I only received a few hundred words in the Times to review Free at Last, mainly because I couldn’t tell my editor in good faith that the record deserved more. I get why people have been buzzing on it. The first two leaked singles (“It’s Over”) and the Jay-Z collabo were nice. And sure, the Roc’s back and that deserves some ink, even though Beans-excluded, Jay’s track record at exposing new talent to to the world is piss-poor (or have you forgotten Sauce Money and A-Mil?). Not to mention the fact that both Curtis and S. Dot are on-board as Executive Producer’s. But honestly, after listening to Free at Last, I’m convinced that he only got the back cover of the Fader because the hipster nation admired the sheer lustrousness of his beard.
I’ve been reading Check the Technique lately and more than anything it re-affirmed the stark differences between the hip-hop of yesteryear versus that of today. Specifically, the importance that rappers previously placed on originality. Whether it was De La’s black hippies gimmick, M.O.P’s rap as Premo-produced scream metal, or Digital Underground’s hip-hop Funkadelic, it was damn near impossible to make a name for oneself without a fresh identity. Sometime in the last decade that idea was lost (and yes, I imagine it has something to do with Puffy).
In a rap world where Young Jeezy isn’t laughed out of the building and “journalists” don’t bat an eyelash at calling Lil Wayne the greatest rapper alive, Freeway is certainly far from bad. But he’s even further from being good. Strip him of big name guest appearances and his Just Blaze-lite beats and the guy is nothing more than another humorless “hustler/rapper” (and not the other way around.) I called Free “JV Jay-Z” in the Times review, but that might be a bit too charitable. He’s more like a poor man’s AZ. The type of MC that can spit a solid 16, but one summarily incapable of projecting himself as anything more than a) a hustler b) a cocaine aficionado c) someone who reps the streets (and yes, Free at Last actually has a song called “Reppin’ the Streets.”). Don’t get me wrong, Free at Last certainly has its moments. But truthfully, you’re better off playing Reasonable Doubt for the 532nd time, or even digging up that old copy of Do or Die, or hell, trying to grow your very own billy goat beard.
Review of Free At Last in the LA Times
MP3: Freeway-”It’s Over”
MP3: Freeway ft. Jay-Z-”Roc-A-Fella Billionaires”
13 comments
Ass Hat says:
November 19, 2007 at 4:16 am (UTC -7)
quite right. the scarface appearance puts freeway to shame. i do like his beard, though.
a-one says:
November 19, 2007 at 6:46 am (UTC -7)
It surely can’t be worse than some of the garbage I’ve listened to this year but I still can’t bring myself to listen to this album.
Deen says:
November 19, 2007 at 8:15 am (UTC -7)
Wow. The hate is strong.
I think the album is excellent. He’s a hustler/rapper with his own technical gimmick: his voice. Personally, it’s the best I’ve heard this year. Yeah, I said it.
Jeff says:
November 19, 2007 at 1:45 pm (UTC -7)
Glad to know I’m not the only one who finds Freeway a bit underwhelming. ‘American Gangster’ wipes the floor with this album.
Douglas Reinhardgt says:
November 19, 2007 at 2:51 pm (UTC -7)
Where’s the love for “When They Remember”? You can’t knock that song.
Passion of the Weiss says:
November 19, 2007 at 3:01 pm (UTC -7)
I dunno. His voice kinda’ annoys me on that one. He just yells on the mic with no vocal control. Plus, I think I’ve heard that beat 14 times in various forms.
Slav says:
November 19, 2007 at 6:29 pm (UTC -7)
You ever see the video from the Freeway-Cassidy battle, where Cassidy completely destroyed Free? Ever since then, my interest in Free waned. His first album and the single “What We Do” was definitely the ‘ish. His cadence is unique, I’ll give him that, but that’s not enough (ditto for Jeezy, Wayne, and all the other trappers, D-boys, or whatever the hell they call ‘em these days).
TOAST LEE says:
November 19, 2007 at 6:35 pm (UTC -7)
YOU KNOW WHAT, PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET PHIILY, AND I DON’T REALLY THINK YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO HIP HOP. I MEAN, YOU MENTION M.O.P. IN GOOD FAITH AND JEEZY IN BAD BUT WRITE BOTH ARTISTS 16′S ON A PAD AND U DO THE MATH…I’M GONNA END IT LIKE THIS…I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU’D BE “…SCARED CAUSE THERES ONE TOO MANY BEARDS IN THE BUILDING”.
Passion of the Weiss says:
November 19, 2007 at 6:57 pm (UTC -7)
Thanks for the heads-up Slav. I kinda’ have a new found respect for Cassidy.
Zilla Rocca says:
November 20, 2007 at 7:50 am (UTC -7)
Toast:
I’m from Philly and I’ve never been the biggest Freeway/Cassidy/Jakk Frost/Beans/Gillie the Kid/Major Figgas fan by any means. They all sound the same after a while, except Beans was the first to break through, so I like him the most.
I respect Jeff’s opinion–he’s not impressed with Freeway. I’m personally feeling 2-3 joints off his album and I may end up buying it. However, there’s a whole squad of white music critics that didn’t start listening to hip hop until “Diplomatic Immunity” came out, and they’re dickriding Freeway because of his content and how “real” he is, since it’s cool right now for nerdy white guys who can’t get laid to praise dangerous trap stars.
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
November 23, 2007 at 4:15 am (UTC -7)
What is it with this site and misappropriation of the apostrophe S? The rule is really easy: you don’t use an apostrophe with S plurals. Hence no “DVD’s” or “CD’s” but “CDs” and “DVDs”, and certainly no “Executive Producer’s” (that one I really don’t get). No offense; I like the site, but the anal retentive person in me can’t let this one go.
Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » The 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2007 (#25-20) says:
December 5, 2007 at 1:06 am (UTC -7)
[...] made my thoughts on the Freeway album well-known, but however mediocre it is, I do really like a couple tracks. This is probably my favorite. Dame [...]
Supreme Neck Protector says:
January 9, 2008 at 11:51 am (UTC -7)
Freeway’s demented hyena-yelp will always win me over. Always. It’s not usually married to stimulating content, but there is some measure of gravity to the way he deals with well-worn clichés. That, along with magnetism (of which Freeway’s sort is usually very sullen and inward-looking despite his hyperactive delivery) and verbal dexterity (which Freeway lacks), is my criteria for what makes a great hardcore rapper. Like Beans and all three of the D-Block guys and the granddaddy (and more or less greatest rapper ever) Scarface, I believe in him and what he says 100%.
Two aspects of what Freeway does are generally wildly undervalued in my opinion. One, he’s so rarely smooth or charismatic that the occasional shows of finesse (see his fantastic verse on “Sun Don’t Shine” off the first State Property group album) can work like a dream. And two, he continues to improve as an evocative writer of what have been called emo-rap songs. One of the signal sample-clearance crimes of the last few years has been the vault to which legal issues have consigned “Goodbye”, which, for my money, is– without a single competitor, not “Mahogany”, not anything– the greatest rap love song. It’s… just… amazing.