POP PICKS
LISTEN: “The Stimulus Package,” Freeway & Jake One
This is the album Freeway was born to make; a release that finds both him and Jake One at the apex of their respective talents, milking each other for everything they’re worth. Freeway requires a listener to leave his lyrical expectations at the door. The guy’s delivery is breathtaking, placing itself in many different pockets throughout a given verse. This is an early contender for hip-hop album of the year, not to mention an album that will easily stay in your rotation for years to come. — David Amidon
WATCH: “Nurse Jackie: Season 2” (TV — 10 p.m. Mondays on Showtime)
Always-fierce Jackie is a committed and caring advocate for her patients, but she’s also about sticking it to the doctors and administrators while boosting her own seemingly invincible ego. What has been ramped up in this season are Jackie’s unexpected kindnesses and cruelties, and this is what makes the show so great. She constantly sidesteps all expectations and usually for the worse. Her addiction is escalating, her behavior increasingly troubling. It’s startling to realize her issues go deeper than mere denial: she really believes everyone is capable of what she is. Indeed, in a brilliant moment in a late episode this season, Jackie is dumbstruck at the realization that everyone doesn’t think like she does. — Renee Scolaro Mora