Phene - Freedom Ain't Free

Dating back to the Vietnam War and trumpeted in recent years by the likes of Toby Keith, the slogan “Freedom isn’t free” has always had an ominous, jingoistic ring to it. On mixtape lead single Freedom Ain’t Free, however, Booth newcomer Phene turns the pro-military rallying cry on its head, firing back at the cops who brutalize innocent civilians like Sean Bell and the neo-cons who use manufactured fear as an excuse to take away Americans’ civil liberties. After the Central Pennsylvania/Atlanta dual representative delivers his fiery opening bars over Mellodramatic‘s fresh, retro boardwork (sampled from the intro to the Monkees’ Valleri), recent reader favorite Laws (whose Booth-sponsored 4:57PM mixtape dropped today) mounts his soapbox for an inventively paranoid guest verse – I can’t say it ever occurred to me that the government might be spying on me through my cat’s tracking chip, but now I’m kinda worried. Hip Hop Docktrine 2.5, a ‘best of’ compilation of tracks featured on Adult Swim series The Boondocks, is out now – and, unlike freedom, the project is free.