Freeway Gets Down With G-Unit, Still On Roc-A-Fella
By Bea Black
Date: 2/6/2006 4:20 pm
Philadelphia rapper Freeway, of State Property fame, has become an official member of 50 Cent's G-Unit rap crew and is hard at work on a third album titled Free at Last, according to his manager.
The album is co-executive produced by 50 Cent and Def Jam president Jay-Z, and will be released under Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, said Freeway's manager Ryan Press of Press Conference Management.
"Me, Jay-Z, and 50 are working hard on the album together," Freeway told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "I got mad love for [50]. What people don't know is that we have been tight for a while. Our first album both came out in the same month, and we did a lot of shows and other things together back then."
50 Cent's longtime manager Sha Money XL also confirmed 50's involvement in the project, as well as Lloyd Banks and Young Buck.
The album is slated to feature Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, the Roots' Black Thought, Nate Dogg, and Mariah Carey, in addition to production by West, Just Blaze, Scott Storch, Dangerous LLC, and Needlz, among others.
"Philly, I got a crazy joint with Black Thought. You already know what time it is with my joint I got with [Jay-Z]," said Freeway. "We only make classics, and the joint with 50 is stupid.
According to Press, Freeway is still currently signed to Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam and maintains good ties with Jay-Z.
Representatives for Def Jam could not be reached for comment.
"Jay-Z and Freeway have a great relationship and they're gonna work together for the album and other projects," said Press. "[They're] still very tight. There are no problems there. Freeway wants to put the Roc back were it is supposed to be."
Freeway made his first notable appearance on "1-900-Hustler," from Jay-Z's 2000 compilation album, Dynasty: Roc la Familia.
The rapper followed with his solo debut, Philadelphia Freeway in 2003 and Welcome to the Hood the next year.
His new album is due tentatively in May.
"The album is gonna be crazy. You're gonna hear growth from Freeway, the same classic hood bangers, and some stuff about why he has been in the cut for a minute," said Press.
He added that the album will also address the status of Freeway's relationships with G-Unit, State Property, and fellow Roc-A-Fella founders Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke.
"Any questions that you have about Freeway will be answered on the album," said Press. "He really wanted to stress that a lot of people are making songs that just come and go but if you check his track record, 'What We Do,' 'Rock the Mic,' and 'Flipside' are part of Hip-Hop history and are records that still bang in main rotation even though they are three years old."
Added Freeway: "I'm just very excited about my new album and also to help the unity in hip-hop and prove that young black successful people can work together in this game. It's gonna be big for the east coast. We need something like this."
