Introduction

Gangsta rap isn’t a term that carries as much weight in 2014 as what it used to. Times have changed since legendary lyrical thugs such as Tupac, Scarface and Notorious ruled the roost. Swinging their dicks, bragging about guns, bitches and blunts. The idea of the Gangster in 90’s hip hop was hugely important to the success of the genre. They played the role of the hustler, the law breaker, the drug dealer. The idea of man saying “Fuck You” to the system “I’m getting my own” was the marble that these legendary figures were carved from.

But time goes on and things change, it seems as Hip Hop has progressed in the way all young genres do. It has pushed out in a multitude of directions, expanding to fill and create niches on the fringe of the genre, while also morphing to fit into a more easily consumable ‘mainstream’ sound in the centre. Today, our list of most successful rappers comprises of names like Kendrick, Drake, Kanye or J Cole. And while these are all undeniably great artists, masters of their craft, there is something beautifully nostalgic about that 90’s era boom bap rap. Whether it be the Low riding West coast G funk sound of Snoop and Dre, or the guttery grimy tales of New York spat from Nas, Mobb Deep and the Wutang. The Outlawish bravado and true gangster grittiness of these old legends has been hard to replicate in today’s age.

I say hard, but not impossible, and in my first review/introduction to a rapper, I want to bring to you, one of my favourite artists right now, an ice cold mother fucker that represents all that we love about that classic 90’s style, Freddie ‘Gangster’ Gibbs.

Background

Freddie Gibbs’ background is the classic ghetto story. Raised in Gary, Indiana, a Desolate Midwest city reminiscent of the poverty and crime stricken streets of Detroit or Baltimore. The stats sum up the reality of life in Gary, it sits at twice the US average on violent crime, hosting 37 murders in 2012 with some years having numbers upwards of60 to 80. There was 1600 burglaries in 2012 and also 2000 thefts,  putting this into a relatable perspective Gary is  a city that is literally half the size of Hamilton (70,000 people).

Gibbs grew up in the aftermath of the crack cocaine era, from a young age he sold marijuana, crack and heroin. He was involved in many illegal activities also, such as a brief stint as a pimp and also robbing cargo trains that stopped in the Gary rail yard. As a teen Gibbs was arrested with multiple felonies on his record, the judge offered him Jail or Boot camp, “I preferred the jail time, but moms and pops would rather visit a nigga’ in an Army Uniform.” That didn’t work out for him either; eventually he was dishonourably discharged for smoking weed. He knew he needed to make a change, “I was lost. I wasn’t into school or the Army. I needed to do whatever it took to get out of Gary alive.” This need to escape is what drove him into Hip-hop

Freddie had a tough road at the start, for the first 2 years, he lived off meagre salary advances, he escaped Gary just as a gang war erupted and started working in studios in Las Angeles and New York. Even though he signed to hip-hop heavyweight label Interscope, the executives in charge doubted the success of a rapper from the Midwest, they didn’t feel like he was marketable enough. So chewed up and spat out by the studio system Freddie was dropped from his label. Gibbs almost quit rapping, but convinced by friends he kept grinding, putting out mixtape after mixtape independently, growing in popularity due to the internet.

Today, Freddie Gibbs I believe is on the cusp of cracking it. After his three most recent highly rated mix tapes and one album, he has a new album with widely respected producer Madlib, set to drop this month. He’s toeing the line between the underground rap scene and mass appeal; this album could be the one to really showcase his talent, bring him out of obscurity from heavily underrated to widely celebrated. The fact that this has all been done without a label, putting their sticky fingers in the pot and undermining his integrity for monetary gains makes it even sweeter, Freddie Gibbs is doing what he’s always done, he’s hustling, he’s making the music he wants to make and he’s doing it with authenticity and conviction that is hard to match.

Sound and Style

The sound and style of music that Freddie puts out is definitely gangster in a classic sense. His voice is equal parts gravelly and smooth, hard to describe. It’s a mixture, a little bit of Ja Rule, a bit of Jay Rock’s pit-bull snarl, with the low silky rumble of Barry White on a daily diet of blunts and liquor.

His flow comes through in a monotone manner, but pumps out seamless bars that keep your head nodding involuntarily. He’s got an almost lazy unfazed by anything steeze to his rhymes. His flow doesn’t carry the same passion or emotion as say Kendrick or Tupac, but that’s what he is all about. “Freddie G don’t give a Fuck”, The jaded, nonchalant flow of a stone cold dude that’s seen and done some real shit.

In terms of style, It’s easy to see Freddie is influenced by  Midwest speed rappers like Bone Thugs, a bit of good old southern Geto Boys and also the classic G Funk style from sunny California. Some of his songs could easily be mistaken for Ice Cube or Snoop West Coast classics. But what shocks is that he isn’t just pinned into this hark back 90’s niche. He doesn’t rely on the nostalgia. His mix tapes and albums contain a beat selection from all over the place. He does just as much damage on an East coast Erik Ark Elliot or Statik Selectah beat as he does on a Southern Trap banger.

Freddie’s rhymes come through confident and on point. There is no slur, no difficulty in picking up the pace or even slowing it down. Lyrically speaking the raps written are very nice too. In terms of the depth of his lyricism on a scale from Gucci to Ab-Soul, Freddie sits somewhere about the middle. There are no highly intelligent metaphors, no introspective trippy thought, he is just not infinitely deep, but in all honesty he doesn’t need to be, his skills lie in story telling, and at that, he is a proper boss. The way Freddie writes paints the stories of grimey Gary in your head, the hustle to make it, hanging, drinking and smoking, just regular rap shit but crafted together in a quality way. He approaches the subjects of the ghetto in a pretty matter of fact way. He doesn’t talk shit up like a studio gangster, his music comes across truthful and sincere, something refreshing in a genre that in the past has been built upon fake images and hot air.

What Do I Do Now?

If you have gotten this far, then you’re probably sick of reading my opinion and you want to do some listening for yourself. Well I want you to as well. In my opinion the best place to start with Freddie G are his mix tapes, now the earlier ones are a bit raw, but for the most part they are very very solid, well put together with a lot of nice material. The three I would recommend the most are

·         Str8 Killa No Filla
http://www.datpiff.com/Freddie-Gibbs-Str8-Killa-No-Filla-mixtape.139818.html

·         Cold Day in Hell
http://www.datpiff.com/Freddie-Gibbs-Cold-Day-In-Hell-mixtape.278583.html

·         Baby Face Killa.
http://www.datpiff.com/Freddie-Gibbs-Baby-Face-Killa-mixtape.392391.html

If you can only be bothered with one, I would recommend BFK as my favourite. I will provide links to the free downloads and I’ve also got a sound cloud playlist of what I think are some of Freddie’s nicest songs, just chuck that on and listen to him go in.

E$GN, Freddie’s first album isn’t my favourite piece of his work, but if you dig those mix tapes, he is literally just about to drop a new album that is sounding like it’s going to be a hit. Keep an eye out for Cocaine Piñata with Madlib, buy that shit, support the bro and if you enjoyed this article link it to your mates.