"Freestyler" is a song by Finnish hip hop group

Bomfunk MC's The Bomfunk MC's is a Finnish hip hop group that was active between 1998 and 2005, before reuniting in 2018. The group's frontman is the rapper B.O. Dubb (born Raymond Ebanks, and formerly known as "B.O.W."), and the main producer is Jaakko Sa ...

. It was released in Finland on 30 October 1999 as the third single from their debut studio album, '' In Stereo'' (1999), and was released internationally in February 2000. "Freestyler" peaked at number four on the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

and topped the charts in more than 10 countries, including Australia, Germany, Italy, and New Zealand. The song also peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Composition

"Freestyler" is primarily a breakbeat song, with strong influences of UK dance culture and electronic dance music, as well as some influences from drum and bass and hip hop. It is written in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

and composed in a tempo of 164

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

Critical reception

'' Daily Record'' described "Freestyler" as a "cracking old-skool track". ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' described the track as "a housed-up hip-hoppity mélange of sampled slide-guitar, rubbery synth bass and Caribbean-inflected dance instructions; a dancefloor natural."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song was mainly filmed at the

Hakaniemi metro station Hakaniemi metro station (, ) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the central Helsinki districts of Hakaniemi and Kallio. Both lines M1 and M2 serve Hakaniemi. There are 28 bicycle parking spaces at the station. Opened on 1 June 1982, ...

, an underground station on the

Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...

line in Finland and with platforms 21 metres below sea level. The principal "home boy" featured in the video is Marlo Snellman, a Finnish model and musician, who later released his own single entitled "Dust" and went on to work as producer for his own projects such as "Hipsters" and "Okta". The actor was 15 years old at the time of shooting and got the part through his mother, Finnish modelling magnate Laila Snellman. The video begins with a man dancing extravagantly during the instrumental intro of the song as Marlo is catching a train while listening to "Freestyler" on his MiniDisc (Sony Walkman MZ-R55) player. A character sits across him in the train, who is played by

Raymond Ebanks Raymond Anthony Ebanks, also known as B.O. Dubb (formerly known as B.O.W.; born 2 January 1970), is a British-born Finnish rapper best known as the frontman of the hip-hop group the Bomfunk MC's. Early career Raymond was born in London to ...

(B.O. Dubb), the lead singer of the Bomfunk MC's, and who imbues Marlo's Sony MiniDisc remote controller with the ability to pause, rewind or fast-forward individuals. Realising this ability, Marlo spends the duration of the video manipulating passersby, dancers and even the train, with Raymond appearing in the background wherever he goes, watching Marlo. As Marlo comes across the Bomfunk MC's, he tries to manipulate them to no effect. As Raymond approaches Marlo, he accidentally rewinds himself, and the whole video is then sent into backward rewind. The music video is a play on themes of empowerment, with the power of the music being transferred to and in the end taken from Marlo by Ebanks. There is a continuity error in the video with the number on the train carriage changing throughout the sequence. During the video, Marlo comes across the main character from the music video of "Uprocking Beats", another song from '' In Stereo'', and freezes him. Marlo also appears briefly in the music video of " B-Boys & Flygirls", reversing and forwarding the car the main characters are driving. The music video was parodied by Funky Bong in Assembler (k)—an entry for Assembly 2000 wild

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

competition. It took the fifth place at the competition. The music video was later parodied by the hip hop group Raptori for their song "Hiphopmusiikkia". In 2011, the beginning scene was remade in the music video of DJ RZY's "Tervetuloo Helsinkiin". In 2019, the beginning scene was also tributed in a hardcore techno fashion in the music video "Luonnon Nostatus" by Teknoaidi & Iconobreaker featuring Samu Kuusisto.

2019 music video

For the twentieth anniversary in 2019, a new music video was produced featuring the original band members, with updates to reflect developments in technology and culture. The central figure is now a girl ( Milica Bajčetić) with a mobile phone, with various Belgian

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

cameo appearances. The 2019 music video was filmed at Vukov Spomenik railway station, an underground station on the BG Voz commuter railway network serving Belgrade, Serbia. The new video had been sponsored by communications provider

Telenet (Belgium) Telenet Group N.V. is the largest provider of cable broadband services in Belgium. Its business comprises the provision of analog and digital cable television, fixed and mobile telephone services, primarily to residential customers in Flanders a ...

to promote a new mobile phone service.

Track listing

CD maxi – Europe (2000) # "Freestyler" (radio edit) – 2:52 # "Freestyler" (alternative radio edit) – 4:07 # "Freestyler" (Happy Mickey Mouse Mix) – 4:48 # "Freestyler" (Missing Link Remix) – 5:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

Official ''Freestyler'' video
on

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