"Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" is a song performed by rapper

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

. The song is based on a sample of Pete Rock & CL Smooth's 1992 release "

They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is a song by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, inspired by the death of their close friend Troy Dixon (better known as "Trouble" T. Roy of Heavy D & the Boyz) in 1990. The song was the lead single off their debut album, ...

". It was the first single off his album '' Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1''. It was released as a single on May 21, 2012.

Music video

The music video was released on June 27, 2012, on

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

and premiered on YouTube the same day. The video was directed by Alex Nazari and was filmed in Lupe's hometown of Chicago. In the video, Lupe's sporting glowing, demon-like eyes and has a "crew" in

2D Animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

, along with what would be a rented car, all three used as a satire for the problems within the American social, economic and political project. Rapper

Trae tha Truth Frazier Othel Thompson III (born July 3, 1980), better known by his stage name Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae), is an American rapper and record executive from Houston, Texas. Embarking on a musical career in 1998, he soon established himself ...

makes a cameo appearance in the video.

Controversy

"Around My Way" is based around a sample that was also utilized in the

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, ''All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP ''Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a prod ...

song "

", a track that has evolved into a hip-hop staple since its 1992 release.

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

himself, via his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, expressed intense displeasure at the song's producers for choosing "T.R.O.Y." as the backing sample, but soon afterward apologized for the outburst. According to an exasperated Lupe Fiasco, he and the label had reached out to Rock several months beforehand for his approval on using the original instrumental, which eventually had to be intricately replicated by B-Side and DJ Simonsayz; the "T.R.O.Y." song itself sampled work from Tom Scott as well, which further complicated the legalities behind sample clearances.

Chart performance

"Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" debuted at #76 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

References

2012 singles 2012 songs Lupe Fiasco songs Atlantic Records singles Anti-war songs Political rap songs Protest songs Songs about drugs Songs written by Lupe Fiasco Songs written by Paul Kantner Songs written by Marty Balin Songs written by CL Smooth {{2010s-hiphop-single-stub