Freekey Zekey Gets Diplomatic About Dipset’s Reunion, Philanthropy and His New Restaurant

Interviewed/Written by: Lakamar Austin (@LakamarAustin http://twitter.com/LakamarAustin for @celebritypower magazine http://twitter.com/#!/celebritypower)

If you’ve followed the Harlem-based rap group The Diplomats, popularly known as Dipset, then you’re likely to be familiar with the crew’s boisterous hype man and comedian, Ezekiel “Freekey Zekey” Jiles, notorious for energetically ad libbing “Freekey” across many of Dipset’s records and videos. With his infectious on-stage presence and over-the-top antics he lives up to the name Freekey, meaning, “A person who’s different, like a freak of nature,” he says.

When asked what keeps him grounded amid the day-to-day operations of being president of the Dipset regime and owner of 730 Dips Records, he charges it to his playful demeanor. “I like to joke and laugh because I like to put somebody in a frame of mind that you can do this without feeling like its straight business, that you can have fun doing what you gotta do,” Freekey stated over the phone.

He was calling from New York City and had just left BET where he was with Cam’ron and Vado setting them up for an appearance on 106 & Park. Though his day ahead was decorated with back-to-back meetings and frequent phone calls with his publicist and manager (for schedule updates and a possible endorsement deal with an unnamed liquor company) we had an entertaining and laughter-filled conversation about Freekey’s music, philanthropy and his new restaurant.

“I got a restaurant down in North Carolina where I’m basically based,” says Freekey. Nestled in downtown Greensboro, The Palmetto is a southern-french cuisine fine dining restaurant with traditional “down home” dishes like shrimp and grits, Charelston red rice, New Orleans-style po boys and etoufee, and delectable sweets like peach cobbler and bread pudding for dessert . With an executive chef from South Carolina, it’s no wonder where the southern influence comes from.

Freekey Zekey's Greensboro Restaurant

Along with opening his restaurant, 2010 proved to be a break-through year for Freekey with the reconciliation of Dipset. He comically gave himself the name “Freekey Crazy Glue” stating, “The Diplomats reuniting was really through me.” He describes, “I was like that fruit fly or that gnat that stays in your face and wouldn’t leave. I’m like Cam you not going to call Jim? So Jim you not going to call Cam? ” But once they crossed paths, “Cam seen Jim and literally in like about 20 seconds they was back talking to each other.”

With the original trio of Dipset back together, the group hit the stage at the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards marking the first time they had performed collectively in almost five years. “We got back, we hit “Salute” hard body, we called BET … we was like why not set it off there and let the world know that we got it rock, poppin’ and bouncing. And it was a success thanks to your boy Freekey!”

In November 2010, Dipset had their official reunion concert in front of a sold-out crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. “Anything that made you jump up and go crazy or made you want to get real fly, that song was in there. It was about like 30 or 40 songs, and then we all did our own collective segments. It was just phenomenal,” he reflects.

Although Freekey is often busy bouncing between upcoming music projects and a growing arsenal of businesses that he runs, he still affords time to give back to his community. He recently became the spokesperson for Preserve Our Legacy, a nonprofit organization aimed at educating minorities about the benefits of bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donations. With African-Americans making up only 8 percent of the national registry, Freekey is championing this cause with the hope of increasing donors by 25,000 in 2011.

“A lot of children in our community are dying because they don’t have bone marrow donors because no one has the knowledge. So I’m here to let everybody know that I’m being the public spokesperson to allow my community to be more knowledgeable about the fact that if you do help you can save lives. That’s something real serious that’s way beyond rap,” he stated.

He reminds the public “Its a cotton swab that takes about eight seconds to register.” And
“If you are a match, the process is about 30 or 40 minutes and the most pain you’ll feel is sort of equivalent to a tattoo.” It wasn’t until he spoke to New York City Council on behalf of Preserve our Legacy that the importance of working with the organization really hit home. “When I got there I looked into their eyes and I seen these people are just like me. I’m looking at them as mothers, as grandmothers, grandfathers, [and] uncles. So I didn’t even look at them as city council no more, I looked at them as they were one of my family members,” he reflected. “Basically I’m doing my part to save the world. I just don’t want to be a rapper.”