Free Mason

Album: Teflon Don (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from American rapper Rick Ross's fourth studio album, Teflon Don. Both Jay-Z and John Legend also feature on the cut. Legend previously appeared on Ross's 2009 tune, "Magnificent."
  • Jay-Z recorded his verse just after his last stop on his Blueprint 3 tour in Las Vegas. Ross recalled to MTV News: "The funny thing is the way the record was done. I followed him to a few Blueprint 3 Tour dates. I was chillin' in the back, smoked out. As soon as he gets offstage, we was chillin', vibing. His last date, which was in Vegas, he killed the show. We left the show, went to Tao for the afterparty. It was 30 bottles of Ace of Spades [champagne]. He left there, went and killed the craps table, the poker table. Then we got in the studio, and he laced me. It was the most phenomenal verse."
  • Ross expanded on how Jay came up with his verse to MTV News: "I was a roadie on the Blueprint 3 tour for a few dates. It started off in St. Louis. I was just messing with everybody, kicking it with everybody, letting Jay hear my ideas and concepts. When you get the deluxe version of this album, we documented when I played the record. I played the track and my first verse. I put in the PS3 behind the stage.
    Played it, [Jay] listened to it," the Miami rapper continued. "We played it, backed it up, played it again. Played it, backed it up, played it again. Backed it up, and he spit his verse. It's gonna be magic for people to see Jay do his 'Rain [Man]' when he's rubbing his head, like he puling his rhymes outta his mind. Just to see somebody come up with a verse that potent in less than two or three minutes ... 'cause it was just a snippet. The beat may have played for a minute and a half and started over," a process Ross said was repeated a few times as Jay composed. "He had his 16, an idea for the chorus. Trey Songz, all of us standing around in awe."
  • Jay-Z's spirituality was questioned after his video for "On to the Next One" was alleged to feature Satanic and Masonic imagery. On his verse for this track, Hov shoots back the rumors. Ross told MTV News: "One of the words I said in my verse, it triggered something in [Jay's] mind. He had so many things to say about it. The content of the record, it's gonna answer a lot of things that's been circulating. It's going to be moving."

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