Marie Wright was born in Massachusetts but for some reason folks just can't seem to pin down the year. Her age is a well kept secret in the industry, but sources say that Free is about 37-years-old (but you ain't heard it from me).

The Roxbury native who is better known as “Free” the co-host of BETs 106th & Park video show, moved with her family to Dorchester as a little girl. She was your typical "sneaker-and-sweats" type of girl but is now an authenticated trendsetter sporting her Afro and her stiletto boots that she’s become famous for wearing on the show. Marie has plans to launch her own line of boots one day. She is also working on her album, which has been in the works for some time now. But she hopes that one she’ll see her own video featured on 106th & Park. Even though Marie has major talent when it comes to her music, her real love was dance. Her teacher Andrea Herbert at the Roxbury Center for Performing Arts helped her perfect her dancing skills from the age of 4 until 16.

"I just remember always dancing. We had nowhere to go to do our shows, but we'd do our dance steps right there on the porch."

She began a group with her girls and they entered in many of the neighborhood talent shows. But when the group couldn’t seem to keep their chemistry, Marie started rapping. That’s where her stage name “Free” came from. Free has also started a neighborhood foundation with her mother's help. The Free for Life Foundation will target youngsters and help them learn financial literacy and hopefully connect them with activities like the dance school that Free credits with much of her success.

Free took junior college courses and held down an intern at a local radio station WILD. Free began working on her rap career with local producers. She even danced with another Dorchester-born rapper, Marky Mark, on his breakthrough video "Good Vibrations. Realizing that her search for a record contract would take her out of Boston, Free hit the road and was constantly in and out of NY and L.A. Her efforts brought forth a spark when a track she did made the cut on a NY mix tape. She made an impression on some folks at Priority Records in L.A. and they signed her onto a short-lived record deal. Free said things didn’t work out because the producers wanted to write and record everything and she had issues with that. Luckily, Free hooked up with Heavy D who introduced her to Wyclef Jean , who signed her on to the record label that he had just launched (Refugee All Stars).

At that point, Free went back to Boston and worked on her album. But while working on the album, Columbia Records dropped Wyclef’s label in July of 2000. But luck was again with Free as she found out about an open casting call at BET. Always willing to take chances, Free headed back to NY and joined 700 other folks at the VJ audition. She was hired on to be a BET VJ by unanimous consent. Less then two weeks later, she and co-host "A.J." were on air, live, in front of millions of viewers.

I hear that her album is finally completed but that it could be a hard album to shop since her 106th & Park viewers are an audience which range from 16 to 24 years old and the album target audience really should be aroun 24 to 40 years old. I hope they resolve the issue real soon 'cause when you're young at heart age ain't nuttin' but a number.