Well... I was just telephoned by Rhoq at approximately 1030pm, Philadelphia time, to inform me of some very interesting but yet expected news. For the past five years the concept of Freestyle has emerged to become one of the largest dance music mediums to be covered on the Internet. In the beginning we had the indoctrination of "Freestyle By Primax," the first web site on record to have bestowed the concept of Club Music (Freestyle) onto the world wide web. Next we had "Orimoto’s Freestyle," a web site hosted from the University of Hawaii which also provided some minute information about the concept of Freestyle Dance Music, including the world renowned formula, FREESTYLE MUSIC=LATIN HIP HOP + HEART THROB + FUNKY MELODY. The next website to emerge onto the WWW was "John Ferrari’s Freestyle," which was known for its brief video clip of the Little Suzy "Take Me In Your Arms" video, but for some odd and strange reason the video never would play when I clicked the hyperlink. Through some strange force brought about by the angels up above the first ever communication medium materialized exclusively for fans of our beloved music, "The Rare Grove Bulletin Board." It was on this system where a small minority joined together to discuss this great music called Freestyle. Personally, I first stumbled upon this medium during the latter part of 1995/early 1996, back then I was in High School and had been experiencing a lot of problems relative to ‘teenage heartache.’ To make a long story short, the ten or thirteen of us became online ‘buddies’ and maintained a semblance of RESPECT and HONOR whenever communicating with one another. The concept of FLAMING AND CURSING hardly existed on this medium, postings were generally short in length and consisted of a ‘jam of the day.’ During the middle half of 1996 "RummyG’s Freestyle Club Music Page" emerged, with an initial purpose of providing information relative to the Philadelphia Freestyle Scene to a specific target audience, the freestyle fan. Eventually I came across two natives of Philadelphia (I’m from the Southern Suburbs originally) who educated and provided me with extensive resources about this music, including insider information about the forgotten SOUTH PHILLY FREESTYLE Era established by South Philadelphia’s Own Jerry Tripodi, Greg Ferry, and other’s during the early 1990’s. From this moment the Philadelphia Freestyle Connection emerged as a ‘social’ group and a fan club aimed at preserving this great genre. Okay, well, I don’t want to come off as someone who’s done anything significant for this music since the truth is I’ve only been a supporter, a former web site administrator, and a member of a group which once aimed at releasing a freestyle single. The truth of the matter is I believe that RummyG has a lot to be appreciative for, to the people he came across in his travels as a member of the Freestyle Nation, prior to his blacklisting. I would not be the person I am TODAY in the Offline world had it not been for Freestyle Music and for the Freestyle Nation. I could tell you times when I would ‘cut’ school just so I could stay in C-Ire’s Chat room all day talking to my friends about the music and BS’ing about random topics. There were times when I would get together with some fellow Freestyle Nation members and head over to gentleman clubs in New Jersey for the sole purpose of ‘hearing’ Viper Freestyle, or the like, playing in the background as we saw hot G-Stringed Divas dance the night away and fulfill our wildest desires. Memories my friends.... Never forget them because without a frame of reference or a concept of memory ‘yer good for nuttin’ as we say here in Philly. I will always value the good times experienced during my surfing on the Freestyle Nation and will never forget the ‘offline’ encounters I had with many of its members. I must defend myself, however, for at one time I was accused of being the ‘Anti-Christ’ of the Freestyle Nation. Yes, indeed I made some premature business decisions while involved with a local venture here in Philly, and in retrospect I suppose it wasn’t the ‘right’ thing to do. In addition, I was falsely accused of being a poster by the nickname of "The Critic," who posted derogatory messages to various members of the Freestyle Nation and accusing certain women of being good for nothing welfare mothers. To this day I stand in my defense and proclaim My Innocence in being involved with such filthy thoughts. Nevertheless, I have since grown into a man and am able to take blame for whatever pain my actions caused onto people. I am saddened that Adam Lewis decided to pull the plug, but at the same time I do feel that an evolution has already taken place. Yes folks, you’re standing right in the evolutionary structure of Freestyle as we know it on the Internet. What once started as group of ten individuals ranging from the ages of 17 through 35 has now turned into a conglomerate of minds representing all ethnic and religious backgrounds. . . God bless you all regardless of what you may feel deep inside towards me or any of my ‘Friends.’ I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors and pray the gods up above shine you all with success and happiness. Now, for the final shout out from RummyG: To Adam "Lost Love" Lewis, thank you for keeping the board alive for all of these years, I’m sorry I had to depart the medium three and a half years back due to some friction. Dez, congratz on your engagement and best of luck. Roberto Garcia, thanks for sending me weekly Airborne Express shipments of your Shows. Primax, thanks for starting all of this. DJ Fierce, thanks for being there for me. Rhoq, thanks for exposing me to Pablo Toto and Coronas! Ramini from California, not sure what happened to you. Scott_T, hope things are working out well. Hiram Ortiz, I haven’t forgotten about you.
As we always used to say, "Peace and Keep the Style Alive."
RummyG
As we always used to say, "Peace and Keep the Style Alive."
RummyG
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