Bumpy Knuckles 'Crazy Like A Foxxx' album

Legendary hardcore rapper Bumpy Knuckles has been around longer than some fans may realize. Before he was making classics with DJ Premier, Freddie Foxxx was rolling with Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit, preparing the album that was supposed to be his big breakthrough. The album was shelved, but we're making sure it won't be forgotten.

Originally due for release in 1994 and only ever issued on a promo cassette, Bumpy's Crazy Like a Foxxx is finally commercially available!

The deluxe 2XCD package includes the original album, plus the 1993 demo version produced entirely by D.I.T.C. (Showbiz, Lord Finesse, & Buckwild). With guest appearances by legends like 2pac, Chuck D, and Kool G Rap, this is an essential album from a pivotal time in hip-hop history.

To celebrate this long-awaited release, Fat Beats Radio's own DJ Monster has put together a six-minute mix featuring some of the best material on both versions of the album. Check out the mix "Crazy Like A Foxxx Preview Mix" and get ready for Crazy Like A Foxxx!!

biography
"Freddie Foxxx (a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles) is among rap’s angriest characters, sporting energized fists and a brutal bark." – URB Magazine

Freddie Foxxx is an enigma. He keeps redefining himself as others desperately try to pin him down and label him. Ruffian. Hardcore. Gun-Wielding. A bygone legend, limited to cameos and guest appearances. Industry Troublemaker. Foxxx is all of these things and none of them at once. A past marred with distrust and hard-breaks has molded Foxxx into a chameleon and one of the most respected emcees out there. With the anticipation of his new album, Crazy Like A Foxxx, 14 years overdue, Foxxx is ready to step back into the game on his own terms.

Freddie realized his destiny was to become an MC early in life while on stage after winning his first battle, and began a relatively successful career in his early years with the group Royal Nation. As fate would have it, Foxxx missed a chance meeting with a DJ named Eric B, looking for a rapper to collaborate with. Rakim, another NY teen and budding rapper actually made the date, and sealed the deal which culminated in the release of "Eric B is President,” sparking a feud that would span decades between Foxxx and Rakim. Despite these tensions, Foxxx stayed cool with Eric B, who put Foxxx down with the Paid In Full Posse. Eric also let Foxxx use his studio time to produce and record his debut album, Freddie Foxxx Is Here.

And so began a twisted relationship with the music business. While promoting his first album, Freddie got his first taste of the deceit and sketchy nature that’s now expected of the industry. Foxxx was not feelin’ it, and decided to forge his own route. After an unpaid debt led to one particular confrontation at MCA Records, Foxxx's rep was sealed. Despite a slew of guest appearances on records by the likes of KRS-One, Naughty By Nature, Kool G Rap, M.O.P. and GangStarr, no record company would work with him. At that point, Foxxx stepped away and into obscurity.

Meanwhile, pushed by a hunger for his art and his newfound spirituality, Foxxx began work on his next project. He says of his experience, “I've been recording all these albums. For the last five or six years, I've just been building catalogue. What I decided to, was instead of going to the studio, do an album, drop it, go work the album, I'll forgo that concept, and decided to build my catalogue, knowing that this is an Internet-driven society, musically, at this time." He added, "I can create as a feel, but not in a desperation to have something new out at the time. A lot of people drop albums, and they work it, and the music don't last that long right now.'"

Originally released only as a demo tape on MCA records, Crazy Like a Foxxx has been shelved ever since. Foxxx has been building up his repertoire over the years, since his disenchantment with the music industry in order to come back at fans and dissidents with a force of strong new material. The initial 1993 demo version of Crazy Like A Foxxx features production exclusively from D.I.T.C.'s Showbiz, Lord Finesse and Buckwild. Fat Beats and Foxxx have included these unheard versions on the bonus disc of the two CD set, also available digitally. The album was largely made for the emcee's comrades in prison at the time and initially featured darker music and aggressive subject matter, but today’s Foxxx is no regular thug-emcee. He’s devoted his life to intellectualism, faith, art, and family. His legendary presence and experience command respect just as his rhymes do. Crazy Like A Foxxx’s highly anticipated July 29th release is due to send shock waves through the world of rap and put Freddie back in the spotlight for all the right reasons.

Freddie Foxxx Achievements:
Freddie Foxxx has sold over 200,000 units of his completely independent Industry Shakedown release.

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Bumpy Knuckles - Crazy Like A Foxxx