This album is on serious repeat at the moment. Typical that one of the songs I'm feeling the least (Roc-A-Fella Billionaires) is going to be the single from the album when you've got stuff like It's Over and When They Remember sitting there.
FREEWAY ???Free at Last??? (Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam)
In the four and a half years since he released his debut album, the Philadelphia rapper Freeway has evolved from rising star to relic. Which isn???t entirely a bad thing. Back then he was one of the leading lights of Philadelphia???s hardscrabble hip-hop scene, and a prot??g?? of Beanie Sigel (and therefore Jay-Z???s prot??g?????s prot??g??, which counted for something). His trademarks were a bushy beard and his fervent voice, somewhere between a snarl and a yelp. And while his prospects have changed ??? his label, Roc-A-Fella, has splintered; his crew, State Property, has split; his subgenre, gritty Northeastern hip-hop, has waned ??? he still sounds like his old self.
Not that he hasn???t noticed the changes around him. Just Blaze, who produced most of the first album, is noticeably absent throughout ???Free at Last.??? As Freeway explains it, ???I???m back, without a Just track/Tried to reach out and work, but he ain???t chirp back.??? Happily, the tracks are still full of soul snippets and blaring horns. And though his main vocal weapon is brute force, his rhyme schemes are often unpredictable, and he loves to bring back an end rhyme just when you think he???s finished with it. (One stanza goes like this: aabbcdcddddc.)
He???s a more convincing bully than a flirt, which explains why pop success is unlikely, and also why his lighthearted 50 Cent collaboration, ???Take It to the Top,??? sounds a bit wan. But somehow he keeps a straight face while trading lyrics with Jay-Z in ???Roc-A-Fella Billionaires.??? (In response Warren Buffett is said to be working on a song called ???Berkshire Hathaway Working Stiffs.???) And in ???I Cry??? he explains that years after his grandparents??? death his Muslim faith provided both comfort and discomfort: ???I finally realized that they died upon the wrong religion/Hope Allah forgive ???em.??? He???s a former future star, reborn as a halfway bitter cult figure he always seemed to be.
I dig the verses, but I'm not hearing the production heat y'all are speaking of. A few songs are good, but most of it sounds pretty dated. It's a lot like the late '90s-early '00s Roc-A-Fella sound.
I dig the verses, but I'm not hearing the production heat y'all are speaking of. A few songs are good, but most of it sounds pretty dated. It's a lot like the late '90s-early '00s Roc-A-Fella sound.
yeah i think that works w/ the narrative of dude's delay in getting this shit released. if i have one minor criticism its that i do tire of the "can i get an encore, do you want more" vibe of the production over the course of an album.
still think its one of the hottest of the year, makes millenial era roc sound good again
I'll report back after a couple of listens, but upon first listen, it's really good. The beats weren't as immediately wig-splitting as the first album, but Freeway is too good of a rapper for the album too not be at least SOMEWHAT good. I love this dude.
this album is incredible. theirs only 3 bad tracks, "still got love", "take it to the top" and "lights get low".
the beats are ill, theirs shit that sounds like d.r.e (spit that shit) and great soulful stuff that makes me not realy mad that just blaze or kanye aren't on here.
and i know alot of you don't like it but as far as "club shit", "roc-a-fella billionaires" is very good.
this album is incredible. theirs only 3 bad tracks, "still got love", "take it to the top" and "lights get low".
u crazy, those three are some of the hottest tracks on it! i can understand not feeling 'take it to the top' if u dont feel 50 and INCREDIBLE WELL MADE POP BEATS or "lights get low" if you dont like ricky ross (i dont particularly but he works here) but whats wrong w/ still got love???
this album is pretty great. i mean, its about as good as you can expect a Free album to be right?
Bink did most of the beats on this right? he did maybe the best track on blueprint
I didn't know Jake did It's Over - one of my favourite tracks on the album. Congrats.
Glad yall are diggin it. I did that beat with the masters with "Masquerade is Over" so that was an experience in itself. Free's manager sent me the verses and had me come up with some scratches Primo style and Vita scratched it. There were like 3 others that I did that were pretty dope, one I got for my album and two others that didn't get finished in time. One of em was going to be Jay, Kanye and Free! They didn't end up making it happen obviously.
I didn't know Jake did It's Over - one of my favourite tracks on the album. Congrats.
Glad yall are diggin it. I did that beat with the masters with "Masquerade is Over" so that was an experience in itself. Free's manager sent me the verses and had me come up with some scratches Primo style and Vita scratched it. There were like 3 others that I did that were pretty dope, one I got for my album and two others that didn't get finished in time. One of em was going to be Jay, Kanye and Free! They didn't end up making it happen obviously.
When I heard that track, I was wondering how it was done, especially the vocal samples towards the end. Great track!
I didn't know Jake did It's Over - one of my favourite tracks on the album. Congrats.
Glad yall are diggin it. I did that beat with the masters with "Masquerade is Over" so that was an experience in itself. Free's manager sent me the verses and had me come up with some scratches Primo style and Vita scratched it. There were like 3 others that I did that were pretty dope, one I got for my album and two others that didn't get finished in time. One of em was going to be Jay, Kanye and Free! They didn't end up making it happen obviously.
When I heard that track, I was wondering how it was done, especially the vocal samples towards the end. Great track!
Haha, me too, thought you had some next level filtering going on, or replayed it REALLY accurately, that beat is flames...
yeah jake that beat is insane, you are on your way to becoming the next big producer.
btw that track with 50 is a sore thumb on the record. i understand that it's got a chance at raidio play (and nothing would be better than free selling millions) but i guarentee had 50 not been on the track theirs no way free would of let that shit make the cut. i'll give another chance to "stil got love" and the track w/ rick ross, but on first play i wasn't feelin' em'.
deej
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It's good to have him back.
I was never a fan.
Freeway is a little mushmoufish to me though.
SWAG
still think its one of the hottest of the year, makes millenial era roc sound good again
-e
http://fatlacemagazine.rawkus.com/?p=577
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Is it really any good? I love the last record.
the beats are ill, theirs shit that sounds like d.r.e (spit that shit) and great soulful stuff that makes me not realy mad that just blaze or kanye aren't on here.
and i know alot of you don't like it but as far as "club shit", "roc-a-fella billionaires" is very good.
peace,xavier
They aren't. He had to settle for me. lol.
this album is pretty great. i mean, its about as good as you can expect a Free album to be right?
Bink did most of the beats on this right? he did maybe the best track on blueprint
And yeah, I got this album in the mail, definitely psyched.
As a side note, I'm happy that I've been listening to FULL RAP ALBUMS lately and I haven't been disappointed.
oh shit! Definitely gotta cop it then.
Dunno why just couldnt get a track to dude, he posted something about it on his blog, but it was pretty incomprehensible.
This album is effing great.
Jake, congrats on the beat. Ish is knocking dude.
-e
I didn't know Jake did It's Over - one of my favourite tracks on the album. Congrats.
Glad yall are diggin it. I did that beat with the masters with "Masquerade is Over" so that was an experience in itself. Free's manager sent me the verses and had me come up with some scratches Primo style and Vita scratched it. There were like 3 others that I did that were pretty dope, one I got for my album and two others that didn't get finished in time. One of em was going to be Jay, Kanye and Free! They didn't end up making it happen obviously.
When I heard that track, I was wondering how it was done, especially the vocal samples towards the end. Great track!
Haha, me too, thought you had some next level filtering going on, or replayed it REALLY accurately, that beat is flames...
btw that track with 50 is a sore thumb on the record. i understand that it's got a chance at raidio play (and nothing would be better than free selling millions) but i guarentee had 50 not been on the track theirs no way free would of let that shit make the cut. i'll give another chance to "stil got love" and the track w/ rick ross, but on first play i wasn't feelin' em'.
peace,xavier
Bink did most of the beats on this right? he did maybe the best track on blueprint
nah, bink only did 2. he also had don cannon, chad hamilton, jake one and some newer dudes.
Damn, that's a shame. I would have liked to hear that.