Freedom Williams: International Musician Making his Legacy as the Owner of C&C Music Factory
Freedom Williams is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who gained fame as the lead singer and rapper for one of the hottest groups of all time, C&C Music Factory. Thirty years after the release of C&C Music Factory’s hit song, “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” Freedom Williams is still on the scene as an international musician performing and traveling the world, promoting C&C Music Factory as a relevant and international brand.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Freedom has always been passionate about music. In our interview, he discussed how he fell in love with performing at an early age. He said, “When I was seven years old, I was in a play in the second grade, and I played Fredrick Douglas. When I walked on stage, I immediately realized that this was what I wanted to do. From that point on, I knew.”
As a child, Freedom also played the trombone as his love for music grew and grew. Now he can play percussion and guitar which aids him in creating his music.
Some of his musical influences include other iconic artists like Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, Commodores, Dido, and Earth, Wind & Fire, but his favorite band is Toto. In addition to music from the 60s and 70s, the sounds of reggae, house, and hip-hop have influenced Freedom Williams’s expansive music style.
Freedom first started making records in college while also pursuing communications and history at Hampton University in Hampton, VA, a historical black college, before studying recording engineering at the Center for the Media Arts in Manhattan in 1987. From 1985 to 87, he was in a rap group called Hardcore. He remembered doing radio rap contests at the time and always won first place. In 1987, after returning from college, he began working at Quad Studios. While working there, he was able to mix his first record with Spike Lee and Marcus Miller called “Da Butt.”
Freedom quickly became a rapper people wanted to work with, and early in his career, he was able to make music with many amazing legends. He’s been able to work with artists and groups like Mary Black, Sly Stone, Marcus Miller, Induction, Cameo, KC Flightt, and Larry Blackmon to name a few.
Because Freedom worked with many big-name artists like David Cole and Robert Clivelles, he got the opportunity to become the front man and co-founder of the international multi-platinum selling group, C&C Music Factory. What was originally supposed to be a solo project, ended up being some of the greatest years of Freedom’s career.
With five #1 Dance/Club Play hits, including “Gonna Make You Sweat” (Everybody Dance Now), “Rock N Roll”, “Things That Make You Go Hmmm”, “Just a Touch of Love” and “Do You Wanna Get Funky” in the early to mid-1990s, Freedom Williams was making a name for himself through his music and amazing performances.
In 1991 while their track "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" spent more than six months on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, C&C Music Factory solidified their position as one of the hottest groups of all time after winning the Billboard Award for Best New Pop Artist, beating out Boyz II Men, Color Me Badd, EMF and others. While this group had much success during their time together, the international icons went their separate ways after the passing of one of C&C Music Factory’s members, David Cole.
In 1993, Freedom was able to pursue a solo music career releasing his debut album Freedom on Columbia Records. Even in his solo career, Freedom was always at the top of the charts. His single “Voice of Freedom” peaked at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1993. His follow-up single “Groove Your Mind” also charted on the Club Play chart peaking at #33.
Because of his booming solo career, Freedom Williams took the C&C Music Factory brand with him, keeping the name alive and associating the brand with his successful international tours, however, Freedom ran into some trademark issues with the surviving co-founder of C&C Music Factory, Robert Clivelles.
In our interview, Freedom explained that Robert Clivelles didn’t like him using the trademark for his solo career. Clivelles sent cease and desists to different performing coordinators, telling them Freedom couldn’t perform under the C&C Music Factory moniker. After Robert retired, he wasn’t touring or keeping the brand alive, but since Freedom was, he realized the importance of owning the rights to C&C Music Factory.
“I was the only one from C&C Music Factory touring, traveling, and keeping the brand relevant. I own the trademark for C&C Music Factory now, and there’s always been a big controversy about how I got the trademark. The guy in my group (Robert Clivelles) took me to court because he didn’t want me to have the trademark. I ended up getting the trademark because I’m the only one who continues to grow the brand.
“People keep wondering, ‘how did you pull that off?’” he continued, “because all groups have issues with trademarks— the Beatles had an issue for one quick second. The Beach Boys had an issue. Black Street had an issue. Who owns the brand is a really big deal, especially when you’re in a group. So, the fact that I control and own the trademark of C&C Music Factory was a huge win and says a lot.”
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