Freeway (feat. Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel) - What We Do

This was the only high quality picture I could find of Freeway. You see kids, back in the early 2000's, High Definition was still a Shootyz Groove album, and just like old pictures, it did not age well.

Damn fam... Welcome back to Track Genius. Let's get the bullshit out the way, feel me? I've brought you all here to reminisce. To put on your rose tinted glasses, and gently slide into your nostalgia pants, to come with me on a journey back to the early and mid 2000's. The years when Rocafella Records ruled the world. The records, the movies, and most of all, the artists. The greatest CEO of all time, Dame Dash, oversaw the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Cam'rom & Dipset, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and last but not least, one of Philly's finest, Freeway. This was the gully nigga, bearded Philly Akki, west Philadelphia born and raised rapper who stole "Freeway" Ricky Ross' nickname before fake thug rap extraordinaire Rick Ross even did. Freeway was way ahead of the game in that sense. Along with all the aforementioned artists, Rocafella oversaw an omniscient steel grip over street culture and hip-hop music. It was indescribably awesome. Now we have Macklemore. Regardless, the Roc was in the building, from releases like The Dynasty to Streets is Watching (album AND movie homie), Dame Dash and crew held it down, and the most under appreciated guy on the roster was always the bearded Santa himself.

Coming up in the battle rap scene in west Philly, Freeway was discovered by fellow future Rocafella compatriot Beanie Sigel, and given a feature on 1-900-HUSTLER off of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia album with Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and the Broad Street Bully himself. In 2003, Freeway released his debut album "Philadelphia Freeway" with production by the 3 modern legends, Just Blaze, Bink!, and Kanye West. It also had features from his aforementioned fellow Roc members, as well as heavyweights like Nate Dogg, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Faith Evans, and Mariah Carey. Why was Mariah Carey on a Freeway album, and how many strings did Jay-Z have to pull to get that done, and how do you go from having Mariah Carey & Jay-Z featured at the same damn time on one of your tracks to being completely irrelevant? These are all good questions, and highlight the fall of Rocafella well, but that's a story for another day. For the time being, Freeway had dropped an awesome album, and if you're one of the people who write for Complex, a bona fide classic. There were some dope cuts from the album, like club that pays off the health inspector to not fail the yearly examination/street anthem "Flipside (feat. Peedi Crakk)", but the undisputed best cut off of the album is what we're here for. This that mean grimey shit, that shit you can feel in your bones. That true hip-hop for the people, that kinda record that makes you wanna put on a ski mask and fuckin rob a nigga for his OG Jordan III's b. This that real shit. This is "What We Do (feat. Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel)".

As usual, let's touch on this video. This was revolutionary for a couple of reasons. When you first see Jay lean into Freeway's ear and whisper "Keep goin'" after he's just finished rappity rapping 300 bars of street documentary magic, you finally realize what it's like to go from boy to man. After that, Jay comes in with a much tighter flow, and when he spits "So I move key's, you can call me the piano man" for a beautiful fleeting moments there is an actual piano on the dock. The masterfully congruent sensory barrage, the first of which is being taken aback by the hotness of that line, and secondly coupled by the visual cue of the piano to reinforce that, can only be described as life changing. This visual toughness couldn't be achieved without an equally dope song however, as the Roc triumvirate comes correct on the mic. Freeway's verse begins the song with what feels like 1,000,000 bars of fire, as if Free was urgently writing his version of Mein Kampf with a Just Blaze beat as his canvas. After hearing the adrenaline filled realness of Freeway's verse, Jay-Z comes in with a quick 12 bar, smooth as ever. You can barely even notice that he tapers off in his drug talk at the end of the verse because "B. Sige in the third lane" enters, and delivers an equally fine verse. The great thing about this track is that everyone says something significant, and it's just on bars on bars. As for the production, it's a Just Blaze banger, and those are always classic. With a looped and pitch shifted sample from Creative Source's "I Just Can't See Myself Without You" and trademark heavy Just Blaze drums, backed by an ominous and strange violin leftover from the sample that somehow works, this beat is another soul-sampling street banger from the house of production that The Roc built. And that's what they did.

There aren't any pictures of Freeway that look like they weren't shot by DMX when he first learned what a camera was, or won't disintegrate your retina with their terrible pre-2007 quality, so here's a nice little blueprint of an actual Freeway (Get it? Freeway. Blueprint. Disregard the fact that he wasn't even on that album while I go hang myself).

More than anything, this track makes me nostalgic for the days of non-internet rappers and the Dynasty of Rocafella Records. Now the only artist there are Jay-Z, Kanye, and for some reason Jadakiss. The label is sitll around in spirit as Roc Nation though, with Jay-Z as president. Instead of rappers the roster includes such talented musicians such as Willow Smith and Rita Ora. J Cole and J Electronica are signed to the label as well but the former gets no marketing push and the latter won't release his fucking album in the first place. Time truly is the great equalizer, and as the wounds from the disbanding of Roc-A-Fella heal and the people involved settle into their new paths, it's just nice to look back at where we were and where we are now. Things like this make a couple years feel like ages ago. In an age of looking forward, it's difficult to look back whilst grasping the actions of our forefathers, but like the song says, it's just what we do.

As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.