Freeway (rapper)

Freeway
Freeway in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Leslie Edward Pridgen
Born	(1978-08-06) August 6, 1978 (age 46) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter
Years active	1999–present
Labels	New Rothchilds Roc Nation Rhymesayers Babygrande Real Talk Def Jam Roc-A-Fella
Member of	State Property

Leslie Edward Pridgen (born August 6, 1978), better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he first gained recognition after appearing on Jay-Z's fifth album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000. The following year, he became a member of the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective State Property, which were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. After releasing their debut album, Pridgen signed to Roc-A-Fella as a solo artist and began work on his debut album, Philadelphia Freeway (2003). Upon release, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical response. He released a follow-up, Free at Last (2007) to moderate reception before him and fellow State Property cohorts were dropped from the label.^[1][2]

In 2009, Pridgen was briefly signed to Cash Money Records, although his next three albums: Philadelphia Freeway 2 (2009), Diamond in the Ruff (2012), and Free Will (2016) were released independently.^[3] He returned to work with Jay-Z in 2018, signing to his successor label Roc Nation to release his sixth album, Think Free in June of that year.^[4]