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Free At Last
By Manuel Agurto
12.3.07

Since his debut in 2003, Freeway has stayed quiet, and many wondered if the follow up to the spectacularly produced Philadelphia Freeway would ever come out. Finally four years later, Freeway returned to the studio to record Free at Last, and outing that serves to further Free’s reputation of talking about street life differently than other rappers, with a sense of morality unseen in hip hop today.

With production that rivals his debut, it’s a surprise that Just Blaze and Kanye West were absent this time around. Free delves further into this in the track "It's Over," a Jake One produced track that uses a sample from "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over," with heavy horns and a drum part that absolutely kills it.

On tracks such as "Reppin' the Streets," Free rasps about his hood life with a sense of nostalgia, as the old school drums and electric piano fill the song with the same type of soul Free spits with.

Although Jay does not come out as strong as he can on the gangsta flossing “Roc-A-Fella Billionaires,” the other collaborations on this album shine. Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes take over on the track "Walk Wit Me," and with Free's verse sandwiched in-between the two it seems he can barely keep up.

50 cent also makes an appearance on the album, but does not rap one verse. Instead, he's singing the hook for "Take it to the Top".

But wait, I thought 50 was supposed to be a rapper? 50 keeps his reputation for catchy hooks but not much else on this made for radio track. Overall, Free At Last is a strong sophomore attempt from the Philadelphia rapper, but not as much as his debut.

3 out of 5 stars

Hit Repeat Tracks:
“Its Over” “Reppin’ the streets” “Walk wit Me”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yeah! i took those photos!

-lisa wilk