Jazz vocalist and multi Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon joins hip-hop quartet The Beast to release Freedom Suite, a  ten track collection of creative reflections on jazz and hip-hop. Featuring guest appearences from 9th Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Phonte of Foreign Exchange, YahZarah, Geechi Suede (of Camp Lo) and several others; Freedom Suite follows in the tradition of other collaborative jazz and hip-hop projects like the late Guru’s Jazzmatazz. The album features six original songs written and produced by The Beast and contemporary covers of popular hip-hop “standards” —Mos Def’s “Umi Says,” Johnny Mercer & Hoagy Charmichael’s “Skylark” and Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop.” The merger of live instrumentation and electronic/sample-based hip-hop prove successful.

Beast emcee Pierce Freelon (Nnenna’s son) engages musicians and scholars such as Questlove, Herbie Hancock, Amiri Baraka, Christian McBride, James Moody in one-on-one discussions about music, culture and life. Freedom Suite will be available for FREE download, digitally released on Okayplayer on October 26, 2010. Can’t wait another week? Listen and download ”Freedom Pt. II”.  

1. “Freedom Part II” –The Beast, ft. Suede & Nnenna Freelon

2. “Let Go”—The Beast ft. Tyler Woods

3. “Get Out of Town”—Nnenna Freelon ft. Phonte

4. “Rise Above The Sky (Doo Wop redux)”—The Beast ft. Rhapsody & Yahzarah

5. “No Escape”—The Beast ft. Carlitta Durand & Darien Brockington

6. “If We Love”—Nnenna Freelon ft. King Mez & Thee Tom Hardy

7. “Once Again”—The Beast ft. Kooley High

8.  ”Strange Love” The Beast ft. Shirlette Ammons

9.  ”Skylark”—Nnenna Freelon

10. “Umi Says”—The Beast ft. Nnenna Freelon

For More Info:

www.thebeastmusic.com
thebeast.bandcamp.com
www.nnenna.com



TAGS: 9th Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Carlitta Durand, Christian McBride, Freedom Suite, Nnenna Freelon, Okayplayer.com, Phonte, Questlove, The Beast, Yahzarah