Freeway - Philadelphia Freeway Review
Posted by Aaron Cameron on 07.21.2003
The Beats? Almost Every Track Has A Nice One. The Rappin'? Uh, How 'Bout Them Beats!
Longtime readers know I live on the left side of this great country of ours. Here in Southern California, most of our exposure to East Coast rappers is through the same mainstream, breakthrough singles that MTV and BET play until you're beggin' them to stop. So, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that for most of us east of The Adirondacks, our first radio exposure to the underground buzz created by Freeway wasn't until the first single of his debut album finally dropped.
Since then, Free has kept his album movin' off'a the shelves. Philadelphia Freeway is the long-delayed and meticulously produced project that features some of the best and most well crafted beats of the year. Unfortunately, most of the beats are, at best hindered and at worst ruined the second Freeway opens his mouth.
The opening track is pretty much a template for the entirety of the album. Freeway is spittin' over an old-school sample seasoned with a lil' bit of Just Blaze on Free. It's a solid introduction to those who might not know the man, but lyrically it's jus' passable and, at times, you'll find that the beat isn't the right mix for Freeway's one-dimensional flow.
Even when the beats and the flow do mesh, Freeway doesn't have much of anything new to say. Victim of the Ghetto, save for the admittedly powerful third verse, is your typical paint-by-numbers hood track that's been covered before and better by dozens of others. Still, it's probably better that Freeway stays on familiar ground. One listen to his attempt at one of those "singin-ass" tracks on Turn Out The Lights is proof of that.
Surprisingly, there are a ton of guest appearances on this album. Considering all the hype that preceded its release, you'd think his label would have the faith in him to carry it on his own. In hindsight, it's probably a good thing. And a bad thing. Time and time again, Freeway is outclassed on his own LP. Jay-Z and Beans are tighter than him on What We Do, while Young Gunz steal the show on Full Effect. Most notably, listen how Beanie Sigel says more with less on the guitar-laced Life.
Not every guest appearance is what the kids would call "a classic collabo". Nate Dogg took his appearance fee and ran, leaving Freeway with a phoned-in hook on All My Life. Nelly continues his odd association with Roc-A-Fella by layin' down a mediocre hook for On My Own. Yet, the most spectacular failure is saved for the horrible team-up with Mariah Carey on You Got Me. Y'all can decide who sounds worse here, but here's a sample lyric from Freeway to help make up your minds:
For Mariah play a brother role
I'll play a different role
Let her roll in the wheel, long days nowhere to go
And no other slimy will do
She just like honey so she got me like Winnie the Pooh
The 411: Credit where it's due: Just Blaze, Kanye West and Bink do an excellent job with the production, but Freeway spits like a runaway train without any real direction or pacing. Cats like ODB have made a career of that same approach, but Mr. Bastard has the charisma to make it work…occasionally. This is mostly an unoriginal mess of drug runnin' and thug livin', with the occasional Tupac, B.I.G. or Snoop Dogg lyric re-used for nostalgic value. If y'all can find an instrumental version of this joint, you'd be a lot happier.
