''Philadelphia Freeway'' is the debut studio album from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

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 under

Roc-A-Fella Records 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 ...

and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. The most successful single was " Flipside", which featured Peedi Crakk. The single debuted at #95 on The Billboard Hot 100 music chart. It can also be found in the soundtrack to

Bad Boys II ''Bad Boys II'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film '' Bad Boys'' and the second film in the ''Bad ...

. The lead single that was released was " What We Do", which featured

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 debu ...

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 o ...

. The single debuted at #97 on The Billboard 100 music charts. Most of the songs were 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 mu ...

while some were produced by

Bink! Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972) professionally known as Bink is an American hip hop producer from Norfolk, Virginia, who is noted for his work with Roc-A-Fella Records artists. His most high-profile work has been Jay-Z's critica ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Critical reception

The album received positive reviews and on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the album gathered a score of 74 out of 100 based on 7 reviews.

Commercial performance

The album debuted and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Top 200, selling 132,000 copies in its first week. The album sold over 500,000 copies, in the United States.

Track listing

Samples

Free *"Freeway Song" by

Vicki Sue Robinson Vicki Sue Robinson (May 31, 1954 – April 27, 2000) was an American theatre and film actress, and singer, closely associated with the disco era of late 1970s pop music; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, "Turn the Beat Around". Early life Bor ...

What We Do *"I Just Can't See Myself Without You" by Creative Source All My Life *"(Man, Oh Man) I Want to Go Back" by

The Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur B ...

Don't Cross The Line *"To Get Love You Must Give Love" by T.U.M.E. On My Own *"Just Enough Room for Storage" by James Brown Life *"Life For The Taking" by

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Pa ...

Victim Of The Ghetto *"We Belong Together" by The Spinners You Don't Know (In The Ghetto) *"Inside My Love" by

Minnie Ripperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...

Alright *"Mystic Brew" by Ronnie Foster Hear The Song *"Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)" by Chic Turn Out the Lights (Freewest) *"You Just Don't Care" by Santana

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2003 debut albums Freeway (rapper) albums Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Bink (record producer) Def Jam Recordings albums Roc-A-Fella Records albums