Album Review:
The Fresh Air Fund – Fresh Air Ain't Free

By Renda Writer

This is not your typical album review.  What's not typical here is that instead just reviewing the albums strengths and weakness with a quick look at a few of the tracks that support both sides of the spectrum, we're going to look at the album through one big hypothetical situation. 

Hypothetically, we assume that one day…about a week ago…you walked out of a store and into a South Florida parking lot.  On your way to the car, two guys walked up to you with CDs in their hands and introduced themselves to you as Butta Verses and Raw Filth of The Fresh Air Fund.  They pitched their latest CD to you, Fresh Air Ain't Free, and you bought it. 

And now…a week later…you're bumping it in your car any time you drive anywhere.  People always ask you why it seems to be almost permanently stuck in your car's stereo.  Your answer – Fresh Air Ain't Free is music to ride to. 

And someone will probably ask you that very question today at some point.  But you're not worried about that just yet.  You just woke up, and you're late for work.  You skip breakfast, throw on some clothes, jump in your car, and start playing track # 3 – "Motivate."  In the last week it's become kind of a personal ritual to start every morning with this track – and especially on days like this, when you're running late.  The upbeat production and inspiring lyrics get you through the morning and help keep your road rage down.

Your work day seems to squeak by at a snails pace, but when it's over you hop back into your ride and throw on track #4 – "Bad."  The smooth production from DJ Shorty Bluhs sneaks out your speakers and encourages you to lower the front windows as you ride out to this Raw Filth solo joint.  You rap along with Filth, harmonizing his lines, bopping your head to the beat, and then your cell phone rings.  It's your boy.  He wants to ride out so you agree to pick him up.

You get to his crib.  He jumps in, and in hearing that you're bumping Fresh Ain't Free for the umpteenth time, he jumps into his usual argument about how Butta V is better than Raw Filth.  You assume the counterpoint, insisting that Filth is better, and to back up your argument you put on track #10 - "Layin' Sidewayz."  It's a short track, but it showcases Filth at his best.  The track is kinda crunk, but Filth let's you know that he's not some typical dirty South crunkster when he says "Yo what it do and what it diz/ Is what I'm tryin' to figure out now/ As I redefine the way that you thought the South sound…"  You push the volume up to the max, and now you lower the back windows too.  The track finishes, and you look over at your friend with that "I told you so" look.

Your smirk lingers as the track fades and transitions into the next selection - "Summertime" – a solo joint from Butta Verses that your friend favors most out of the whole album's line-up.  And you can't front - it is pretty dope how vividly Butta paints a picture of a typical summer day.  It's no surprise why this young man had the chance to collaborate and tour with De La Soul.  The track feels like a soundtrack for the day, as the two of you ride out to a barbeque around the way, sunroof now cracked open. 

You squash your friendly little argument about which Fresh Air member is… fresher… as you roll up to the barbeque pumpin' "Hot Shit," another mellow summer jam that has both Butta and Filth trading verses over a relaxed beat from Scot 2 Hot.  Of course, as you pull up to the party the ladies flock to the car, asking who that is that you're playing. 

You breeze through the small talk with the ladies while hooking up a burger and a beer from the keg.  You and your boy both get digits and promise to meet them later that night at a club in Miami.  The party eventually starts to dwindle, so you hop back in car and flip to track #12 – "Ride."  It's a cool track, and it definitely fits with the whole vibe of how this CD is perfect for your car stereo, but you're a little disappointed by how the sound quality on this one is so much lower than the others.  No big deal though, you just crank it up.

So now you've gone home, showered, and changed, and it's time to hit the club.  You scoop up your boy again, and since you're heading to Miami, its only right that you listen to track #7 – "Reasons," which features Miami native, Wrekonize.  He blends well with the Fresh Air duo, especially with quotable lines like, "My label begs for hooks/ I pack a six-foot harpoon."

Now you're about five minutes from the club, so you put on track #6 – "Drink Up" to get you in the mood for the scene you're about to walk into.  The topic – getting drunk enough to get with ladies who aren't so good in the face – is not exactly G-rated, but it's one of those tracks that you can't get enough of, one of your favorites by far. You've got it memorized.

You exit the club when the lights go on, and ride home to "Big Dreams," the most personal of all the album's cuts.  It's here that Butta V gives you something to think about, letting you know that not everything is what it seems in the music industry.  His advice to aspiring rappers:  "Don't do it.  Get a real job."  You rap along with him, arrive back at the crib, and go to sleep so you can go to your own real job the next day.  Hopefully you'll wake up on time.  And you'll be sure to rock out all day to the same CD again, Fresh Air Ain't Free by Fresh Air Fund.  It's that music to ride to. 

Fresh Air Ain't Free is available @ www.myspace.com/thefreshairfund.

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*Unpublished.