That Other Ish: Check'a Fred

Friday, January 1, 2021

Check'a Fred - Got Damn!

Check'a Fred - Got Damn!

Check’a Fred caps of career-defining year with hit album ‘Check Mate!’

LYNWOOD, IL – Multifaceted Illinois artist Fredrick Wilson III, AKA Check’a Fred, is a rapper, songwriter, producer and businessman whose unique sound and style have drawn attention from fans all over the U.S. for many years. His latest album, “Check Mate!,” is the kind of career-defining project that is sure to set him up to become a global player within Hip Hop. Featuring a “whole bunch of turn up songs,” the album showcases Check’a Fred’s aggressive lyricism and ability to fuse different genres from R&B to Hip Hop and everything in between.

The first single from the project is a song called “Got Damn!.” The fast-paced track displays Check’a Fred’s ability to create great bars while also showing off his one-of-a-kind flow. It’s a fun club banger that he said people will definitely want to hear when they’re at a party.

He’s following that up with a second single from the project called “Who Wants a Smoke?” Still upbeat but with a slower pace than “Got Damn!, this track gets more introspective as it explores his aggressive side and his defensive nature when someone is trying to come at him.

The album isn’t all in-your-face upbeat jams. There are also tracks for the ladies such as “Itty Bitty!,” which Check’a Fred said is a fun club twerking song for all the women of the world.

“When you listen to this album you’ll see a whole other side of me being realistic,” Check’a Fred said. “There are songs with real life issues in there like mental health. People will see a rapper and see the hype – and there are plenty of those songs on this album – but there’s a whole other side to me as an artist that you’ll find as well. I want to put all my emotions and everything I feel in the moment into the music. I’m trying to use familiar instrumentals and beats and pair them with some great stories.”

Music has always been a passion for Check’a Fred. His father was a pastor and musician and his aunt is the notorious Gospel singer Anita Wilson. He learned how to play the piano and drums, and by his teenage years, he was already writing his own songs and creating his own beats. In 2017, he dropped his first mixtape and has been honing his craft ever since. This year has been a great year for him as an artist. In February, he started his first entertainment company, Rawthenic Entertainment, and he has taken some major steps forward in his music career. He released the single “I.D.G.A.F.” in the summer of 2020 which attracted quite a bit of attention from industry insiders. And now with his album “Check Mate!,” Check’a Fred is set to propel himself onto the global stage.

“I want my music to be known as something people can go to and hear and get away,” he said. “When I listen to music, I want to get away from the real world. It creates a vibe in my mind. I like to know what that person is going through, and if it relates to me, I want to know how they got through it and understand that and put it into my own situation. That’s what I hope my music does for others. I hope people can look at me as an example of a person who does what he wants to do and just keeps going, knowing that everything will fall in place.”