definitely be respected for this individuality. It’s clear that his success is just going to continue rising for the foreseeable future, so make sure you tune in so you can see exactly why he’s been so successful over the past couple of years. His music video for “Devil’s Work” is a great place to start, so you should definitely give it a spin whenever you find some time.