Meet Christopher “The Real Frii” Elliott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher “The Real Frii” Elliott.

Christopher, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My “creative spirit” story begins really in elementary school. I was a child to teenage parents and was being raised between a poor great grandmother and grandmother’s house. I can remember going to school with a fist full of permanent markers. I’d color Sesame Street characters on kids’ jeans and jackets in exchange for lunch money (My services weren’t expensive lol). I loved creating and won awards at school for my artwork. My faith in God-journey begin early also (age seven), and later as an adult, I wanted to sort of take my creativity and blend it with that faith so I came up with the name “FriiStyle Gahspol Clothing.” FriiStyle Gahspol was supposed to be a fashion design company that made use of my artwork designs on clothes, speaking to some form of my faith.

As fate (God) would have it, FriiStyle Gahspol quickly took a turn in an entirely different direction, and one night at a youth mission trip talent show fundraiser, FriiStyle Gahspol became a stage name for my spoken word poetry. I didn’t grow up writing poetry a lot, and didn’t rap at all, but I loved it, and I loved creating, no matter what it was. In a short time (5-6 years), a small fundraiser led to multiple Apollo Theater NY appearances, McDonalds Gospelfest awards, tours across the U.S., Special music awards performances, and a huge leap overseas touring in England, Switzerland, and France. It was a whirlwind that in many ways, I still feel inside, and absolutely filled with many adversities. Over the last six years, I’ve left a six-figure job to pursue my passion, got divorce, remarried, lived in my mom’s basement, had my car repossessed about three times, lights cut off, lived out of my car, and the list goes on. And through it all, these glimpses of the greater things God still has lying ahead for me.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely has not been a smooth road. Some critical bumps along the way included a divorce and deciding to quit a six-figure job in the same year and starting over as a single dad living out of my mother’s basement. I remember I used to sleep down there with all of my clothes on (boots included) cuz it was so cold. My mother would come down and ask, “honey, are you warm enough down here? Want me to turn up the heat?” I would always just tell her I was fine so I wouldn’t feel like I was being more of a burden as a grown man than I already thought I was. That was tough.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
The Real Frii (formerly “FriiStyle Gahspol”) is my stage/pen name. I’m mostly known for my spoken word poetry and as a Christian Hiphop artist. I’m also a battle rapper in the first-ever Christian battle rap league out of Connecticut called “Overflow Rap League” (https://rapzilla.com/2018-06-overflow-rap-league-pits-christians-against-each-other-in-battles/)

I enjoy traveling and touring across the U.S. and abroad with other artist. What is unique about me is that my sets on stage often include a blend of spoken word and music. This has allowed me to mix well with other artist and tours and have been blessed to join other tours to England, Switzerland, and even facilitate songwriting workshops in France. At the turn of the new year (2020), I switched branding to the name “The Real Frii” (Just “Frii” for short), and published my first poetry book: “The Epic Poem: Mastermind,” this year that has since set the first-ever official world record of its kind in the genre of “alliteration” 

Probably the biggest industry supporter of my music journey has been my current producer and engineering crew from Track Major Productions. I like to refer to them as my “accountability team”, Rogen Miller & Johnny Vargas. Interesting back story about these two guys is that we were introduced to one another when I was a teenager, fell out of touch after high school and reconnected randomly after I started doing music. Johnny used to be a youth mentor for me and Rogen back in those days. Funny how people circle back around in your life.

In addition, my journey has since continued to evolve from poetry to music, to now tv and film. Landed my first ever tv appearance on the CBS TV series “God Friended Me” in 2018. Launched my “Frii Lunch” podcast with film director Andre Griffith in March 2020, then my first supporting role in a feature film titled “Footprints of an Angel” produced by Anthony Mealing Productions earlier this year. I thank God that the 2020 pandemic has not symbolized my destruction, but my evolution.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Setting a world record for my first book in the middle of a pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheRealFrii.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/therealfrii

Image Credit:
Pure White Lens Photography
Blaq Pearl Photography (for boxing photo)

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