Freeway & Young Chris, "Lean Wit It (Freestyle)"

Here Philadelphia rap vets Freeway and Young Chris rhyme over one of the best beats of the season, made by Willingboro, New Jersey producer Carl “Cardiak” McCormick for Meek Mill’s song “Lean Wit It.” Meek Mill, who is also from Philadelphia, is a good rapper, elevated by the wiry urgency he always carries in his voice. Young Chris is just fine, too. But, man, listen to what Freeway does when he comes on! (That’s at the 1:48 mark, if you don’t have the 3 minutes and 11 seconds it takes to watch the whole thing. Which, I sympathize. It’s a busy world we live in.) While the other two structure their rhymes around the four-note bell progression that dominates the track, Freeway flips it on its head and speeds it up double-time, following the stuttering snare drums that are lower down in the mix. Very exciting!