Black Excellence: MaG Breaks Down His New “freedom” Album (Listen & Download) Posted by Nathan S. on 01/15/13 | Filed under Downloads, Mixtapes, MaG

It's been almost three years since the last full project from MaG. In internet terms that's a lifetime, but for an artist who's concerned with making truly making an album he can be proud of, not just increase his "buzz", that's just how long it takes to make something like "freedom".

The average hip-hop fan only cares about an album, not how an album came together, but RefinedHype Nation is not your average hip-hop fan. So I invited MaG to breakdown the process and thinking behind the project.

The stream and download link are below the breakdown from MaG.. Enjoy:

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“freedom” project:

This project has been about 2 years in the making. After the release of “I Ain’t Goin’ Back to Retail!” in December of 2009, I was ready to start another project. But, I’m a perfectionist. The track listing, the order, the songs, the beats, everything changed from month to month, at times on a whim. A lot of my decisions are sometimes feeling based, which can be detrimental when we’re talking about the business side of music. But, I just know what I feel. And, if something doesn’t feel right to me, then I can’t go along with it.

I’m very proud of this project. I feel like I grew a lot in the making of this. I HATE when cats say “yo, this is my most personal record I’ve ever done”, and then it’s not really personal. It just winds up being a lot of generic musings about love, life, money, etc. I don’t ever want to be that guy. This album is personal. It’s about as close to a diary as you’ll get from me.

Lauryn Hill said something real important in her MTV “Unplugged” show (she said A LOT of important things. Trust.). She said, “the real you is more interesting than the fake somebody else”. I think I’m finally at a place where my body of work is a reflection of that. I hope people listen to this album and feel inspired, and feel like they can accomplish whatever it is they want out of life. The tagline for “freedom” is “strictly for the dreamers”. Join the club.

"black roses":

There are a couple of stories to this song. The initial concept for the song started with a record off the White Stripes “White Blood Cells” album. The record is called “Little Room”, and it’s about a minute in length. Jack White starts off describing how, as an artist; you start off in a little room. Then, you make something good, so you move to a bigger room. But soon, once you’re in that bigger room, you might not know how to handle it. So, you start wondering how you left the little room in the first place. Hence the “little room/living room/ bigger space/more to lose/more to see/more to move/ so we move” lyrics. The simplicity of how he explained it really struck a chord with me.

So, part two. Nathan (yup, that Nathan), of RefinedHype.com, sent out a tweet during the summer of last year, questioning if rappers ever talked about how broke they are. I read it, and thought, “Sure. I do”. That’s why the first bar in the song starts with the line “might be the brokest/still remain focused”. I wanted to subliminally shout Nathan out, and also, make it clear to the listener that I always write from a place of truth. It’s really important to me that folks feel like they can relate, regardless of circumstance. Because, I’ve been there.

I was really nervous about the record because I’m sort of singing on the hook. When it comes to the music, I’ve always wanted to be sure I just did whatever felt right to me and my ears. It was originally supposed to be a dummy-hook for Zach Berkman to sing over. But, he was on tour and his schedule was hectic. The more I listened to the record, the more I liked the rawness of my vocals. I’m no D’Angelo, and I’m not trying to be. But, I knew what sound I wanted, and I felt like I found it in my own voice.

"paper airplanes":

This was the very first song I recorded for “freedom”. “freedom” was originally titled “You’re Welcome”. When I wrote the song, I was literally in my mom’s crib, at about 2 AM, listening to satellite radio. So, when I write “in my momma crib/bout’ 2 in the AM/radio playing/cooking up that newness”, that’s exactly what I was doing. I had just downloaded King I Divine’s beat tape. As soon as I heard that beat, I just knew. I had this overwhelming feeling that everything was going to pan out.

I was in a really difficult place in my life at the time. I wasn’t really sure if I’d ever really make it as an artist. I wanted the song to be a declaration of hope. That, if you really believe in your dream, really believe, you can make it happen. Sometimes, things don’t feel tangible. They feel distant, and past the margins. The record celebrates living your life outside those margins, and making something of yourself regardless of the circumstances surrounding your situation. Not everything is in a neat little bow, in this perfect box. Life is hard, life is complicated, but life is good, too.

I was experimenting with a non-traditional 8 bar hook for this joint. A big part in the creation of this song is Kanye West. I don’t know him personally, but I hear him in the back of my head when I’m creating songs. So, when I approach topics or ideas, it sometimes starts with, “what would Kanye do”? I thought Kanye would skip a traditional 8 bar hook. My brother heard it and was like,”I think you should have cut it at the 8th bar” (he didn’t say “8th bar”. He doesn’t speak music. But, I knew what he meant). But, I told him I think it works.

I wanted the song to feel as spiritual as possible without being preachy or overly self-righteous. I had really big plans for this song. Like, a gospel choir at the end with kids singing. The works. But, that requires a budget, and actually having money…and a gospel choir…and kids. So, I just opted for keeping it as is. It’s one of my favorite songs to perform live. Tiff (@rosewithwords) created a dance to it. It’s called the “paper airplane” dance. Basically, she just puts her arms out and in a mock-airplane pose, and dances. It’s cute. Try it. I hope the song inspires people to do more and be more. Because you should, and you can.

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\MaG returns with "freedom.". Featuring guest appearances from Arthur Lewis, Tre DeJean and Archie Green, and production credits from the likes of Astronote, Kuddie Fresh, Chanes, and Ta-Ku, amongst others. Producers (in order of appearance): Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Kuddie Fresh, Astronote, Jesse Futerman (4,6), Ta-Ku, Trey Hemingway (7, 8, 9), chanes, King I Divine.

Download "Freedom" via BandCamp

See Also: MaG Unearths His Dopest “B-Sides” (Mixtape Listen & Download)

(Looking for all of RefinedHype's dope downloads in one place? We got you covered.)