Fredonia rap duo pioneers

SUNY Fredonia's campus is filled with students possessing all types of musical capabilities. Many of these students can be found in Mason Hall practicing their vocals, playing their instruments, or showcasing their abilities to the campus during Open Mic Night. But in the small bedroom of a Park Place apartment, two of Fredonia's independent rappers can be found creating their own music.

Meet Fredonia's own Earl Anderson (EJ) of New York City, and Siddel Hanley of Poughkeepsie, NY. They are best known as Holidae Spekz and Fresh Dinero. Together, they call themselves Finesse. These music business majors are putting their education to use by using what is learned in the classroom and taking it to the streets.

The room is silent except for the gentle clicks of the keyboard. Seconds later, the room is full of sound; it becomes an enclosed box of melodies and beats that fill the ear, forcing feet to tap and heads to bob. While Spekz edits, Fresh steps up to the mic set up in the corner, with his lyrics scrabbled on a sheet of loose-leaf. He puts his lips to the mic, headphones on, and all the rest of the world is ignored as he spits his rhymes. Though it may seem very simple to the ignorant eye, making music is in fact a difficult, time-consuming task.

Fresh and Spekz met in 2010 at SUNY Fredonia, and have been making music together ever since. "I watched Fresh record one of his sessions in a studio in Mason Hall and asked him if he wanted to work together," said Spekz.

The duo work well together while still maintaining their individual styles. "My sound can be described as sophisticated aggression with a twist of creativity and ignorance," said Fresh, who is highly influenced by New York born rappers Fabolous, Notorious B.I.G. and Jadakiss.

Spekz also names Jadakiss and Fabolous as his influences, as well as Nas. "Those are the artists that influence me to make my music pure," Spekz said. However, he is most influenced by Tupac. "Tupac was the first rapper that I've ever actually sat down and listened to." He was first introduced to Tupac's music by his brother. As for his style, "As an individual, I'd say my music is soulful, chill, and not too gritty."

Fresh and Spekz emphasized that they are not "gangster rappers."  "I'd call myself a sophisticated rapper. I rap about anything that relates to me, or things that I can relate to or have experienced," Spekz said.

According to Fresh, this "gangster" style of rap is pretty much dead. "I like to get creative, and use my extensive vocabulary," Fresh said while discussing rapping.

A track titled "Having a Good Day" off of their mixtape Open Mic Raw and UnMastered IV showcases Finesse's ability to rap about topics other than sex and violence, which are very popular themes in today's rap. In "Having a Good Day," Fresh and Spekz rap about waking up, looking and feeling good, and hanging out with friends and family. It's a tune that students can relate to, a strongpoint of many of Finesse's songs.

Finesse has performed gigs at The Foxhole and Muldoons in Fredonia, as well as several other local house shows. They also recently participated in a rap contest in Buffalo. The two are slowly gaining popularity. "We have a total of 2,141 plays for our music nationwide. Considering we have only been rapping together for less than a year, that's a good number," Fresh said.

Finesse already has a couple of mixtapes out. Their first recording in Fredonia is titled Kush and Coronas. The first track shares the name of the mixtape, and is a playful one. There are several references to Fredonia within the song, and at one point the rappers proclaim that they are bringing rap to Fredonia. "It's On" samples recording artist Jazmine Sullivan's "Hold You Down."

The duo's growth as musical artists is evident. The two are currently working on a sequel to Kush and Coronas, that will be higher quality and officially produced as a mixtape. Their most recent mixtape is titled The Frame Without a Portrait: The Best of Raw and UnMastered. It is a compilation of the best songs from all of their previous mixtapes, plus three bonus tracks. They are also working on an album called Another Semester which is slated to be out this spring.