So, some of my audience may be familiar with Freeway. The other contributor to this EP was Girl Talk, who I'm sure mostly none of you are familiar with. Girl Talk, a Pittsburgh native, is known for his mashups, and ridiculous use of unauthorized samples. He has even been described as a lawsuit waiting to happen. He creates mainly mash up remixes littered with insane numbers of illegal samples, and if this project today interests you, you can go to his label's website and download all of his albums for the price of your choosing. He rarely produces for hip-hop artists, but he is a talented producer and engineer, so he definitely has the ability to lay down some great beats for our friend Freeway. With the introduction out of the way I have to say that at this point I am not much excited for anything Freeway does. I have always been a fan, but up to this point in his career, he has put out mostly similar material with the same highs and lows for the last decade. I'll usually check out what he has to offer, but gone are the days where I am anticipating a new Freezer release. That being said I feel like a creative mind like Girl Talk can help steer Free back on track and reignite his career with some long overdue excitement. The fact that Girl Talk is involved with this project gives me somewhat high hopes that it will actually be interesting. I've decided to go ahead and give this a track by track breakdown for no other reason than it's short six track run time. You're welcome average reader.
1. Broken Ankles Intro
I had really hyped myself up with that short little spiel on how this project had such grand potential to be exciting. By no fault of the hosts though, I was met with the infamous rap intro. Luckily for myself it only lasts for thirty seconds, and it actually really does get my blood flowing. Freeway's ridiculous aggression is borderline hilarious, and I'm hoping that the tempo and vibe from this intro speaks toward the tone of the actual songs on the project.
2. Tolerated (ft. Waka Flocka)
This Girl Talk instrumental hits you straight in your face and manages to be an up tempo hype beat while at the same time maintaining an aspect of skill from Girl Talk. This immediately answers any questions I had about his ability to produce beats for a traditional hip-hop artist. Free sounds great on this beat, and comes out wild on his first verse. The hook keeps up the tempo if not jacks it straight through the roof. Surprisingly enough, the Waka contribution is somewhat awesome. He isn't too atrocious lyrically, and he manages to add a fun change of pace to the track. This whole song is head knocking mosh pit hype, and Freeway executes perfectly over the fitting instrumental. One way to grab the listeners attention is to start at this level and Freezer certainly has me hooked from the get go. The test now is to see if the level can continue to rise.
3. Tell Me Yeah (ft. Young Chris)
Well, this was one way to forward the progress this tape. The tempo completely switched into a much more soul influenced beat, still with an amazing bass line, and would have fit in perfectly on a mid-2000s Cam'ron album. That is meant to be taken in the best way possible as it not only displays the weapons both artists have in their arsenal, but it also is just a kick ass song. The featured artist gives a good little verse, but Freeway truly steels this track with his skill and intensity on the mic. The hook on this track is incredibly catchy with the soul sample of the female voice. The hook also got me wondering, just how famous is Freeway? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not sure this guy can go to any random club and pick up hot women, unless the DJ is shouting him out. Either that, or his beard wins over all the fly ladies.
4. I Can Hear Sweat (ft. Jadakiss)
The beat on this one is fucking amazing to say the least. It starts with a very electronic sound with heavy snare and keys along with some beautifully used synthesizer. The hook is a sample of Biggie saying he can hear sweat, which, knowing Girl Talk, was unauthorized, so way to keep some money out of Puffy's pockets. It's not like he needs it at this point. Freeway does his thing just as well as he has on the prior tracks, and Jada gives exactly what you would expect from him. The two have an undeniable chemistry that makes for an entertaining first half of the song, but then shit gets real. The beat changes into a much louder more drum heavy epic sound, and Freeway absolutely kills that second half of the song. If that doesn't get you hyped nothing will. I mean, this shit just makes me want to punch an eagle out of the fucking sky. That beat change is my personal best moment in music in 2014 if there's anyone who keeps track of that sort of stuff. As a little added note, I love the references to Koko B Ware and Junk Yard Dog. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a wrestling reference.
5. Suicide
The drums on this track are still very apparent, but comparatively extremely subtle. I love the verses on this track and the way Freeway aggressively rides the more mellow beat makes for a rather unique dynamic that hits well. The hook is also one of the more catchy on this EP, and what's a song called Suicide without a little KRS-ONE sample? This track is a good time and does a terrific job of displaying Freezer's great ability on the mic, but is just a little less outstanding than the rest of the tracks. Don't get that confused with me calling this bad. In fact I really like it and confidently say it would be the best track on any Big Sean album.
6. Lived It
Similar to "Tell Me Yeah", "Lived It" is much more soul influenced and is littered with sampled female vocals that give this song a more R&B type of feel. Ironically, this is in my opinion the best straight up rapping Freezer has done on this entire project. He is flowing very quickly and spitting some clever and accessible lyrics while maintaining the same ferocious sound he has had on all of the other tracks. The hook, despite being a little too long, is actually pretty damn catchy and fun to sing along with. This song also captured that ever elusive feeling of finalization, meaning it brings this project to a very fitting, and appropriate end. Couldn't think of a better track for this to end on despite it only running for six tracks. Given that short run time it still manages to feel somewhat complete.
Rating: 4/5
This shit is awesome. (I really wanted to only write that last sentence for the entire review, but let me explain) I have really no complaints other than the fact that it was way too short. Every track was awesome and was executed in a way where we were able to see an array of skills even within the limited sample. I would feel stupid giving Broken Ankles a higher rating than this because it is so short, but had it been twelve to fourteen tracks as good as these, who knows. These two have a crazy chemistry that needs to be put into a full length LP at some point in the near future. Teasing fans with this EP and not following up would just be cruel given how fucking dope this project is. If I haven't gotten my point across enough by praising every track wildly, please do yourself a favor and download this. It's free, and short, so no money or valuable time will be invested in this project despite it deserving both. Freeway has managed to not only stay relevant after his Roc-a-fella days, but I might even go out on a limb and say he has even improved. He would be start to stay as close to Girl Talk as possible, because these guys have something great in the making.