I was first introduced to Freddie over 10 years ago through music. I was in a pop/R&B girl group called Mystiza and he was in an R&B male group called 4Matt. We were introduced by my then manager/producer, Khoa Le, who is now a really amazing film director! I’ve been following Freddie for some time now and have been excited to learn that he’s a jack of all trades. He does it all from music, acting, comedy to directing. He’s a true entertainer and I just appreciate the fact that he’s a Jersey City native doing great work in our great city. The cool part is I didn’t realize I had already known him until we sat down for our interview and he reminded me of my girl group days. Wow!
What’s your name? Freddie Robinson, Jr.
What do you do? I’m an entertainer / entrepreneur. I was always into entertaining ever since I was a little kid. I would run around the house with my dad’s guitar and pretend to talk to the audience on the microphone. So as I got older I joined different groups, dance groups, the National Dance Institute ran by Jacques d’Amboise and I traveled with them, performed in times square with Harry Belafonte and Vanessa Williams, so I started entertaining pretty early and now at this point I’m more of an entertainer in terms of television and comedy.
How long would you say you’ve been in the entertainment field? In the entertainment field, I would say since about 1985.
How did you get your start? I got my start in a singing group. The name of the singing group was called Format, we were all here from Jersey City and we got signed to Motown Records through the Ill Town Production company label which was run by Naughty by Nature and we also got signed to a management deal with Queen Latifah and Flava Unit Management. That was around 1995.
How would you define your style in terms of entertainment and the way you dress? Well, I really have no style, like I need someone to say, “Ew that looks nasty Freddy, take it off. Why would you mix yellow and green and purple, Freddie? What is wrong with you?” (laughs)
Because I’m pretty outgoing and I don’t really care sometimes and my friends have to be the one correcting me as far as style. But in terms of my entertainment style, I’m just myself. Natural, I’m in my own element. When I go out, I practice a lot of my jokes on my friends, they don’t know I’m practicing but I do it to see what the reaction would be, you know.
But yeah, in terms of comedy, I would say I’m just myself, I’ve always been this way I’ve always been a jokester, even in high school. I guess that can explain why I was always in summer school every year.
Can you briefly describe what you are as far as an entertainer? Comedian / screen actor and I’m a performer in terms of music, I can sing, I can rap and produce music. I’m working on my project here as we speak. I engineer my own recording sessions so at the end of the day I can get on the stage and perform my own work that I produced.
What kind of music? I produce R&B and Hip Hop, but I don’t really stop there. I’ve done things for television that aren’t necessarily either Rap or Hip Hop. It may be considered Pop. I can dibble and dabble into like the Country style of music.
Tell us more about your television work. My first job on TV was with Sidney Lumet and it was called 100 Center Street. It was a TV series sort of like Law and Order and then I had the opportunity to be on Law and Order as well. So that was the beginning, then I jumped into film. I did a movie with Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kim Cattrall, and Dan Akroyd. After that, reality TV became a part of my life. I got brought into a very popular show that’s still out right now and it’s called “Love and Hip Hop.” I was on Season 1 and Season 2, but the cast kind of broke up due to conflicts and everyone went their separate ways. Then I was brought on in a different show called “Chrissy and Mr. Jones” featuring Rap artist Jim Jones, his mother Nancy Jones and Jim’s girlfriend Chrissy. So in total, I was a part of four reality shows on VH1. And now I’m in the process of producing my own reality shows. I got really tight with the executives and producers of the show and they basically said, “Hey, if you got a concept, we’ll take a closer look at it. If it’s good enough, we’ll do it and produce it with you.” So I shot two pilots already and I’m working on a third pilot and I want it to be based on a bar in downtown Jersey City.
So you were a Jersey City native? I was born and raised in Jersey City. I grew up in the really tough part which is called ‘The Hill’ or Greenville; Ocean Avenue is where I was raised. When I turned nine years old, I moved into Randolph Avenue because my mom and dad decided to buy a house rather than rent.
How was it growing up in Jersey City? It was a lot different than when I was growing up. Things were different in terms of how people dealt with situations and conflict. We had more freedom as kids to play with our friends around the corner, up the street, down the block. Our parents didn’t worry so much. Now, a lot of parents are worrying and they pretty much don’t let their kids roam around and those that are roaming around, there’s definitely a problem at home. So a lot of the homes are broken and it’s sad to watch.
How do you feel about the change that’s happened in Jersey City? I watched empty lots, acres of lots become huge buildings, places for people to stay and work. So overall, I watched the development of Jersey City happen right before my eyes. It was something else. It’s definitely becoming a place to be. A lot of people from New York City [are] always kind of like, “Ehh…New Jersey…eh,” and now a lot of people from the city are moving here. It’s more of a positive in terms of economically; in terms of business, it gives the city more diversity. Now they can come to NJ and look at NY instead of looking at NJ when in NY. But there are people moving to Jersey City from all over the place from different countries and nationalities. It’s bringing a different light to Jersey City, especially with the different cultures.
What’s your favorite hangout spot? I like the Downtown area in general. I don’t have one particular place to go. I like to spread the love and kind of visit everybody and see what’s going on in different places. Most recently I’ve been hanging out in South House which is really nice. I also do business with the owner of Port-O Lounge so I go there often which is a really relaxing place and the food is amazing. The whole Grove Street area is becoming like restaurant row so I try not to just stay in one place you know.
Who is your biggest influence? My father, he influenced me a lot because he came from Florida here to Jersey City with not much and he took it and made something out of it. He cut hair and start[ed] his own business [that] was inspiring enough. He raised us, not by himself because my mom was there too, but my mom had a regular nine to five, but my dad had to get up and go to his job on his own. And sometimes it’ll be like 7 am in the morning to 10 pm at night, every day, in order to get to save up enough money to open up his own business which led to where we are now. It really helped me and my brother out a lot. My brother now owns a bar / restaurant (Light Rail Cafe) in Jersey City and it was really because dad showed us the way. You can make something out of nothing. Don’t give up. There’s always space for error and room to learn from those errors. And once you learn from it make a move and do the right thing.
Is there anything else you’d like for us to know about you? I’m just inspired and I want people to know that Freddie Robinson is here to stay. I’m looking to make a mark for myself. Like I’ve done some cool things but I’m looking to take it to the next level. From producing music to producing music for TV shows, from being a cast member to producing a reality TV show. I’m wearing a different hat now. I just want people to sit back and enjoy and keep their cable bills paid because they’ll see me again.
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