EXCLUSIVE: Freeway Reflects On Death Of His Children & Giving Back To Philadelphia
Freeway rapped about losing his son Jihad and his daughter Harmony on his new album Stimulus Package 2 with producer Jake One. The Philly native explained why did not avoid the sensitive subject in an interview with AllHipHop.
“The type of artist that I am and the type of artist that I’ve been throughout my career, I speak on reality and things that I go through,” Freeway said. “And that’s a part of my life, losing my kids. So, of course, I touch base on it on the project.”
Freeway remained committed to helping others despite his suffering in recent years. He discussed the work of his Freedom Thinkers Academy ahead of the Free Fest, which will be held on August 3 in Philadelphia.
“On the education side, we have some STEM workforce development programs,” he said. “We partner with OIC in Philadelphia and we partner with the community education building in Delaware, and we have phlebotomy, medical billing and code and audio, visual engineering and medical tech. And to date, we graduated 131 students. So, we just pushing the envelope, trying to help our community the best way that we can.”
He added, “June 1 was Philadelphia Freeway Day. It was established in 2019, but it was made official in 2024. And in the honor of getting my own day, we’re giving back to the city. I’m having the first annual Free Fest. It’s August 3 in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Naval Yard from 12-4 p.m. It’s going to be an amazing event with health resources.
“We are going to have health screenings. We’re going to have mental health resources for people. We are going to have vendors with food. We are going to have live entertainment. I’m performing. I’m going to bring some special guests out there. We going to shut it down.”
Fans can register for free tickets to the festival here. Watch AllHipHop’s interview with Freeway and Jake One below.