Mixtapes and free album downloads are a financially-frustrating rite of passage for up-and-coming artists, but Yung Joc has decided to take a page from the freshman class handbook and release his upcoming album, 'Grind Flu', free of charge.

The ATL rapper will debut his new album, a follow up to 2007's 'Hustlenomics' on his website, swaggteament.com, on August 11 for free download. "Fans all over the world have been eagerly waiting for me to release a new album and I felt the time was right at this very moment to release Grind Flu for free, gift it to my fans and do things my way," Joc said.

Yung Joc's choice to release the album for free gives him a guarantee that all fans will have access to his music and will also allow him the freedom to create music on his own terms. The first single on the upcoming album will be the title track 'Grind Flu' featuring Montana Da Mack. During the two year hiatus between albums, Joc has kept busy, collaborating with artists like David Banner and Chris Brown, while his Swagg Team Entertainment music group has acquired new artists, including HotStylz and the latest, GS Boyz who were responsible for the YouTube phenomenon, "Stanky Legg." The video passed the 3 million-view mark within a few weeks.

More From TheBoombox