Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)

## Single by Lupe Fiasco

"**Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)**" is a song by Lupe Fiasco, released as the lead single from his fourth studio album, *Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1*, on May 21, 2012. It is based on a sample beat from the 1992 song "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" by Pete Rock and CL Smooth, recreated by producers B-Side and Simon Sayz.

## Background

In a press statement, Fiasco said of the song, "You needed that first record to be the embodiment of that whole piece, the whole direction that we're going in. This record is a collage, but it's a more like an introduction. [...] We will expand on something that may have came up in the second verse of "Freedom Ain't Free." There will be a whole song that speaks about this particular relationship in American society, or this particular phenomenon in American society, so people can get a good direction of where the album is going. You get it all in the first joint."

## Music video

The official Alex Nazari-directed music video was released on June 27, 2012, on *106 & Park* and premiered to YouTube the same day. It shows Fiasco walking around his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, with white, glowing eyes or hanging out with cartoon characters.

## Artwork

The cover artwork was revealed on May 16, 2012, depicting the American flag that resembles a barcode. The barcode reflects America's consumerism and consumption, where individuals purchase things for necessity, luxury, or comfort. Ultimately it places value on everything, and questions free(dom) if everything has a price.

## Controversy

The day of the single's release, Pete Rock took to Twitter to express his displeasure of his track being used, stating, "No disrespect to Lupe Fiasco and I like him a lot but TROY should be left alone. Feel so violated, the beat is next to my heart and was made outta anguish and pain. When it's like that it should not be touched by no one!" On May 23, the producer announced that their argument was settled and had plans to collaborate with the following tweet: "I just got off da phone with lupe, we worked out our difference and we bout to get it in. Gonna be epic and we gonna give Troy and hey the proper respect they deserve and make history."

On the contrary, Fiasco called Sway Calloway on May 24 that Rock's claims were not true. He explained, "It was supposed to have been settled, but instead of him doing what he's supposed to do, he comes and puts out this weak, half-ass statement." He added that him and his team "reached out to Pete in November," where his business partner Chilly wanted to use a classic hip-hop record and "put a new spin on it." Fiasco wanted to record over the original beat, but they were unable to clear it, so they had to remake it, leading to producers Simon Sayz and B-Side to work on it. He continued, "The whole time, we being told from Pete Rock that we got his blessing to rock with it. He's been talked to (people) from my team for the past six months." He told *CNN*, "It definitely wasn't like, 'Hey, I'm going to steal that, and nobody's going to know.' The original 'T.R.O.Y.' came out in 1992, and it was like a 20th anniversary kind of thing. I tried to honor it. Of course, there was homage being paid, but certain logistics of the record didn't go through as (Pete) wanted, and then his backlash, and then my explanation, and then there was supposed to be a public kind of mending of the situation on his behalf, which didn't occur." Nevertheless, he said that he still held respect, saying, "I'll just wait this one out, see what happens. Let time reconcile this, time and distance. I still big him up. Shout to Pete Rock, shout to CL Smooth in everything I do because at the end of the day, it is his record."

B-Side maintained that the sample was made with "actual artists playing the instruments" and continued:

>
> Yes, its a remake of T.R.O.Y, …. Yes, I did it.
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> It was something he wanted to do, and I thought his lyrics were cool. We did it with no samples, as per instruction, and it was pretty damn tough to pull off. I think we did a pretty good job. I did not know that Pete Rock would be so pissed….. Truth be told, I thought he was in the loop with it.. but no matter.
>
>
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> I certainly didn't intend to come out and shit on pete rock in any way. He's always been one of my biggest influences, and he's a hip hop legend. It feels kind of bad to have one of your idols come out and diss you. But I understand his perspective. I will say that the vast majority of kids I talk to have never heard the original, and maybe this will get them to go back and pay attention to the first record.
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> The legal issues with using the original made it pretty impossible from a modern major label perspective, My intent was to pay tribute in the best way I could and maybe make something cool and new, with an obvious homage to the original version.
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> I have tons of original beats, people that know me on here know that. Its not even the first time I've been asked to remake this track for someone. All in all I thought it came out pretty dope.
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> Maybe I shouldn't even be speaking on this, but there it is. Redoing it gave me a new appreciation for Pete's original production and how intricate and complicated it was. I don't blog and I'm not active on twitter, so I figured Id put this here.
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> Anyways, you can hate me now. I'm just trying to get over like the rest of yall though.
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> Peace, B
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>

In an interview with MTV News, Rock said, "If the artist doesn't like something I did or said, then we could work through it with a conversation. That's always my goal—it's never to add fuel to the fire. I would love to get in the studio and work with him if his management team can respect me as a man, and the label can respect me as a man, and Lupe himself can respect me as a man. I would love to work with him, and I wouldn't turn my nose to it."

## Personnel

* Brian Gardner – masterer
* B-Side – co-producer
* Charles "Chilly" Patton – additional producer, executive producer
* Corey "C.L. Smooth" Penn – writer
* Darrale Jones – producer
* Joe Peluso – recording engineer
* Martyn "Marty Balin" Buchwald – writer
* Paul Kantner – writer
* Peter "Pete Rock" Phillips – writer
* Richard Michael Conti – saxophone
* Simon "Simon Sayz" Morel – co-producer
* Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco – vocals, writer, additional producer, executive producer

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Verse 1]

First off, say "Peace" to Pine Ridge

Shame at all the damage that the white man wine did

Ghost Dance, Trail of Tears, five million beers a year

And all that other crime did

More peace to the teachers of blind kids

To rebels in small cells keeping their mind big

Say everything's hostile

Suicide bombers and prosperity gospels, emaciated models

With cocaine and blood pouring out their nostrils, they got to

Just to stay awake on the catwalk of life where everybody watch you

Straight hair, high heels and a handbag

Crucifixes, racism and a land grab

Katrina, FEMA trailers, human body sandbags

A peace sign and a pants sag

A money toss cause a nine stripper mad dash

A friend request following a hash tag

Now everybody want it like the last laugh

A Michael Jackson jacket or a Daft mask

Purple Jordans or the mixed girl in your math class

Stable is when the Ba'ath had Baghdad

But corporate jets really had to have that gas bad

War and they hope they all fall from the ratatat

'Cause that's just more dinosaur for their Cadillacs

[Hook]

Live from the other side what you see

A bunch of nonsense on my TV

Heaven on Earth is what I need

But I feel I'm in Hell every time I breathe

Reporting live from the other side what you hear

A bunch of nonsense all in my ear

Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay

'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way

[Verse 2]

And we marvel at the state of Ottoman

Then turn around and treat Ghana like a garbage can

America's a big motherfuckin' garbageman

If you ain't know, you're part and parcel of the problem

You say no you ain't, and I say yes you is

Soon as you find out what planned obsolescence is

You say no they didn't, and I say yes they did

The definition of unnecessary-ness

Manifested

Say that we should protest just to get arrested

That goes against all my hustling ethics

A bunch of jail n\*\*\*as say it's highly ineffective

Depart from Martin, connect on Malcolm X tip

Insert Baldwin to similar the separate

To me, the truth is more fulfilling than a meth hit

Or finding really fast internet to have some sex with

It's all one song short of a set list

Couple croissants shy of a continental breakfast

Or blowing out your birthday candles just to make a death wish

So absurd, word to Chief Bone Necklace

Down at the Lakota Sioux Casino

A whole culture boiled down to giving you pokeno

I go as left as a heart in the chest

'Cause the Horn of Africa is now starving to death

[Hook]

Live from the other side what you see

A bunch of nonsense on my TV

Heaven on Earth is what I need

But I feel I'm in Hell every time I breathe

Reporting live from the other side what you hear

A bunch of nonsense all in my ear

Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay

'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way

[Verse 3]

An all-white Los Angeles, the dream of Mr. Chandler

Hope and pray they take Columbus Day up off the calendar

South Central an example of God's gifts

So shout to all the mothers raising babies in SPA 6

The projects of Oakland city, Detroit ghost towns

Monopolies on poverty where D-boy coke bound

It's parts of Manila like the video for "Thriller"

But the US Embassy is reminiscent of a villa

If poverty is chocolate and privilege vanilla

Then what's the flavor of the Sunday preacher's pedophilia?

Cash rules everything around these n\*\*\*as

As classrooms everywhere around me wither

Hither you can be Mr. Burns or Mr. Smithers

The tyrant or the slave, but nowhere in the middle

Of the extremes of America's dream

Freud fighting Neo, Freddy Krueger refereeing, now…

[Hook]

Live from the other side what you see

A bunch of nonsense on my TV

Heaven on Earth is what I need

But I feel I'm in Hell every time I breathe

Reporting live from the other side what you hear

A bunch of nonsense all in my ear

Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay

'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way

[Outro]

Great American rap resurrect...

Lupe on the check

Westside till I die!

## References

1. ↑ Diep, Eric (May 22, 2012). "Lupe Fiasco Discusses Controversial "T.R.O.Y." Sample, Features on New Album". *Complex*.
2. ↑ Hughes, Josiah (June 28, 2012). "Lupe Fiasco "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" (video)". *Exclaim!*
3. ↑ Marshall Jr., Robert (May 16, 2012). "Lupe Fiasco – Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free) Single Cover Art". *Hypebeast*.
4. ↑ Weingarten, Christopher (May 22, 2012). "Pete Rock Slams Lupe Fiasco For Crappy 'T.R.O.Y.' Bite". *Spin*.
5. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco Calls Pete Rock's Tweets "Foul," Says Issue Is Not Resolved". *XXL*. May 24, 2012.
6. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco Says "Let Time Reconcile" Rift with Pete Rock". *HipHopDX*. August 7, 2012.
7. ↑ Diep, Eric (May 22, 2012). "Producer B-Side Comments On Lupe Fiasco's “Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)”". *Complex*.
8. ↑ Alexis, Nadeska (June 1, 2012). "Pete Rock Open to Working with Lupe Fiasco". *MTV*. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012.