Where have these guys been, and why haven't they been collaborating already?
Pennsylvania is teaming up on this one with mashup master Girl Talk providing a handful of beats for Philly rapper Freeway. Some might think his style is gimmicky, but Girl Talk's never really disappointed me. It's actually funny that he's been musically silent for the past four years, because I think music fans aren't really paying attention to genre boundaries like they used to. Now that music discovery on the internet is in full swing, people are listening to whatever the hell they want. That's exactly what Girl Talk's megamix albums represented to me, anyway.
As far as Freeway goes, I've never really been a fan outside of The Stimulus Package--which dropped the same year as Girl Talk's last record--but I think he's sounding completely revitalized over these sample-heavy beats.
I think Freeway and Girl Talk are finding new purpose together with this new EP of theirs, Broken Ankles. The lyrics are grimy, violent, forceful. I'd call the instrumentals unlikely, but nothing happens here that albums like Feed The Animals didn't already set a precedent for. Still, it's great to hear Girl Talk focusing on some completely original material rather than just assembling tracks out of pieces of other songs. Stuff like this EP could really build his rep as a producer, because the beats have a lot going on for them on this thing. Enjoy via the widget above or the link below!
Download: Girl Talk & Freeway - Broken Ankles
