Well, Barack pretty much deaded our stimulus packages. However, with his mistake, comes one of the dopest underground hip-hop albums in recent memory; Freeway and Jake One's Stimulus Package. Freeway was at one point an upcoming emcee, as he was on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label in its prime, and alongside his State Propery fam, Beanie Sigel, was poised to blow. He pretty much dominated Jay-Z's The Dynasty cut, 1-900 Hustler, and from there, built a steady buzz, before releasing his debut album, the almost exclusively Just Blaze-produced Philadelphia Freeway; a critically acclaimed album that didn't do nearly the numbers it was expected to.
Jake One is an underground producer who rose to his own prominence since the release of his 2008 compilation album, White Van Music, which was his first true union with Freeway. Before his foray into the underground, and critical acclaim, he was almost solely a producer for G-Unit; producing some of the group's best songs on both their group outings and solo efforts.
Both emcee and producer have very unique styles; Freeway has one of the most unique voices in rap, a high-pitched gruff voice helps elevate his flawless rhyme scheme, and distinguish himself from the other dope rappers coming out of Philly. Jake One is a producer from Seattle who is obsessed with chopped up soul samples, and comes off in ways as a mix between early Kanye West and Just Blaze; perfectly fitting for Freeway since those are the producers who made Roc-A-Fella famous during its heyday.
They normally say you can't judge a book by its cover, but in this case, the packaging for The Stimulus Package is just as dope as the music inside. Rhymesayers, the label releasing this album, tend to come up with unique ways to conceal, and market their products, to entice consumers to buy it. MF DOOM's MM...FOOD? re-release came in a tin-foil Pop Tarts inspired package, while Atmosphere's Life Give You Lemons came in a booklet; The Stimulus Package goes above and beyond with a cd case modeled after a wallet, with the CD booklet written on the back of a few custom bills with Freeway and Jake One's faces on it. Very innovative, and an incentive to purchase this.
The music inside is no joke though; the album starts off with the "Stimulus Intro," featuring Free's partner in crime, Beanie Sigel. They both deliver short verses over the dope 70s inspired Jake One beat, leading into one of my favorite joints on the album, the energeting "Throw Your Hands Up." I think most underground hip-hop tends to lack energy, and true passion vocally, but in Freeway's case, those aspects most certaily aren't missing. Freeway makes you wanna throw your hands up as he goes over the concept of this album, dropping dope bars.
The next two tracks maybe the most laid-back on the album, and kinda pale in comparison to the songs about to follow. Although Free goes in on "One Foot In," and "She Makes Me Feel Alright" is a good first single, they're completely overshadowed by two of the best tracks on the album following it. "Never Gonna Change" is Freeway's take on the Notorious B.I.G.'s classic "Warning" with an incredible beat supplied by Jake One, while One Thing with Raekwon The Chef provided two of the dopest (literally) crack-rappers to ever live with a delicious sample.
The haunting "Know What I Mean" was the street-single from the album, and is one of the other stand-out cuts. Freeway's tales of Philadelphia's hustle are greatly indepth, and he's horribly underrated as a storyteller. "The Product," where Free takes on the familiar concept of rapping from the perspective of a drug, in this case, crack, is nice, although it's been done before. It's no "Baltimore Love Thing," but again, Freeway's inspired delivery boost this track further than it would've been had another emcee done the track.
The next three tracks 5 tracks all feature guest appearances, and range in quality. The Birdman assisted "Making Moves" is far better than one would expect from a song featuring a Birdman cameo, and "Sho' Nuff" with Bun B hook up two of rap's most criminally underrated, but widely respected, emcees from the East and South and put them on a dope beat. Neither spit anything revolutionary, but they're sufficient, and that's all you could ask for. Young Chris goes in on "Microphone Killa," however his punchline-kid delivery gets him outshined by the veteran Freeway. "Freekin' The Beat" with Latoiya Williams is good, and has a nice concept (making love to music), but it's probably my least favorite cut on the album. "Money" with Omilio Sparks, more of his Roc-A-Fella alumni is dope, and Mr. Porter, also known as Kon Artist from D12, provides the great hook. I'm not sure when Kon got so great at singing, but he's the highlight of this song.
Two very similar tracks close out this album; the first solo cut in awhile, "Free People," is one of the standout joints, and shows Freeway at his most grown. The closing "Stimulus Outro" is pretty much a lesser version of "Free People," but it still delivers.
So far, with very few albums being released this year, this maybe my favorite. Freeway is in prime form, and Jake One provides some of his finest production yet. This'll probably make quite a few year end lists, and should be popular amongst the ignorant hip-hop elitists as much as it is among the commercial rap lovers who occasionally dip in the underground. A little bit of something for everyone.
And if you liked The Stimulus Package, make sure to check out Free's new tape, Freelapse, which is Freeway spitting over a variety of Eminem beats.
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