Mixing the cute with the confrontational, this full-length collaboration between rapper Freeway and producer Jake One sports a few big hits and plenty of guest MC’s scattered along the way. Formerly a major figure on Jay-Z’s Rock-A-Fella label, The Stimulus Package was released by independent label Rhymesayers earlier this year. The album, Freeway’s third, finds him working with only one producer for its entirety.
Freeway & Jake One – “Know What I Mean”
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The moves gives the album a cohesive selection of samples among its funky, lock-step beats, though it also causes the set to lose a bit of creative steam toward the end. That’s alright though, because the eight guests on the album, among them Raekwon, Young Chris, and Birdman, help to keep things fresh throughout.
The Stimulus Package writes its first check with “Stimulus Intro,” a care-free introduction featuring long time-collaborator and friend Beanie Sigel. Next comes what’s essentially the title track, “Throw Your Hands Up,” with a hard-hitting chorus ready for the mainstream dance floor but with the flow and nuance of verse more tracable to independent backpack rappers. This is The Stimulus Package‘s biggest strength: it’s ability to appeal to both the mainstream and the underground of the ever-changing hip-hop scene.
Stand-outs among Freeway’s many quick quips on the album are the stop-and-go vocal acrobatics of “Never Gonna Change”, which lock up like clock-work with Jake One’s stuttering sample, and Freeway’s back and forths with Young Chris on the cooly-chaotic “Microphone Killa.” All in all, The Stimulus Package is a solid collection from a hip-hop stalwart, who, like he says, is giving this one “back to the people.”
