With Beanie making questionable moves, and Young Chris probably placing too much faith in Hov, Freeway is showing that he might have the most common sense out of State Prop’s big 3. He’s playing the fence in the Beans/Jay game, and embracing reality by targeting the backpacker demographic: The Stimulus Package, an upcoming album with producer Jake One on dorky rap label Rhymesayers, was just given a February release date. Despite the dated title, it looks promising, as these two have already proven that they work well together.

Jake One also brings all the beats on The Beat Made Me Do It (Download the No DJ version here), a Don Cannon mixtape-slash-”album before the album.” Read the rest of this entry »

Rap-A-Lot dropped their official version of Z-Ro’s Cocaine mixtape two weeks ago, but I can’t find a single review of it. Even Noz and noted Z-Ro biographer “Maynholup” have been quiet since offering these advance reports. My Rap-A-Lot connect never sent me a copy, and it’s not available on iTunes, so I’m still banging the extended “double-disc” bootleg version that leaked online earlier last month. That one’s 35 songs and nearly three hours heavy, fattened with previously released weight like a 15-minute DJ Screw mix of Guerilla Maab’s “Fondren and Main,” and Z-Ro leading a crowd at one of his shows through a singalong of his classic “Mo City Don” freestyle. It’s a daunting amount of material, but there’s some superb songs. Without all the extraneous stuff, and with better mixes, I imagine that 17-song official disc must make for a damn good listen. Read the rest of this entry »