Peezy: The Life & Times of Mr. Elvis Freshley (Not your ordinary rapper) PART 1

It's about 2:30 p.m. on a Friday and cold as hell in Louisville, Ky. This is my first time actually interviewing a rapper that works at a newspaper. But I wouldn't just call him a rapper. He's a father of three girls, a journalist and hustles hard to seek his own ventures and entrepreneurship. His alias is Peezy, now known to a lot of his peers as Mr. Elvis Freshley. In other words, he's not your ordinary rapper. In the first part of his interview, Peezy breaks down on how he started his music career and his family life as a youth. Stay tuned for Part 2.
When did you become interested in rapping?
Peezy: I just haven't been interested in rapping, I've been interested in music nearly my entire life. The inspiration came from my mother and father having me and my sister sit with them on Friday nights and playing their old records on a record player.
What kind of old records would they play?
Peezy: Just about anything you can think of. From the first stages of hip hop with the Sugar Hill Gang, to funk music such as George Clinton and Lakeside, to r&b albums like Angela & Rene, S.O.S. Band and Mtume. There would even be a couple of rock albums in there to, like Rare Earth and Aerosmith. I didn't just listen to the music, but I really studied all of these artists craft. That's why I appreciate all kinds of music till' this day, except country! (Laughs)
So when did you decide to pick up a mic?
Peezy: I didn't pick up a mic at first, I picked up a pen and pad and started writing poetry when I was in the fourth of fifth grade. My mother took me to church and the kids had to write something they learned about Jesus, kinda like an essay paper and present it to the parents. Well I figured since I liked music so much, I should just try to make my essay rhyme. I read my poem/essay in front a crowded church and they all applauded and thought it was creative. Don't ask me if I remember what it was or how to recite it! And my parents probably don't even remember this!  But it that eventually drew me to pick up a mic and rap.
Do you remember writing your first song?
Peezy: Of course, my family moved to Lexington, Ky. when I was in the fifth grade and I had a girlfriend named Nicki who I was really crazy about at the time. I was young, but girls constantly stayed on my mind. Back then they had the cassette singles where they would have the instrumentals on the B side. I just started rapping about how much in love I was with her and all this other silly stuff. I guess you can call that an unreleased track because I never performed it or anything, it was just for kicks.
Did you ever release anything in high school music-wise?
Peezy: Hell no! I was too busy into girls, football, and being one of the popular kids at school. I mainly just wrote poetry, but I already had my future planned out with getting a football scholarship to Western Kentucky University and becoming a journalist.  My senior year in high school was a breeze. I skipped just about everyday, but the teachers wouldn't mind. They were cool, long as I turned in my work. My parents never really knew about it because I covered it up so well.

Tell me about your lifestyle at home and how your family was when you were growing up in Lexington.
Peezy: I had strict parents man. I'm talking about, we lived in a nice neighborhood and everything but a nigga still had to come in when them street lights came on. It was crazy because most of my friends were from single parent homes, or lived in the east end and Woodhill areas. I was never really exposed to their lifestyles because mine was so different. They knew it too. But they still accepted me because I didn't act like an Uncle Tom or anything. And what you have to understand is, I lived in Alexandria, Va. prior to moving to Kentucky. When we first moved, I couldn't stand Kentucky! The people talked too damn country for me, and the state itself wasn't as fast paced as to where I was from. But you know, it grew on me. 

So would you say that you had it made because you didn't go through what some of your friends went through as far having both parents in the house and living in the suburbs?
Peezy: Hell no again! I looked at them like they had it made! I was the one who couldn't stay out at all times of the night, be out in the hood with the niggas I went to school with. But don't get it twisted, I was very appreciative of what my parents had accomplished in order for me and my sister to live comfortably. They loved hard, and still do till this day and I thank them so much for that because it has kept me grounded. Those friends that I hung out with didn't see my parents struggle with $200 or $300 and a couple of suite cases moving to Columbus, Ga. with a two-year-old son. They didn't live in a trailer with a room the size of a half bathroom. But it was all my parents had at the time and they made the best of it. To see them move from a trailer, apartment, townhouse, and finally to a house, that's a blessing man. So I really don't give a damn about being from the north, east, west, or south side of Lexington. My parents worked hard to get us where we were in Lexington so it's all good.

So when did you start having success rapping?
Peezy: When I went to college.

How did you do it?
Peezy: Back then I was known as Twon P, and a group of us football players started recording ourselves in a dorm room. I however, took it more serious and came out with my own mixtape. From there, I bought a bunch of blank cd's and had a bunch of chicks copy them. Next thing you know, I heard my music being played in some of the campus parking lots and even started getting phone calls from anonymous people that wanted to get a copy of my cd. I knew I was on to something then.

Stay tuned for Part 2 as Peezy gets more in debt with his music career, his relationships with females, his daughters and being a journalist.



By Desmond Harris