Toronto hip-hop artist Friyie (pronounced free-yay) has been enjoying the success of his current Off the Map mixtape. Blending the Toronto MC’s knack for melodic flows over atmospheric soundscapes, the project is just the latest manifestation of his artistic evolution.
“I feel like I’m just building the story and the narrative of who Friyie is,” he says, “and when the world finds out, it’s like there’s all these little blueprints of things that I was saying in my album covers and track listings. They’re all symbolic and they all mean something.”
Friyie and his ANF (Ain’t Nothing Free) collective have already been on the scene for several years. While he became serious about hip-hop in high school, buying a mic at Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall, Friyie raised eyebrows in 2017 for being featured in VICE’s 6ix Rising Toronto hip-hop documentary, alongside artists like Pressa and Jimmy Prime, and his Floyd Mayweather Jr.-endorsed song, “Money Team.”
Select the image to access the YouTube video of the Friyie song “Off the Map”
The endorsement from Mayweather, a renowned, world-champion boxer, also earned him international recognition, two million views for the song on YouTube alone, and millions of streams across Showtime, VICE, Spotify’s RapCaviar, Apple Music, and Billboard. Friyie opened for Cardi B at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and was featured on Dexta Daps’s album Vent, which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Reggae Chart.
Friyie’s connection to Mayweather might seem completely fortuitous, but it was borne out of his willingness to take a risk, and act on his initiative. The chain of events happened because Friyie shrewdly approached Metro Boomin’s driver at a Remix Project event in Toronto, handing over a USB stick of his music and his Instagram handle to pass on to the super-producer.
The driver was playing Friyie’s music while he was transporting Mayweather a couple of days later, and the boxing champion immediately wanted to track down the artist. Immediately hit with a bunch of phone notifications, Friyie was welcomed into Mayweather’s Team Money fold ever since, with the since-retired Mayweather using Friyie’s “Money Team” song for his ring entrance music.
Meanwhile, the singer-songwriter still maintains his connection to Mayweather, to this day. “I’ve travelled a lot of places with him, I’ve learned from him,” says Friyie. “Just being around him, I’ve seen [his] discipline, and it’s super-locked-in.”
“I don’t like to get stuck on one idea, I like to get my brain full”
Friyie feels that his own artistry and discipline has developed significantly, on projects like 2019’s ANF (Ain’t Nothing Free), 2020’s Before the Flight, and his 2022 EP Never 2 Late. While he’d initially aim to write three verses in a traditional song structure, he now favours a looser creative approach that prioritizes being in a flow state, working on several songs at once.
“I don’t like to get stuck on one idea,” says Friyie. “I like to get my brain full. So when I’m in the studio recording a song, I’ll probably record a verse and a hook and a verse, and then I’ll just go on to the next song.”
The result of Friyie’s process is evident on songs like “50/50” where his high-pitched vocals on loyalty, and his focused mindset, float in contrast above entrancing basslines. “Georges” is a catchy hyper-local shoutout to a convenience store in the Jane St. neighbourhood in Toronto where Friyie grew up.
“When I’m back on these old stomping grounds, it has nostalgic elements which can then breed another type of inspiration,” he says. “I like to look for something that can give me creativity.”
Select the image to access the YouTube video of the Friyie and Smiley song “Drop Charges”
But the concept of Off the Map goes far beyond Friyie’s Toronto landmarks. The mixtape cover shot, as well as the title track video, was captured in Salt Lake City, Utah. Additionally, “Accra Dreams,” the opening track, explicitly hearkens back to Friyie’s Ghanaian roots.
The music of his heritage has been an important influence for the Toronto-born MC, né David Obeng (Friyie is a stylized version of his middle name, Afriyie), who went to school in Ghana for two years as a child. Friyie cites artists like Ofori Omponsah, Daddy Lumpa, and KK Fosu as musical inspirations, and says that tapping into his heritage will be more prominent in his music, going forward.
“I have a super, super connection with Ghana and I feel like it plays a big part of my music, especially now,” he says. “The music I’m putting out right now has an afrobeats-esque inspired aspect to it, mixed with the natural vibe that I come with.”
Indeed, Friyie’s latest single “Silencer,” which wasn’t included on Off the Map, sees Friyie overtly embracing and expanding his sound in a creative musical evolution – one that finds him continuing to chart his own unique course.