Born as Frederick Brathwaite on the 31st August 1959 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York City USA, Freddy is a TV personality, visual artist and director, but probably best known to the world as the host of the MTV show “Yo! MTV Raps” (1988-1995), and for being involved in the New York underground graffiti scene.
Have you ever wondered how rich Fab Five Freddy is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Freddy’s net worth is as high as $2 million, an amount earned through his successful career in the entertainment industry, which has been active since the late ‘70s.
Fab Five Freddy Net Worth $2 Million
Unfortunately, there is no information about Freddy’s life before his career took off. He joined the graffiti group Fabulous Five in the late ‘70s, which until then only worked in shadows, painting over New York Subway cars. Nevertheless, with the help of Freddy, they took a step forward, and from graffiti moved to the more conventional art world. In no time, Freddy and one of the members of the group, Lee Quiñones, held an exhibition of their respective works in Rome Italy, at the Galleria LaMedusa. Thanks to his rising popularity, he and Lee Quiñones, were cast in the film “Downtown 81”, written by Glenn O’Brien, which was more of a documentary as it follows artist Jean Michael Basquiat in his daily life. After the success of the film, Freddy tried to put his own ideas onto the screen, and with the help of filmmaker Charlie Ahearn, created “Wild Style” released in 1982, which followed a day in the life of Freddy’s friend and colleague Lee Quiñones. Back in 1981, he was co-curator of the art show Beyond Words, which was held at the Mudd Club, in which works from Futura 2000 artists were showcased. Also, the exhibition comprised works from Jean Michael Basquiat, Keith Haring, Rammellzee and Kenny Scharf among others.
Slowly Freddy and the rest of the graffiti-group began to surface from the New York underground scene, and in 1988 he was named as the host of the MTV show “Yo! MTV Raps”, thanks to the popularity of which, Freddy’s own popularity grew ever higher, and he became one of the most prominent figures of the rap scene. His stint on the show lasted until the mid-90s, and since then has been focused on careers as an actor, producer and director, but also has continued to encourage young hip hop and graffiti artists to follow their dreams, despite obstacles they encounter on their way to success.
Freddy has been referenced in the song “Rapture”, performed by Blondie, while his other imprints on the music and art scenes include the hit single “Change the Beat”, and numerous exhibitions throughout the world which he has held with other graffiti artists, and has inspired many artists, such as Bansky, Shepard Fairey, and Barry McGhee, among others.
To speak of his career as an actor, Freddy appeared in the film “American Gangster” in 2007, and the same year portrayed murdered rap artist Terrence ‘Fulla T’ Smith in the TV crime drama series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” in one episode of the series, while most recently he had a minor role in the biopic about the former President Barack Obama – “Barry” (2016), and also appeared in an episode of the TV crime drama series “Blue Bloods” (2016).
Regarding his personal life, Freddy’s most intimate details such as marital status and number of children remain hidden from public eyes, as Freddy tends to keep such information as secretive as he can.
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