“People were always like he’s cold, he’s cold, he’s cold, so I was like, okay, Freeze. That’s me,” Brad Brown laughed about how his rapper name – Yung Freeze, was born.
The 28-year old Thom Collegiate graduate started battle rapping when he was 18. He’s opened for some big names, like Young Jeezy and Bone Thugs. Now he’s been signed by Universal.
“A couple big features coming out on the album. I can’t really say too much about them, but they’ll be coming out this summer,” he said.
Brown has just returned from L.A. and will soon head to Montreal to do more recording. After working in a sometimes less than lucrative industry for over a decade, it’s a good feeling to finally be recognized.
“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted, right? I’ve been doing music for ten years now and then one day you get a phone call and you’re doing way bigger things than you ever were before,” he said.
Brown’s signing comes at a time when the rap scene in Saskatchewan is gaining momentum.
“It’s actually surprisingly strong and we’ve seen more and more really good artists come out of both Regina and Saskatoon and surprisingly out of some of the smaller centres, like Weyburn and Estevan,” said Lorena Kelly from SaskMusic.
“Ace Massive” is one of those artists. He moved to Regina from Louisiana three years ago for a girl, but stayed for his music career.
“I’ve always had a good feeling about the passion and the love of music here and the people that are in Regina because they really want music because they love music,” he said.
Yung Freeze was one of the first people he met after moving to the Queen City. A record deal for his friend only means more attention to other local artists.
“You can always respect the level where you see someone get to this point where there’s almost nothing more you can do than get your break,” he said.
However, lest it be taken for granted it’s his big break, the industry has changed.
“It really depends on the deal. There’s not the huge advances that there used to be,” said Kelly. “It’s not like the lottery anymore.”
Brown will do most of his recording in Montreal, but will stay living in Regina.
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