Norman —
The Stimulus Package
Rhymesayers
Entertainment
Philadelphia rapper Freeway named this newest LP in honor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama. Seattle producer Jake One fills the role of the Commander in Chief’s Rahm Emanuel.
The stimulus here is a big shot of hip hop poetry that doesn’t flinch in Freeway’s scrutiny of the world around him. He’s learned the centuries old lesson that the pen truly is mightier than the sword. English language skills can pay the bills and Freeway flaunts them. “We are eating, getting money off a words man/ came a long way from flipping birds man,” is wisdom from “Follow My Moves.”
The grind of making ends meet in a recession economy runs throughout the album’s 15 songs. Homage to carpenter pops with a sore back from hard honest work bumps against memories of his youth sweeping up hair in a barbershop. Naturally, hustling hemp in the ‘hood rears its hoary head. One incredibly poignant rhyme is a montage of concerns and glimpses into the lives of Freeway’s peeps via fan mail. Musicality miraculously blends lounge and nods to Burt Bacharach and Kanye West with soaring strings, good female backup vocals and requisite thump. The Brent Rollins Design Explosion! created the disc’s loud album package. It looks like a wallet with a “Handle Your Business” credit card and is packed with oversize lyric sheets that are legal tender replicas but the dead presidents are Freeway and Jake One. The whole package has me stimulated visually and aurally.
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