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August 6th - Freeway was born Leslie Edward Pridgen in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1978.

Freeway met fellow Philly MC Beanie Sigel as a teen while the latter was performing onstage in a local night club.

When Sigel was signed to Jay-Z and Damon Dash’s fairly new label, Roc-A-Fella, he put in a good word about the talents of his fellow City Of Brotherly Love brother.

After Freeway appeared on a track on the album “The Dynasty – Roc La Familia”, along with Jay-Z, Sigel and Memphis Bleek, he was signed by Roc-A-Fella.

In 2003, Freeway released his debut album “Philadelphia Freeway” which spawned the hits “Flipside” and “What We Do” (featuring Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel).

“Philadelphia Freeway” was produced by Kanye West, Just Blaze and Bink!

“Philadelphia Freeway” also showcased many MC’s from Philly, prompting Freeway and Sigel to start a new musical click called State Property.

State Property would release two albums on Roc-A-Fella, 2002’s “State Property Original Soundtrack”, which accompanied a film of the same name, and 2003’s “The Chain Gang Vol. 2.”

After the demise of State Property, Freeway put together a new group called Ice City who released their only album “Welcome To The Hood” on Sure Shot Records in 2006.

After converting to Islam and making The Hajj to the holy city of Mecca, Freeway returned to Roc-A-Fella and released a new album called “Free At Last” in 2007.

In 2009, Freeway released the album “Philadelphia Freeway 2” on Real Talk Records.

Over the years, Freeway has collaborated with Statik Selektah, Jake One, Lil’ Wayne and Rick Ross, to name a few.