Ben Reilly Album ‘Freelance: Charlie’ Out Now

Brooklyn-bred, Atlanta-based artist Ben Reilly has delivered his new album Freelance: Charlie, a 10-track continuation of last year’s Freelance album. Freelance: Charlie expands upon Freelance’s search for freedom, while also exploring Reilly’s personal transformation over the past year. With production from Wilf, Solo Otto, Nico Porter and more, Freelance: Charlie is a conceptual masterpiece and blends Reilly’s roots: New York lyricism with Atlanta cadence and melodies to create his own signature flow.

On the new album, Reilly shares, “It’s a bit more personal in terms of the subject matter and references I make throughout the project. I wanted to personify the Red Bird a little bit more outside of myself so I gave it a name. Charlie is not only the name I gave the bird but it’s also me embracing my transformation into becoming the bird even more, the better version of myself.” 

2021’s Freelance came to be at the start of quarantine when Reilly would see a cardinal bird on early morning runs and began looking into the symbolism of peace, freedom, and a sense of comfort. The project boasts his breakout song “Maytag (Tax Free)” which took social media by storm and surpassed 200 playlists and 30M streams. The record charted on multiple Spotify Charts including #1 on Viral 50 (Global, USA, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, and UK) and #2 in Germany, Russia, Portugal. Since then, Reilly has performed the Rolling Loud stage at SXSW, been named Pigeons & Planes Best New Artist, and earned praise from Complex, HotNewHipHop, Earmilk, and Flood.

As the pseudo-leader of Abstract Media, a five-person brotherhood of rappers and producers spreading positivity and sharing their bond with the world, Reilly is the first out of the collective to release solo music. Abstract Media consists of a trio of rappers – Reilly, Miseye, and Luke Royal – who formed in 2010 and have been releasing music together as far back as 2015 on SoundCloud. Additionally, Reilly prides himself as an avid comic book collector in which he took on the moniker “Ben Reilly” as an homage to his favorite superhero. A version of Spiderman that mainstream fans may not know about, Ben Reilly is the clone of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man created by super-villain the Jackal. Reilly also emphasizes the name’s double meaning, as Be.N stands for “Be Nahree,” the artist’s given name. “It’s supposed to represent me embracing myself from within.”

FREELANCE: CHARLIE TRACKLIST

1. No Strings: My Window
2. Agenda
3. Charlie Charlie
4. 99
5. No Strings: Felt The Rush (Featuring Luke Royal)
6. Clipped
7. Brand New Free
8. Sonar 2 (Featuring Kapwani)
9. No Strings: Look Out Below
10. No Strings: Leave (Featuring Miseye)