Music Review: Freeway @PhillyFreezer x @GirlTalk – Broken Ankles

If anybody kept it moving after the Roc-a-Fella/State Property dissolution, Freeway would be that person. Instead of resting on his laurels, becoming a ghost, or getting arrested for doing stupid stuff, Freeway kept it moving. What that means is a lot of solo mixtapes, collaboration albums, and plenty of touring. Now, Freeway is in demand on his own. So, Freeway took a negative and made it a positive.

Girl Talk, in comparison, made a name for himself by making music he believes in. Becoming one of the kings of the mash up was no walk in the park. Instead of following his schooling, he went for musical concoctions labeled “a lawsuit waiting to happen” by the New York Times. Still, he carried on to make the music he wanted to make. Girl Talk eventually became the producer, and musician/label owner, he always hoped to be.

Now, these two have collaborated on a project that goes beyond their nicknames. Who knew a person named after “freeway trafficking” and another named after “pop culture popular movements” would come together to make such a great project.

No, seriously: this project is great. Might be on this year’s top 10 list for me. Let me explain:

1.)    Freeway’s rhymes are on point: Freeway keeps it authentic on each and every track. You won’t hear Freeway trying to do anything new or experimental. This is excellent for all of us hip hop listeners. Whether he is talking about overcoming obstacles on “I Can Hear Sweat” or just mic ripping about real life stuff on “Tell Me Yeah”, Philly Freezer stays cold. And it is getting warm outside, so you know this is a good sign.

2.)    The production by Girl Talk is sample laden, energetic, and free flowing: Once the warped sounding, futuristic intro gets into play, Girl Talk takes over with more samples than a dusty record bin. “Tolerated” is full of energetic horns and drum patterns that could arouse the senses of a crowd at a sports event. “I Can Hear Sweat” has a dope breakdown of beat switching at 2:53 into the song, switching the tone and liveliness of the song. “Lived It” uses a flipped sped-up-sample for the sake of Freeway to make good use of it. As much as Freeway puts into his rhymes, Girl Talk put the same vigor into the music.

With all of that said, Broken Ankles is just that impressive of a project. With only six tracks, it will be pretty short for those that wanted more. However, it is a high quality project coming from a pair of artists that have earned their way into the musical stratosphere by work and determination. Seemingly, it was only right for them to pair up. They still came together and made beautiful music together. In short, this album is petite in length and elongated in impressive music.