The extremely talented Freddie Bruno who is an emcee, producer, minister, and former breakdancer is kept busy by working solo albums, albums with both hip hop crews Phonetic Composition and Deepspace5 and producing. Bruno's debut The Ball Point Composer proved he is a sick emcee with ground-breaking rhyme styles, being written both with intelligence and depth. Freddie Bruno’s sophomore album Hold Music is highly anticipated and the release date has not been determined.

What inspired you to become a hip-hop artist?

You know out of all the questions I'm asked, this is the first! I suppose when I was young I was fascinated with performers in general. I used to pretend I was everything from a rockstar to an MC. But something about the way hip hop was sort of a voice of the youth and the way it's more of a culture than a type of music drew me in. The way the old schoolers would rock the party and just have fun, the bboys, the dj'ing, you could say it consumed me. AND I WANTED TO DO IT!

Your debut full length solo release is entitled The Ball Point Composer, what does the title mean?

It's a conjunction of my skills so to speak. I'm an MC and a producer. "Ball Point" Writer..."Composer"...producer. The ironic thing is, I only produced the last song and the interludes!

What happened when Uprok Records was terminated from parent company Tooth and Nail?

I suppose you mean, what happened to me? Well I decided to move on and work on another album, stay busy. I can't stand not working and crafting my art skills. Uprok going under didn't discourage me in any way; I fulfilled my part and wasn't expecting another record from them anyway. I would have liked to but I normally prepare for the worse, and the worse happened. So in a nutshell, you could say their "early retirement" didn't affect me. Only thing I do regret is that they did put out a lot of great music and had the potential to release more.

Did you see the termination of Uprok coming?

YES! When the A&R pulled out, I knew what was happening next.

When did you join both DeepSpace5 and Phonetic Composition and how did they happen?

Well in order of appearance I joined PC back in maybe 98 or 99 can't remember. Playdough and I have always worked together on music even while he did the Ill Harmonics thing. And at the time we were close friends with Eroc at rescue records and had the outlet to do an album. So we decided to make a group, found a name and here we are. When I joined DS5 was back in 2000 and through our "PC days" as Playdough and I refer to them we came to know and gain a lot of friends in the same line of work we did. This really tall MC from Georgia named Manchild in a group called Mars Ill became one of them. He and Playdough did a song together for their first record "Raw Material" Black Market in which I co-produced. After that we kept in touch, and over time he asked me and Playdough to join the team. Of course we accepted!

How did you get started producing?

Well I've always had a gift for it, my mom was a musician Dad was a drummer, My sister played French horn, and my brother taught himself to play the guitar. So when I found the love of hip hop, I wanted to learn how to do it all from stem to stern. Took me years to perfect my sound, as you know a lot of known producers have their "sound". But I always wanted people to hear something I did, and be like "Yo, thats a Fred beat?!" Now everybody knows I produce and it's getting me a good little buzz. Not a whole lot of MC's who can make beats. So it’s a skill I hold dear.

What artists have you produced for?

Hmm......let’s see. Eroc, Sivion (DS5), Mars Ill, Playdough, Ill Harmonics, Nomadic (Soul Components), Sev Statik, The Listener, Ill Trip (Labklik and DS5), Sintax the Terrific, Cas Metah, Ethik, Reza. That's all that's flying to my head right now....hope I didn't leave out anyone who's gonna read this!

You are also a former break-dancer; do you still break-dance?

Not as acrobatic as I used to be, but I think I could probably still cut the rug.

What projects have you been working on since your solo debut in 2002 and presently?

Quite a bit, my second record "Hold Music" which is 75% produced by me, I produced the entire Ill Trip solo album due out next month (Sept 9th), I'm producing on Playdough's sophomore release "Don't drink the water" and his now untitled EP will have a good amount of beats from me. Sintax the Terrific is doing a sophomore joint that I got I think 2 beats on. I did a joint for the new Ill Harmonics Album "Monkey Business". And Red Cloud will have an album composed by me as well. Deepspace5's funky Beat Rabbi is doing a solo album featuring all 12 of us rap monkeys.

What’s in store in the near future from Freddie Bruno, Deepspace5 and Phonetic Composition?

A whole lot of RAP A TAP, TAP! And if your lucky a new PC album.

Any last words?

DEEPSPACE FO LIFE NIA!

For more information on Freddie Bruno check out http://www.deepspace5.com