The Free Houdini

The Free Houdini (styled as theFREEhoudini[9]) is a 2009 mixtape by American hip hop duo Themselves.

The Free Houdini
Mixtape by Themselves
Released	March 25, 2009
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Length	54:42
Label	Anticon
Producer	Jel, Doseone
Themselves chronology
The No Music of AIFFs (2003) The Free Houdini (2009) Crowns Down (2009)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[2]
Cokemachineglow	favorable[3]
Exclaim!	favorable[4]
HipHopDX	3.0/5[5]
Pitchfork	6.6/10[6]
PopMatters	[7]
RapReviews.com	7.5/10[8]

It is a return after a six-year hiatus that saw the members, Jel and Doseone, spend the majority of their time on their other band Subtle.[10] It was made available for 90 days as a one-track MP3 for download from the Anticon website,[11] later released in a deluxe CD package.[12]

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the mixtape received an average score of 74% based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]

Jer Fairall of PopMatters gave the mixtape 8 stars out of 10, saying, "Here, Doseone is once again utilizing his skills as a performer to propel the music forward, and the result is a record that is actually thrilling and fun to listen to, rather than simply 'interesting'."[7] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork gave the mixtape a 6.6 out of 10 and called it "another step in Anticon's breathless, never-ending push forward."[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pay That Piper"	2:13
2.	"Oversleeping"	1:53
3.	"Know That to Know This" (featuring Aesop Rock)	3:21
4.	"Kick the Ball" (featuring Buck 65)	2:57
5.	"1 for No Money" (featuring Sole)	1:07
6.	"Rappers Is Interns (Freestyle)"	1:12
7.	"Party Rap Sucks" (featuring Busdriver)	1:24
8.	"Long Time Coming" (featuring Lionesque)	3:51
9.	"Swarm of Bee II"	2:44
10.	"Back 2 Burn" (featuring Pedestrian)	1:48
11.	"The Mark" (featuring D-Styles)	3:01
12.	"Keys to Ignition" (featuring Serengeti)	3:13
13.	"Roman Is As Roman Does"	1:56
14.	"The Medicine" (featuring Slug)	3:03
15.	"Free & Void"	2:00
16.	"Rapping 4 Money" (featuring Clouddead)	3:56
17.	"Rappers Is Modelships (Freestyle)" (featuring DJ Baku)	1:54
18.	"Puzzled" (featuring Passage and DJ Andrew)	3:17
19.	"Cross-section of Wreckage" (featuring Alias and DJ Andrew)	2:56
20.	"Each Ant in Their House"	7:05

References

1. "theFREEhoudini by Themselves". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
2. Christgau, Robert. "Themselves". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
3. Betz, Chet (July 8, 2009). "Themselves: theFREEhoudini Mixtape". Cokemachineglow. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
4. Quinlan, Thomas (July 23, 2009). "Themselves - theFREEhoudini deluxe". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
5. Noz, Andrew (March 25, 2009). "Themselves - theFREEhoudini Deluxe". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
6. Greene, Jayson (May 29, 2009). "Themselves: theFREEhoudini". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
7. Fairall, Jer (August 2, 2009). "Themselves: theFREEhoudini". PopMatters. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
8. Sirota, Eric (January 26, 2010). "Themselves :: theFREEHoudini". RapReviews.com. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
9. "theFREEhoudini deluxe". Anticon. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
10. Breihan, Tom (February 20, 2009). "Themselves Return From Hiatus, Plan Free Mixtape". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
11. Segal, Dave (March 16, 2009). "anticon.tent: Themselves Offer Free Album Download". The Stranger. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
12. Frisicano, Andrew (April 1, 2009). "Themselves - 2009 tour dates, 2 NYC shows w/ Stabbing Eastward feat. Tunde TVoTR, a free mixtape". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved November 19, 2014.

External links

• The Free Houdini at Discogs (list of releases)