Customer Reviews

Stimulus Package

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....first off let me decribe the cd package this is some clever stuff for real it looks like wallet when you open it up and the cd booklet looks like money to fit into the cd it has like a credit card too that you can go to the website to download free stuff this so innovative i love it nobody does stuff like this no more no one puts the time into cd packaging no more...the album is hot if you like freeway and you know what he's about this will not dissappoint Jake One production fits freeway style of flow and it just knocks!!! Freeway is at home on these beats plus he broadenes subject matter (never gonna change,free people,outro)but the intro has the hottest beat and features Beanie Sigel (crazy!!) cop this CD freeway fans will love it new fans will dig the cd packaging for me the music comes first the cd packaging is just a added bonus

This album is simply what Hip-Hop needs right now, epic beats & amazing rhymes..Freeway does his thing on this, as usual. Jake One comes correct on the beats, as usual. What more can I say?..truly classic material. 5 stars!

Before I delve in to the music on Freeway and Jake One's The Stimulus Package, a word has to be said on the inventive packaging. The album is shaped like a wallet, with dollar bills serving as liner notes that you put inside the wallet. For a lover of the endangered species known as the compact disc, it's nice to see a label can still pull out all of the stops and put out a nice physical product to buy.

Now on to the music. The Stimulus Package seems to be aimed at a mainstream audience, yet it have several characteristics that fit much better with the underground. Freeway is a Roc-A-Fella alum, and his rhymes and flow on the Stimulus Package fit inside of the Roc's tradition. The beats also follow Jay-Z's template of using soul sampled and smooth beats that he used on his Blueprint album.

Besides being on perhaps the best known indie rap label Rhymesayers, the Stimulus Package features one MC (mostly) and one producer, lending it a consistency that is rarely seen in big budget mainstream releases. The beats are also a lot more nuanced than they would appear, and several listens reveal a lot of detail.

Jake One is the star here. Considering he's made beats for artists as divergent as Young Buck and Slug, Jake One seems perfectly suited to making glossy and soulful beats that appeal to both sides of the hip hip aisle. Though the beats are slightly one note, they're smooth, go down easy, and keep your head nodding throughout it's 15 tracks. Luckily, the CD comes with a card for downloading an instrumental version of the album.

Freeway is the weaker of the partnership here. He's a perfectly capable MC who can flow well and tell a good story, but he doesn't do anything to blow me out of the water. Maybe a few more listens will reveal some more lyrical nuggets from Freeway.

One Thing, You Know What I Mean, and The Product make up the strongest stretch of tunes on the album. Put Your Hands Up is a great opener and Free People is also an excellent song. But really, it's a very consistent album without a real noticeable weak track. Even the two song detour in to southern rap are pretty good, except for the extremely poor verse by Birdman on Follow My Moves.

Mainstream and indie rap fans can both find something to like on the Stimulus Package. It's the best hip hop release I've heard in a long time.

I have always loved freeway, one of the few rappers that could kill a great beat 99% of the time even though he doesn't have a typical flow. He kinda sound like a Philadelphia version of Ghostface. So with all this being sd I'm not suprised by anything Freeway spits on this album, the real star is Jake one, on this cd he does his best Just Blaze/Bink/Kanye impersonation. The samples and drum here are steller and if the point of this album was to capture that old Roc-A- Fella Sound mission accomplished. From the energertic "Throw Your Hands Up" to the brilliant "Never Gonna Change" everything one this album sound sincere. BTW the drums on nvr "Never Gonna Change" are ridiculously Bananna"s son. Even the single "Makes Me feel Alright" sound single worthy but not forced, love the video for it as well. This is a great comeback album from an artist who was on the verge of fading away.

Freeway does not disappoint on this LP, Jake One brings hard hitting kicks and whistles, this just seems to bang out to the surface, even if you turn some of the tracks down, they still demand attention. Free's in your face lyrics definitley impress. The second track sets the tone for what is about to be a refreshing experience, Free goes in hard right from the first bars and it just gets your spirits riled up "Everybody throw your hands up!!". The beats are brisk, well constructed. I must say even i didnt expect this album to be this good. Free brings serious, personal lyrics, nothing about chains or senseless bragadoccio, its a tale of violence, a hard life, and a few survival cues he had learned growing up. But make no mistake, its not all about hardcore, there are also slow melodic songs. He's rhyme scheme is the same only a little improved, i like imagery and metaphors, though he doesnt employ those extensively, he still gets his point accross successfully. Even if you dont like Freeway, give this a chance, i promise you even the guest appearances will keep you listening.

Just 3 months since his last album and this being his 3rd in a 9 month span, Freeway returns; with Jake One on the production boards, to bring you another classic to add to his impressive catalog. This being his 2nd classic (with 2009's "Philadelphia Freeway 2"), he also has two 4.5 star albums ( his 2003 debut, "Philadelphia Freeway" and 2009's "Streetz Iz Mine") as well as a solid 4 star 2007 effort "Free at Last". I also have 4 State Property albums he was a part of (two are 4.5 stars the other 2 are border 3.5/4 stars and he has his 4 star Ice City group album from 2004. The man has been real busy lately, and on point as well, possibly the strongest he's been in the 10 years he's been in the rap game. This one has 15 songs and is a great album. 3 are almost classics, 2 are ok, the other 10 are good, mostly great songs. Guests are on 7 songs, rapping on 6 and doing the hook on 1. As always he has his odd, but effective, delivery and some street/hustling oriented lyrics, with a few dirtier or deeper ones thrown in, as always. Production is brilliant as well and very versatlie in its sound, and as I said, Jake one does every song. The only thing I don't like is the ridiculous packaging it comes in, though all the songs lyrics are in the 2 booklets that come along witht he album. A must have album and probbly going to be one of the best of 2010!!

#1 - 8 (f/ Beanie Sigel -- short 30 sec. raps from the 2)
#2 - 9.5 (tight beat)
#3 - 8.5 (nice beat)
#4 - 9.5 (relaxing beat -- dirtier song)
#5 - 7.5 (beat isn't that good)
#6 - 7.5 (f/ Raekwon -- another average beat)
#7 - 8.5
#8 - 9.5 (tight beat -- song in the point of view of different narcotics)
#9 - 8 (f/ Young Chris)
#10 - 9 (f/ Baby -- nice beat)
#11 - 8 (f/ Bun B)
#12 - 9 (f/ LaToiya Williams -- nice relaxing beat)
#13 - 9 (f/ Sparks & Kon Artis -- another nice relaxing beat)
#14 - 8.5 (deeper song)
#15 - 9

Leslie Pridgen -- b. 1979 -- Philadelphia, PA
Check all my reviews

Now I'm from Philly but my opinion isn't the least bit biased whatsoever. I will start off by saying that I do go the extra mile sometimes to promote Philly projects, movements, artists, etc... With that being said I do like this album but there were a few things that I didn't like about it. The Songs to definitely look out for are: Throw yah hands up (Freeway's flow in rare form) One Thing (Jake One With an impressive layout) Follow My Moves (For some strange reason not a bad Guest appearance) Know What I Mean (Short and sweet) Sho' Nuff (Good concept) Money (Beat, hook, Verses just blended properly) Freekin the beat (got a cool feel to it) Free People (I LOVE THIS BEAT) Stimulus (Not a typical Outro... and now one of my top ten Freeway Tracks ever). The only negative things I have to say about this drop is a few songs that just did not do it for me (The Product, One Foot In, Never Gone Change) and I wasn't really feelin Rae's verse on One Thing. But other than that it's a strong collaboration and I would not mind pickin up a sequel. But if you lookin for a Classic Freeway Drop... Then go Get Free At Last.Free at Last

Freeway has never dropped any cd short of a classic. Yet he gets 0 credit. This cd is a CLASSIC!! If your a hip hop fan this is a must have. This is a blueprint to what rap should be.

I'll start my review by noting that it seems like all the other reviewers are very familiar with Freeway's whole career, and were already fans of his style long before this album came out. I, on the other hand, had, prior to the Stimulus Package, only heard him featured on a few other Roc artists' tracks, and the two tracks he did with Brother Ali earlier this year. However, I was pretty excited about this release because I love rhymesayers and was pretty intrigued with the Jake and Freeway combo as compared to how they normally bring in new artists: typically, they're scooping up some of the dopest underground rappers and helpin 'em come up; here, conversely, Rhyesayers brought on two artists that, while not industry heavyweights by any means, had achieved a fair amount of commercial mainstream success (Free on Roc, and Jake producing for G-Unit, etc.). Plus, I have Jake-One's "White Van Music" album, and really dig his production style, so I really had some high hopes for this release.
Unfortunately, within the first two weeks of owning it, it's pretty much already fallen out of rotation. The main reason: I can't stand Freeway. Dude has NO FLOW! His style is more like an avalanche, or a car-crash. It's just rough, and often lacks any sense of rhythm, and the rhyme schemes vary from apathetically basic to almost nonexistent; moreover, even his hooks are whack - which helps explain why he didn't do too well in the mainstream even with Rocafella resources pushing his product.The positive aspects of this album (discussed below) are good enough that I could probably forgive his harsh, noisy, grating style, but for the fact that even his subject matter, and the substance of his rhymes are, on many tracks (not all) just kind of frivolous, dumb, and sometimes uncomfortably crude. There certainly are exceptions though; I'd say one third of the tracks are at least a little clever, catchy, or otherwise enhanced by Freeway's redeeming bits of talent.
The beats, on the other hand, are pretty nice. It would make a pretty dope instrumental album, or perhaps if they had brought on more guest rappers and took the mic time off Free for a while it woulda been a four star album. I'm pretty excited that Rhymesayers has started their relationship with JakeUno and I'm excited to see if they hook up some other colabs for him. But, i think I'll stay away from Freeway in the future. If you are already a fan of Free, and appreciate his style, then you should probably cop this one, but otherwise, I wouldn't choose this over some of the other albums being released this spring.

This LP is hot! Nuff Said. If you dont got it, go get it. Real Hip-Hop you can trust!