Broken Ankles (EP)
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Broken Ankles
| type = EP
| artist = Girl Talk and Freeway
| cover = EP_Broken_Ankles_cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = April 8, 2014
| recorded = 2013
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Mashup, hip hop, electronic, dance
| length =
| label = Girl Talk Music
| producer = Girl Talk
| chronology = Girl Talk
| prev_title = All Day
| prev_year = 2010
| next_title = Full Court Press
| next_year = 2022
| misc = {{Extra chronology
| artist = Freeway
| type = EP
| prev_title = Highway Robbery
| prev_year = 2014
| title = Broken Ankles
| year = 2014
| next_title = Free Will
| next_year = 2016
}}
}}
Broken Ankles is an extended play by American rapper Freeway and American music producer and mashup musician Girl Talk, both of whom hail from Pennsylvania. It was released digitally on April 8, 2014.
Background
Broken Ankles focuses more on traditional beats rather than the straight mash-ups of Girl Talk's previous work.{{cite web |last1=Montgomery |first1=James |title=Girl Talk Forms 'The Pennsylvania Dream Team' With Freeway |date=October 9, 2013 |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1715299/girl-talk-freeway-broken-ankles/ |publisher=MTV |access-date=10 March 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125233007/http://www.mtv.com/news/1715299/girl-talk-freeway-broken-ankles/ |archive-date= January 25, 2021 }} Speaking about the release, he explained: "I had the idea to do a mixtape with someone, but have it flow like one of my albums. I wanted to do a mixtape that was pretty different from your average mixtape. Every song is connected and there's a very distinct beginning and end; it works as a whole."
Freeway was Girl Talk's first choice for a collaborator, as he had been a fan of the rapper ever since hearing his appearance on the Jay-Z song "1-900-Hustler" and felt that "his energy is unreal, and he's able to keep up with any production." The two communicated through phone calls and e-mails and recorded several songs in Philadelphia.
Release
Girl Talk first announced the release of Broken Ankles through Twitter on October 6, 2013.{{cite web |last1=Minsker |first1=Evan |title=Girl Talk Teases Collaborative EP With Freeway |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/52554-girl-talk-teases-collaborative-ep-with-freeway |website=Pitchfork |date=6 October 2013 |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=10 March 2021}} Two days later, Girl Talk and Freeway debuted a song from the EP entitled "Tolerated" during a performance at the Brooklyn Bowl.{{cite web |last1=Minsker |first1=Evan |title=Watch: Girl Talk and Freeway Debut "Tolerated" Live |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/52565-watch-girl-talk-and-freeway-debut-tolerated-live/ |website=Pitchfork |date=8 October 2013 |publisher=Condé Naste |access-date=10 March 2021}} The EP was originally set for a fall 2013 release through DatPiff, but the release was postponed to 2014 due to Girl Talk's desire to "[wait] on a few features from other artists before [settling] on a definitive date."
On March 25, 2014, Girl Talk announced that the video for "Tolerated", featuring Freeway and Waka Flocka Flame, would be released on March 31, and that Broken Ankles would be released on April 8.{{cite web |last1=Beauchemin |first1=Molly |title=Get Grossed Out by Girl Talk, Freeway, and Waka Flocka Flame's Gory, Hilarious "Tolerated" Video |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/54576-get-grossed-out-by-girl-talk-freeway-and-waka-flocka-flames-gory-hilarious-tolerated-video/ |website=Pitchfork |date=31 March 2014 |publisher=Condé Naste |access-date=10 March 2021}} The music video, directed by Allen Cordell, features Girl Talk and Freeway walking down a street and brutally assaulting passers-by who bother them.
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = The Line of Best Fit
| rev2 = The Needle Drop
| rev2score = 8/10{{cite web |last1=Fantano |first1=Anthony |title=Girl Talk & Freeway - Broken Ankles EP REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSgrGqOIXGw |website=The Needle Drop |access-date=12 March 2021}}{{cite web |title=Girl Talk & Freeway - Broken Ankles |url=https://www.theneedledrop.com/articles/2014/04/girl-talk-freeway-broken-ankles-2 |website=The Needle Drop |date=14 April 2014 |access-date=14 March 2021}}
| rev3 = Pitchfork
| rev4 = PopMatters
}}
Broken Ankles was well received by critics and was commended as "Freeway’s best solo project" in a review by Pitchfork. Reviewers praised Girl Talk's production, saying his "soulful sampling is perfected here" and "evokes some of the bombast and pageantry that made early 2000s Just Blaze so amazing."{{cite web |last1=XXL Staff |title=Girl Talk & Freeway Complement Each Other's Style On 'Broken Ankles' EP |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/girl-talk-freeway-broken-ankles-ep-review/ |website=XXL Magazine |date=17 April 2014 |access-date=14 March 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Friedman |first1=Skinny |title=We Had a Calm Conversation with Noted Ankle Breakers Girl Talk and Freeway |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/rnpzwr/girl-talk-freeway-broken-ankles-interview |website=VICE |date=7 June 2014 |publisher=VICE media group |access-date=14 March 2021}} The samples in the EP "leaves you craving more" with its "hard-hitting" beats that "are a perfect compliment to Freeway's gritty, Philly cadence". The result is "a bracingly intense yet surprisingly harmonious EP that stuffs Girl Talk’s hyperactive beats under Freeway’s militantly growled rhymes".{{cite magazine |last1=Anderson |first1=Stacey |title=Girl Talk and Freeway Explain 'Broken Ankles' and Being Brutal |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/girl-talk-and-freeway-explain-broken-ankles-and-being-brutal-170860/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date= April 18, 2014 |access-date=14 March 2021}}
Track listing
- "Broken Ankles Intro" – 0:34
- "Tolerated" {{small|(featuring Waka Flocka Flame)}} – 3:15
- "Tell Me Yeah" {{small|(featuring Young Chris)}} – 3:10
- "I Can Hear Sweat" {{small|(featuring Jadakiss)}} – 4:32
- "Suicide" – 3:20
- "Lived It" – 3:43
Personnel
- Freeway – vocals
- Gregg Gillis – music, production
- Jadakiss – featured vocals
- Waka Flocka Flame – featured vocals
- Young Chris – featured vocals