Freeway (rapper)

Leslie Edward Pridgen (born August 6, 1978), better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Based in 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 joined the Philadelphia-based hip-hop collective State Property, who were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. After the release of State Property's self-titled debut album (2002), Pridgen signed with Roc-A-Fella to release his first two solo albums, Philadelphia Freeway (2003) and Free at Last (2007). Both critically praised, the former album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200, while the latter was the final project released before him and fellow State Property members were dropped from the label. Pridgen independently released his next three albums: Philadelphia Freeway 2 (2009), Diamond in the Ruff (2012), and Free Will (2016). He returned to work with Jay-Z in 2018, signing with Roc-A-Fella's successor label, Roc Nation, to release his sixth album, Think Free in June of that year.