Free (Based Freestyles Mixtape)


Free is a collaborative mixtape by American rappers Lil B and Chance the Rapper. It was self-released for free download on August 5, 2015.

Background and recording

Free was recorded in Chicago—Chance the Rapper's hometown—on July 18, 2015. The recording session was supervised by engineers/producers Jeff Arenson and Aidan Sigel-Bruse.

Composition

Free consists of six tracks. Writing for Consequence, Adam Kivel compared it to a "pretty good episode of an improvised podcast".
The opening track, "Last Dance", features a guest appearance from Noname Gypsy. Pitchfork's Winston Cook-Wilson compared the beat on the track "Do My Dance" to that on Chance the Rapper's song "Chain Smoker".

Release

On July 18, 2015, Chance the Rapper and Lil B announced that they had recorded a collaborative mixtape together. Later that month, Chance the Rapper appeared on Wild 94.1, and called it "a masterpiece" and "a classic".
Two weeks later, Free was self-released on August 5, 2015. It was uploaded to Lil B's SoundCloud account for free download.

Critical reception

Sheldon Pearce of HipHopDX and Dean Van Nguyen of NME considered the final track, "We Rare", to be the best on the mixtape.
Writing for Exclaim!, Calum Slingerland said that "Free's greatest moments come when the pair play off each other's rap skills".

Track listing

Track notes