THIS IS YOUR FREESTYLE BLAST #7

In this issue we root for the artists, meet the creators of two huge Facebook groups, blast a bunch of Birthdays, and then tell you where to go for your next Freestyle Fix!

Jul 15, 2022

Wudup wudup wudup! Blastards and Blastets! Welcome to the 7th issue of The Freestyle Blast Newsletter, we are in July of 2022 and I hope you guys are having as great a summer as I am so far!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not on vacation, in fact, I’m buried deep in a bunch of work, including a summer jam-packed with Freestyle club and concert events, and I-Am- Ecstatic!

That’s right, after nearly two years off the road, due to covid, it felt like the genre would never bounce back, but it did, and I feel it’s bouncing higher than ever!

Yes of course my personal acts are all booked solid this year, which if you don’t know are Lil’ Suzy, The Cover Girls, Angel OCG, as well as a bunch of calls that have been coming in for S.A.L. I’m also representing the group Freestyle (Don’t Stop The Rock, It’s Automatic) and whose schedule I am currently working on (Hey promoters, hint hint!)

But you know, it could never be only about my artists. The entire genre needs to stay active in order for us to all benefit, to thrive, that’s why I’m always rooting for my peers, artists, and fellow industry folk!

Competition is healthy and pushes us all to be better than the next person, but growth only happens when we push to be better than ourselves, better than how we were yesterday.

I’ve been hearing the same people talking about Freestyle having just a few years left for the last twenty-plus years, and they couldn’t be more wrong. If anything it’s only been getting better, and those fools who have been saying that shit seem to be the only ones with just a few years left!

Look, Freestyle is gonna be here for as long as we want, and if we do it right, Freestyle will remain here long after we’re gone, and that needs to be our focus!

What’s the point of all this if the genre suddenly dies when we do?

Anyway, we got a really cool Blast happening this month, so go ‘head and dive in, and please, share this Newsletter with others you think might also enjoy it. So you ready? a’ight, let’s go!

As long as I’ve been a part of this industry, I’ve always tried to be innovative, trying to come up with new ideas to help extend the branches of the Freestyle tree. Monetary gain was never my driving force, but rather my natural passion for creating.

I’ve invested lots of time, energy, and money, coming up with products and ideas that I hoped would gain traction and take off on their own, and though I’ve only had mild success, never have I been discouraged. In fact, quite the opposite. Every move I’ve ever made, regardless of how mere its crawl, would be just enough to drive me into the next thing, keeping me going, creating, and hoping that this would be it!

What are some of these things I’ve created? Well, going back to the early 90s with my Stylin’ Free Record label where I released two compilations, my original Network Newsletter, La’ Entertainment’s management and booking agency, my repackaging of Angel OCG and the creation of S.A.L., Freestyle by La’, the first men’s cologne made especially for the Freestyle genre. The first-ever Freestyle Music Awards held in Miami in 2008, an amazing Tee shirt line, the Freestyle Against Phonies movement, the reuniting of The Original Cover Girls, nine published books to date, over one hundred hilarious Tik Toks during one of our generation’s saddest times, The Good Night Freestyle Podcast which recently surpassed 730 episodes, three NFT collections, and of course, this… The Freestyle Blast Newsletter!

And though a little bragging may be evident in this article, the point that I am really trying to make is that I will not stop! In fact, I can add at least another five awesome projects that will be launching in the near future, but I don’t normally talk about things I’m working on, you know, in case shit decides to go in another direction.

Now, I don’t get much support from my peers, and though it could be sad at times, I get it, not to mention the fact that I don’t want my friends and family to support me because they love me, or my peers because we’re cool. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to support any of my endeavors for whatever reason, because that isn’t really gonna help me. In fact, something like that can be counterproductive as it may make me complacent, and satisfied with an outcome that doesn’t truly have legs.

What I am striving for, is complete submission! yeah, you heard right, but let me explain. Submission to the point where even my die-hard haters will have no choice but to love whatever it was I did. That no matter what, no matter how hard they’d try to resist, they just wouldn’t be able to. This is the level of value I am trying to bring to my market.

Anyone within our community who has attempted to release a product or service, I’ve always tried to somehow support. But not always because of that product or service, because many times those things just aren’t for me, so of course, I won’t buy it. But what I am supporting is you! I believe in you, and your hustle. Your ability to come up with an idea, bring it to life, set it up for sale, market it, and eventually sell it! Now, that’s impressive, and that’s what I wanna follow!

What I am supporting there is your intention, your drive, and motivation. I look at individuals in our industry and it’s as if I know exactly what they are trying to do, and though it may only show through a Social media like or comment, It’s my own little way of telling you to keep up the great work, ‘cause believe it or not… “I’m rooting for you!”

Could you remember a time when Facebook didn’t exist? To this day I find it to be one of our greatest inventions, not just Facebook, but Social Media in general.

And one of those features within Facebook that I love is the Facebook Groups. I’ll tell you, the Freestyle community has really embraced that one, as there are so many Freestyle Facebook Groups out there, and some of them are really packing in some numbers.

Before then, how did we congregate as a community? How did we promote shows, or introduce new artists and music? Think about that for a second, you probably forgot, huh?

I didn’t, because I’ve done them all, and I’ll tell you, I would never go back to those days.

Standing on the corner in the freezing cold at two o’clock in the morning waiting for people to leave a club so that you can hand them a flyer, only to watch them frisbee it into the street.

Or how about showcasing artists at clubs, where everything that could go wrong does!

Or that new music that you spent a fortune on, not to mention the time it took to mail out a copy to anyone who you thought could help out.

If you’ve never experienced any of those situations, then you’ve never truly experienced the music business!

For this segment, I reached out to several Freestyle Facebook Groups that I thought were really popping, and who I felt played a valuable role in our community. At first, everyone was down, but now I had to wait so that I can coordinate everyone’s schedule.

from seven groups, the interest dropped down to six, five, four, and then finally three that I felt were solid, and so I began writing.

Since the creators of these groups are spread out around the country, I had to conduct my interview through a list of back and forth questions, a task that seemed to be way too much for one of those groups, and so they too pulled out, leaving me now with just two!

Shout out to JUNIOR COLLAZO and LARRY & BETSY VELEZ, for hanging in there, but let me tell you this, and I’m not kidding. IF I had to scrub my initial list down to just two groups, it would have been these two anyway, and in a minute you’ll learn why, and at the end of this article, I’ll place the link to each of their groups so that you can go in and check them out, and maybe even join!

Though I would’ve loved to have gotten these three together, I couldn’t, not only because they live far from one another, but because I’m sure they’re swamped moderating their combined number of over 80,000 group members!

Now mind you, these are not just “Music Facebook groups” these are niche market groups that specialize in Freestyle Music Only! In other words, if you have something to say, promote, play, post, or introduce to the Freestyle community via Social Media… There are two Facebook groups that will connect you with the most, and those are, We Support Freestyle Music Forever, and Freestyle Music Radio Group, created by Junior Collazo, and Larry and Betsy Velez.

This interview was conducted over a few weeks via email, text, and Facebook messenger, but I have to tell you, I became so engulfed in this discussion that it felt like we were all sitting around a table at McDonald’s sharing a 20-piece nugget.

LATIF: let me start by saying thank you for taking the time to do this interview, and if you could please introduce yourselves to the readers and tell them a bit about who you are.

JUNIOR: Sure Latif, and thank you for having me. My name is Junior Collazo. I am originally from New York, but now living in Las Vegas. I am 54 years old and work as a Security Office / Dispatcher at the Park MGM, and my group is, We Support Freestyle Music Forever.

LARRY V: Hey Latif, so I’m Larry Velez but people call me Larry Vee, I am 52 years young, and have been involved in Freestyle since I was 17. In my early teen years, my family moved to Hartford, Ct. My beautiful wife, Betsy aka La Amazing Nena, and I live in the Orlando Florida area, where I also work full time as Correctional Officer at Osceola County Jail.
Betsy and I are the owners of Freestyle Music Radio, and our Facebook group is called, Freestyle Music Radio Group.

LATIF: So, a husband-wife team, huh? I know a little something about that!

LARRY V: I know you do (laughs)

LATIF: So how’s that working out for you two, running one of the biggest Facebook groups in Freestyle?

LARRY V: We both work as a team with the Freestyle Music Radio Group, our fan page, and our internet radio app… but of course, she’s the boss!

LATIF: Great save, Larry!

LARRY V: Thanks

LATIF: Now, it’s obvious you guys are all Latino, but I’m curious, from where?

JUNIOR: I’m Puerto Rican

LARRY V: And I’m half New York Rican and half Italian from Brooklyn.

LATIF: As I mentioned earlier, I reached out to about five of the biggest groups that represent Freestyle, and you two are indeed the biggest. Do you mind sharing your numbers with us?

JUNIOR – Not at all, my group currently has 38 thousand members.

LATIF: And what about you guys?

LARRY V: – And ours is at 45.9 thousand members.

LATIF: Well let me be the first to congratulate you two, because according to my phone, your group just hit 46K!

BETSY V: Yay!

LARRY V: Laugh Thanks man!

LATIF: Do any of you realize that you’re holding more people in your group than Madison Square Garden.

JUNIOR: No, never really thought about it.

LATIF: So now you know, how does it feel to you?

JUNIOR: I’m very excited. I mean, I’ve worked really hard building this thing, with the help of course from my Admins and fellow group members.

LATIF: What made you want to create this group in the first place?

JUNIOR: My love for Freestyle Music of course. I’ve been a huge fan since it started back in the 80s.

LARRY V: When we started FMR aka Freestyle Music Radio our plan was, and still is, for the group to help promote DJs, conduct artists’ interviews, and promote new music and events. Whatever we could do to help keep the Freestyle community informed about what’s happening within the genre, and of course to promote our FMR App, which can be downloaded for free at www.FreestyleMusicRadio.com

LATIF: This interview hasn’t even warmed up yet and you already dropped a promo! (laughs)

LARRY V: I’m sorry La’, it’s just that this is a great opportunity for us, so we gotta take advantage.

LATIF: It’s all good, plug away, and I’ll make sure to add all your links at the end of this issue.

LARRY V: Thank you

LATIF: So is there a goal you’re shooting for? Maybe a certain number of members?

JUNIOR: I don’t really have a goal for the number of members that join, but rather to keep up the quality of the group so that those members that do join have a great experience.

LARRY V: Quality for us goes without saying, but yeah, 100 thousand members within the next few years is our current goal, we talk about it quite often, and we feel that if we could maintain the slow yet steady ride we’ve been on, we’ll definitely get there.

LATIF: Slow and steady, that’s a great formula! So when did you guys actually create these groups, and what was going through your mind when you noticed it was growing so big?

JUNIOR: I started as a Moderator on a group page called Freestyle Music Lives, until the group creator kicked me out, and so on March 10th, 2013 to be exact, I created my own group and called it, We Support Freestyle Music Forever”

LARRY V: When we opened our group in 2016 it was shocking to see how many people were joining. By the end of the first week we were already at two hundred, after like two months we were at two thousand, and by the end of the year, we were at 5,000. It was exciting, but we kept it humble and stayed focused on our initial intent which was to create a platform that can help in building the Freestyle Music gene. It became a win-win for everyone.

LATIF: Junior, what do you feel is the most important key to maintaining a successful Facebook Group?

JUNIOR: Hmm, I would have to say, making sure to always interact with your members, and do your best to keep out the negativity.

LATIF: What about you guys?

LARRY V: Promotions, you have to work very hard in promoting the group and the brand by posting regularly like, Dj lives, free mixes, events, new music, pretty much anything about Freestyle, like This Freestyle Blast Newsletter, which we’ll keep posting to help keep the fans involved and informed.

LATIF: Well, thank you guys!

JUNIOR: It’s been pinned to the top of my group too, since last month!

LATIF: Yeah, I saw that Junior, thank you, brotha.
Now, you mentioned negativity. Do you find that to be a big problem, and if so can you give me an example without mentioning any names of course?

JUNIOR: It’s a problem, but we got it under control. We don’t allow drama or bullying. For example, talking negatively to or about any Freestyle artists or other group members. My admins and I will delete those comments the minute we spot them, and if they keep it up they’ll get banned from the group indefinitely.

LARRY V:
Negativity? Oh yeah, way more than what anyone would expect. But we believe that those are just haters, hating on anything and anyone who’s doing more than what they’re doing.

BETSY: If you’re out there trying to do something positive, or you become successful, trust that a hater is right around the corner.

LATIF: Now what do you guys feel is the hardest, or maybe the most time-consuming part of running your group?

JUNIOR: I have two administrators assisting me, and it's still not easy. There are a lot of parts to managing a Facebook group. At the very least it’s important to try and engage with every post, you know, liking, commenting, and of course, deleting those that don’t belong.

LATIF: I bet you get a lot of that, huh?

JUNIOR: Yes, a ton!

LARRY V: Wow, this is a great question, Latif, but what seems to be the most time-consuming for us is trying to figure out if certain profiles are real or fake.

LATIF: So can you guys share your secret on how you figure that out?

JUNIOR: Well, my admins and I go through each profile before we accept them into the group. We look for mutual friends or if they’re friends with Freestyle artists, and that is a pretty good indicator.

LARRY V: The way we find fake profiles is first we check their age, most Freestyle fans should be between thirty and sixty years of age. We also check to see if there are any mutual friends, or at least if they’re friends with any of the artists.

BETSY: Plus we have a few questions that need to be answered, and answered correctly before becoming a member.

LATIF: Damn guys, that’s like going through customs at the airport!

LARRY V: I know (laughs) But we gotta do it!

LATIF: Now both of you have mentioned your admins, who I’m sure have their hands full with such huge groups, why don’t we take a second here to give them a little shout-out?

JUNIOR: Absolutely! I have a Vice President and her name is India Conde Virella and my current Admin is Josie Costello. But I’ll also like to shout out a couple of my past admins who played a really important role in helping me build my group, and that would be Mari Virella, and Christine Rowe.

LARRY V: We have a few, but two that I’d like to acknowledge for sure are Yahira Rodriguez and Omibewa Oliveira, they help us a lot, and are always sharing our posts.

LATIF: That’s great, like they say, Team Work makes the Dream work!

BETSY: Amen!

JUNIOR: Yup!

LATIF: Are there any Freestyle artists or industry folk that are members of your group? If so, throw me a few names.

JUNIOR: On my Group page we have a V.I.P Members list and in there you’ll find Lisa Lisa, Judy Torres, Johnny O, Shannon, Angel OCG, Margo, Caroline, Stevie B, Soave the list goes on.

LATIF: Yeah, I noticed I didn’t make that list.

JUNIOR: Ooops!

LARRY V: Us too, our list is pretty extensive including Stevie B, C- Bank, Angel from The Cover Girls, Johnny O, Corina, Cynthia, Shannon, Company B, George LaMond, we get a lot of love and support from the artists.

LATIF: Okay, final question guys, and I’m hoping this would help attract new members. What makes your Facebook group different from the rest, and why should people consider joining?

JUNIOR: When you join a group, you want to post, and have people actually engage, especially if you have as many members as I do. But sometimes you have to help a bit, and so I have admins and moderators who go in and engage with those posts, just to get it going, and it works! We also watch closely for any type of drama that might be brewing and of course unrelated posts.

LARRY V: We are a private group, so what happens with us, stays with us (laughs) We don’t have snoopers, you’re either in, or you’re not.

BETSY: Also, we take it really seriously and demand respect for not just our other members, but also the artists and industry people.

LARRY V: We have an annual Freestyle award that we give out, but overall, we want to have fun, and so do our members, so that’s a priority.

LATIF: I did my best to cover as much as I possibly could, and I try desperately to get my readers to see the real you! To know you and understand you, in hopes that they will go in and support you because I definitely do! But every answer you give immediately branches out to a bunch of other questions that I’d love to ask, but I gotta stop somewhere, so therefore I’d like to ask you, is there anything else that you’d like to add that I might’ve left out?

LARRY V: I think you got it all Latif, thank you, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to take this opportunity to shout out a few important people.

LATIF: Go right ahead.

LARRY V: First off, a super huge shout out to all of our members, thank you for joining us, and thank you for sharing our content. To all our DJs, particularly Dj Solo, EBS, Kool MIke skii, Dj Fat Franco, Smiley, Dj Flash. Dj Felon, Dj Chris Campos, Dj Vicious, along with past and present staff members, the moderators, and promoters. We work hard and as a team and it feels great knowing fans support Freestyle Music Radio, a platform we created for Freestyle Fans, Artists, Producers, Records Labels, Promoters, and Artist’s Management, and a special shout out to my wife, Betsy Velez,

BETSY VELEZ: And a shout out back to the one who started it all, my husband, Dj Larry Vee!

LATIF: Awwww, you guys are too cute!

JUNIOR: Please make sure you mention also my other group page We Support Freestyle Music Forever ❤️ Fan Page. This page is strictly Freestyle Music videos and Flyers for upcoming Events…

LATIF: I will

LARRY V: Once Again Thank You for having us on Freestyle Blast Newsletter, it was an honor.

LATIF: Well guys, thank you so much for speaking with me. I wish you guys the absolute best and much success. On behalf of our Freestyle Blast Readers, I wanna say thank you for all that you do. God bless!

So there it is folks, three incredible individuals, or should I say, one individual and a couple, investing their own time and energy into our genre for no other reason than their love for it. And how can we give back to them, or at the very least show our appreciation for what they’re doing? Well, that’s simple… Join their groups!

Lori Volpe, Debra Simoff, Carmen Sabater, Lucinda Gonzales, Frank Orlik, Sandra Cruz, Alicia Contreras Salazar, Richie Cruz Rodriguez, Susie Proctor, Yesenia Guilbe, Daisy Benemann, Waffle Garcia, Steven Wilson, Gerry Dorvil, Dunie Barraza-Cruz, Duran Ramos, Steve Sosa Sr., Diane DeVera, Melissa Trinidad, Leo Brown, Michelle Valentine, Jim DeSimone, Mambo Lebron, Vincent Zaldivar, Phillip Barcena, Jimmie Elias, Reinaldo Gonzalez, Suzi Carr, Wil NMore, Naya Nyasia Santiago, Harvey Louie, David Quezada

The Freestyle Blast Newsletter

THIS IS YOUR FREESTYLE BLAST #7

In this issue we root for the artists, meet the creators of two huge Facebook groups, blast a bunch of Birthdays, and then tell you where to go for your next Freestyle Fix!

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