"What We Do" is a song by American rapper

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

. It was released on September 3, 2002 as the lead single from his debut studio album ''

Philadelphia Freeway ''Philadelphia Freeway'' is the debut studio album from Philadelphia rapper Freeway. It was released under Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. The most successful single was " Flipside", which featured Peedi Crakk. The single debuted at ...

'' (2003). The song features American rappers

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut ...

. It was produced by

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Blaze attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his m ...

and contains a sample of "I Just Can't See Myself Without You" by

Creative Source Creative Source was an American R&B group from Los Angeles, who had several funk and disco hits during the 1970s. History Creative Source was formed in 1972 by several session musician, veterans of the West Coast recording studios. They were man ...

Background

In the song, the rappers rap about committing acts that they know are illegal but still doing them in order to survive. In an interview, Freeway stated the song is "talkin' about all the things that we do in the streets is wrong but, of course, there are reasons why we're doing the wrong things that we do". According to Just Blaze, "What We Do" was one the first songs recorded for the album. Freeway originally planned for the track to be a solo and for Jay-Z to only have an ad-lib on it. Jay came to check on Freeway in the beginning of the album and on the end of the album. He made two visits to the studio. The first time he came to hear the album, Freeway played him "What We Do", and Jay was like, 'I gotta jump on it.' After he did, Beanie Sigel recorded a verse for the song as well.

Music video

The music video was filmed in the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

and directed by

Nzingha Stewart Nzingha Stewart is an American filmmaker. She began her career directing music videos, later moving to the television and movie industry in 2010 with the drama ''For Colored Girls'' as an executive producer. She has directed two movies for Lifetim ...

. It is based on the television series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'' and features cameos from cast members of the show, as well as appearances from

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella along with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke. Early life Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbe ...

Roc-A-Fella Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

artists, and Beanie Sigel's mother.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Beanie Sigel 2002 singles 2002 songs Freeway (rapper) songs Jay-Z songs Beanie Sigel songs Song recordings produced by Just Blaze Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Beanie Sigel Songs written by Just Blaze Songs written by Skip Scarborough Roc-A-Fella Records singles Songs about crime