Freddie Gibbs aces another test in evolving discography
Freddie Gibbs loves his social media.
If you follow him on Twitter or Instagram, at times the flamboyant rapper from Gary, Indiana could even seem like a meme account with his humor. However, despite his combined follower count on those two platforms nearing one million, he still reads the comments.
And it’s there where Gibbs found the extra motivation to follow up his acclaimed and collaborative 2019 album ‘Bandana’ with praised producer Madlib. This time around, he enlists the help of The Alchemist to construct one of the top albums of 2020 — ‘Alfredo’
“Somebody said on Twitter that Freddie Gibbs is only good over Madlib beats and I was like ‘Ok cool,’” Gibbs said on the Joe Budden Podcast on Friday. “One of those [dudes] motivated me.
“I’m dope on any beat. It’s all about being versatile.”
He’s right. And he proved it again.
With a discography spanning eight albums, eight EPs and 20 mixtapes over the past 16 years, Gibbs continues to show us both how versatile he can be, and how dope of a rapper he is.
With his latest work, Freddie joins another all-time great producer in Alchemist for the second time in less than two years. Their first pairing came on a nine-song album titled ‘Fetti’ in 2018 which also featured rapper Curren$y. The trio laid out tough coke and explicit raps over stringy production, giving the two lyricists plenty of space to shine and balance bars on top of one another.
This time around, there was no third party. Only Gibbs and Al on ten tracks spanning just over 35 minutes. If you’re here for an album review of ‘Alfredo’ you’re in the wrong place. Instead, you can form your own opinions of the album and the (fantastic) features laced throughout the track list.
It doesn’t matter if you love it or not, because you knew who Gibbs was before this. And while he is uniquely different on Alfredo than he was on ‘Pinata’, ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ or ‘Bandana’, he’s still Freddie. The impeccable ability to find the pocket of any beat and ride it effortlessly into the hook never gets old. It’s beginning to feel like producers are trying their best to make him miss and he just won’t. He can speed it up as he did on ‘Baby $hit’ or slow it to almost a nauseatingly slow pace as he does on ‘Something to Rap About’ featuring Tyler, The Creator, as he enunciates every single syllable on beat.
And just as he does in his music, Gibbs has found his pocket in rap. Since breaking out from the underground in 2014 with ‘Pinata’, there’s been a perception that he’s always overshadowed by the instrumental behind him. His run of three straight non-collaborative albums from 2015 through 2018 were admittedly hit or miss, but all continued to show his range and glimpses into his life both good and bad.
Instead of saying he needs Madlib or Alchemist beats to flourish, I say he thrives off challenges. Similar to MF DOOM, sometimes a complex beat pattern is the test he needs to bring his best out. Rapping alone is too easy for freaks like him.
He was clearly comfortable on ‘Freddie’ and ‘You Only Live 2wice’, but his four collab albums show us who he really is as an emcee. He’s not rhyming like DOOM, but he’s flowing in a similar vain, yet his range of vocal inflections and tones are far wider. His words grab you like a Pusha T or Benny The Butcher while discussing similar subject matter to those two as well.
Earlier in the brief conversation, Budden tells Gibbs that he is “beginning to put together quite the discography” and it sounds like a weird compliment for a 37-year old rapper who seemingly dropped all the time over the past decade, but it’s the truth. This isn’t the same rapper who took flak in 2017 for his flat comeback record after being released from jail. This is a rapper who’s focused, in touch with current sounds, and is ready to take his place in rap history. He just needs to continue being doubted, motivated and tested.
Hopefully he keeps reading his timeline.