Freedom Williams

Freedom Williams knows how to set the world in motion. As front-man and rapper for C+C Music Factory, he led ubiquitous anthem Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) to No. 1 around the globe, including five weeks at the top of the U.S. Club Play chart and a reign on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B charts in 1990.
His iconic rapid-fire machismo also appears on follow-up C+C singles Here We Go and Things That Make You Go Hmmmmboth No. 1 dance hitsleading accompanying album Gonna Make You Sweat to sales of more than 8 million worldwide.
Raised in Queens, N.Y., Williams was rooted in the burgeoning hip-hop movement from an early age. He attended junior high school at P.S. 192, located on the famous 205th Avenue in Hollis, Queens, home to such staple acts as Run-D.M.C., Jam-Master Jay and LL Cool J. Williams wasn't just an observer of hip-hop culture; he was among its innovators and an early hands-on creator, rocking basement parties as MC Tiny Tima name he adopted from 70s and 80s funk outfit the Fatback Bands release King Tim III (Personality Jock), which pre-dated the Sugarhill Gangs Rappers Delight in 1979 as the first commercially successful rap record.
Williams first commercial success was on independent label Nu-Groove Records, launched by Frank, Karen and Judy Russell in 1988, which specialized in house music. Song Freedom, from seven-member group Total Science out of East New York, was issued in 1989, featuring Williams and Underground Network founder Barbara Tucker on vocals.
His next single, Get Dumb, distributed by Vendetta/A&M Records and co-produced by Kenny Dope Gonzalez of the now-celebrated Masters at Work group (which also includes Little Louis Vega), was the B-side to hit You're My One And Only (True Love) by Seduction in 1989, assembled by mega-hit producers Robert Clivilles and David Colefounders of C+C Music Factory, who met Williams at Quad Recording Studios, where, in addition to his other talents, he was working as an engineer. They were impressed with his deep voice and rapping abilitiesand the rest, of course, is history.
Following his multi-platinum success with C+C, Williams worked on film projects, community activism and solo music. His first project, Freedom, was released in 1993 on Columbia Records, spawning top 5 dance hit Voice of Freedom and follow-up hit Groove Your Mind. In 1994, single Sweat the Remixes on RMD Entertainment scored top 10 dance success in the U.K.
His 2009 single Mindbounce with production trio Speakerbox, reached No. 19 on the Billboard Dance chart, while Williams is also featured among the hit remixes on top 5 club smash Underlying Feeling by international dance diva Sylvia Tosun.
He is also involved with social networking Web site Vhopnation, is working toward authoring childrens books and a historical three-volume manuscript on the African Origins of Civilization from the Middle Ages through Europe. Williams also counsels and interacts with other single fathers through organization Young Fathers and Real Dads Network.
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