Roc-A-Fella rapper Freeway, of State Property fame, will collaborate with 50 Cent and G-Unit for his second album titled Free at Last, according
to his manager.
The album is co-executive
produced by Def Jam president Jay-Z and50 Cent and will be released Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella imprint via Def Jam, said Freeway’s manager Ryan Press of Press Conference Management.
" Jay-Z,
and 50 Cent will both be on my album," Freeway told AllHipHop.com. "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 and G-Unit founder 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, Chad Wes, 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.
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."
