Freeway – Free At Last

During the four year interim since Freeway released his classic, soul
stirring solo debut, Philadelphia Freeway, the ferocious lyrical kingpin
has evolved as a man and as a artist. However, two very important things
for him have gone unraveled, his lauded skills and the respect his
vehemently delivered words bring.

The City of Brotherly Love native is so respected, that one of the
biggest figures in the music industry, 50 Cent, was eager to join rap’s
greatest MC ever and one of it’s most successful executives, Jay-Z, as
the co-executive producer of Free’s highly anticipated new LP, Free At
Last.

“I look at Jay like he’s Bruce Leroy in “The Last Dragon” and he’s got
the glow,” Free tells. “He’s got the streets on lock but he knows how to
balance it out and get mainstream love. Fif too. He has that hood
devotion but he can sell records. That’s my ultimate goal before I leave
this game; to master that balance.

“It’s definitely a blessing to have two people who not only hold a ton
of weight in the music industry but mean so much to pop culture in my
corner, but it also means the world to me that the streets still have my
back,” he added. “That tells me, that no matter who’s name is attached
to this album, I have to make sure my performance on this project is
nothing short than what the people have come to expect from me.”

Free At Last is a musical collage of cinematically absorbing soul
soundscapes, urgent club bangers and Free’s transfixing narratives of
his birth into the rap game, struggles in the streets and strife he
continues to encounters professionally and personally.

“I feel that basically I was doing me,” Free said. “I didn’t get caught
up with what’s going on the airwaves and what they’re playing on the
airwaves. I feel the true fans are gonna love me for me. We gotta take
it from the ground. The hard work is just beginning now. I gotta reach
the people and tell them we got good product, and make them recognize.
We got the streets buzzing crazy, we got the hood, the radio ain’t gonna
have no choice but to play it.”

Producers Chad West, Bink and Scott Storch are among those who helmed
the beats, on the mic, Free commandeered guest appearances from Jay-Z
(the neighborhood bell ringer “Big Spender,”), 50 Cent (the melodic, yet
cautionary “Take it to the Top”), Rick Ross, Lil’ Wayne and he’s even
buried his old battling with d-Block and features Jadakiss on “Walk with
Me.”

The always authoritative Scarface appears on the unassailable “Baby
Don’t Do It.”

“That joint is a little old,” Free described of the record. “That’s why
you hear me on the song still making references to Biggs, Jay and Dame
Dash. It was basically how I was feeling at the time. They was breaking
up Roc-A-Fella at the time, but we didn’t know it.
It’s definitely therapeutic to speak on it. I’m one of the artists that
was really in the middle of it. The people need to know how I feel about
the situation. They need to hear my point of view too, because we are
all different entities, but part of the same structure.

“Me and Face was gonna do some other record, but he heard the beat for
that and was like ‘I need to get on that.’ He brought that intensity to
the table,” Free added.

Although Freeway is still a loyal member of Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella roster,
the insightful MC says when Jay severed ties with the label’s
co-founders Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, it forced him to grow
up.

“In the beginning, they spoiled us,” Free, who’s also became an integral
part of one of the strongest rap crews ever, State Property, began to
describe. The group which included Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk, The Young
Gunz and Oschino and Sparks released two critically albums, their
self-titled debut in 2002 and the follow up The Chain Remains in 2003.

“A lot of the business that goes into making a album was taken care of
for myself and everybody else on the Roc,” Free went on to say. “Like
when I did Philadelphia Freeway, I didn’t know nothing about producer
splits and paying people for features. I had a lot of nice features on
my first album like Mariah Carey and Nelly. I didn’t have to worry about
the numbers or nothing. Everything was mapped out for me. So now that we
deal with Def Jam directly, I had to learn a lot about all that stuff
while doing this new album.”

Freeway’s ultimate learning experience through the past few years had
nothing to do with baselines, bars or even budgets. He came closer to
God during a pilgrimage to Mecca.

“It’s the best flight I ever took in my life,” Free said about first
embarking on his 2004 journey. You know that if anything happens to the
plane, you’re automatically going to Heaven because you’re traveling for
God, your religion. Once you get there, it humbles you because everybody
is the same. There are Princes, Kings, I’m a rapper, they all coming
together for one thing, to worship God. I seen people with no legs
literally crawling and not asking for help. Rich, poor, everybody is the
same. It is very humbling.
I got a lot of knowledge man. It’s heartfelt for me man. It meant so
much.”

Free’s trip had such impact on him, he seriously contemplated giving up
his music career.

“You can’t really balance it out because as a Muslim, you’re not really
supposed to be doing the music thing,” he explained.

That inner conflict is something Free still struggles with today. Music
is his love and passion, but his religion is his belief. He’s also given
up drinking and smoking.

Elsewhere on the album, “This Can’t Be Real,” which relies of a looped
sample of those exat words, is a summary of Free’s life from the
beginning to now.

“I tell you about the streets, why I rep the part of the city I’m from,”
he added. “I tell you about how I got on, the feeling I had when I got
on. I break it down all the way ’till my first album came out and how I
feel now with Jay and Dame breaking up. There’s a line where I say
‘People as is Freeway left naked? He won’t sell another record.’ People
was really like ‘damn, the Roc broke up and they left y’all out in the
cold. What y’all gonna do?’

“I really went personal with this album,” he continues, but I still gave
you my analyses of what’s going on in the hood, kept my metaphors sharp
for those who just want to hear skills and I even snuck in a couple of
those party joints I’m known for.”

To help build even more anticipation for his LP, Freeway has a been
releasing various Freestyles every week on the internet via a series of
blasts he’s dubbed “Freestyle Fridays.” The bearded wonder has also put
out two recent mixtapes with DJ Don Cannon called Live Free or Die
Harder and Live Free or Die Harder 2. In 2008, Freeway resumes his
career as a actor (his film debut was in 2005’s “State Property 2.”)
with the release of a independent film called “What We Do.” He’s cast as
the lead and plays a man who’s fresh home from prison but soon finds
himself being pulled back into a world of nefarious activities and
wayward thugs. State Property Members The Young Gunz and Sparks also
star as does comedian Michael Blackson.

Five Questions with Freeway

1. How did you get 50 and Jay to both EP this album?

Well you already know about my relationship with Jay and the Roc Family. Me and 50 got cool and started hanging cuz our albums dropped around the same time. He called me up like “I fucks with you!… Anything that I can do to help you out let me know”. So we came up with the Executive Producing idea and presented it to Jay. He was with it and here we are. The results are good. It’s great man. The album is CRAZY!!!!

2. Alot has changed since your last album (with Dame and Jay spliting up)… Did that affect this release? The title of the album makes me think that you felt like you was being held up.

It didn’t affect my first project, alot of time has passed since my first album came out. It affected me on this one to the point where I had to figure it out and see where I was situated. It made me get on my job and stand on my own two feet to get this project done.

3. Who do you have featured on the album?

We got 50 Cent, Jay Z, Jadakiss, Scarface, Busta, and Marsha from Floetry

4. Where do you feel the Philly Hip Hop scene is? Are there any hot underground groups out there that we don’t know about yet?

Philly is ill! There are alot of talented MC’s and underground MC’s that haven’t got their breaks yet. I hope to open some doors with Free At Last

5. What is the next single?

We just released “Take It To The Top” featuring 50 cent

Final Words:

I just want everyone to know that I worked hard on this album! It’s the street, soulful shit. Make sure you go out and get that!