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Interview: Freddie Gibbs

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Freddie Gibbs is the archetype for slow-burn success. It’s been ten years since the Indiana-born rapper released his debut mixtape ‘Full Metal Jacket’, and since then he’s been relentless, furnishing his fans with regular mixtapes and EPs.  Moving from Indiana to Los Angeles, Gibbs continued to put out vast quantities of work and in 2011 he singed to Young Jeezy’s ‘Corporate Thugz Entertainment’, but parted ways with the label before releasing a debut album.  Taking the separation in his stride, Gibbs continued to work assiduously and rounded off last year in spectacular style with the independent release of critically acclaimed debut LP ESGN (Evil Seeds Grow Naturally), a release that has rightfully propelled him into rap’s fast lane.

Latest release Piñata, or Cocaine Piñata to give it its full title, a joint project with producer Madlib, was released this month and is already being ranked as one of this year’s top albums by critics internationally. 

We caught up with Gangster Gibbs for a chat about Piñata, solo material, and the infamous ‘beef’ with Young Jeezy…

Planet Notion: Let’s talk about your latest project with Madlib, Piñata. How did that come about?
Freddie Gibbs:
I mean, it weren’t nothing really, ya’know? We have mutual friends and we wanted to do some work and it turned into something great.  It was just getting the job done and getting us where we wanna be in our careers.

PN: The original title of the album was Cocaine Piñata but now the cocaine part has been dropped, was that your choice?
FG:
I didn’t drop it out the title, you know, it’s just not on the cover. If you wanna sell something at Walmart, you can’t really title it cocaine!

PN: When you’re working with Madlib, where he specifically works on the beats and you focus on the lyrics, do you work on those individually and then bring it together, or do you do the whole process together?
FG:
We do everything together man, back and forth, whether we in the same room or not, back and forth with ideas.

PN: You’ve made great use of sampling on this record, particularly in your vocals, from Babyface to TLC. Why did you chosen the samples you used?
FG:
I just chose what moved me, you know, whatever we wanna sample and make a beat out of, what moved the soul. That’s what it’s all about, having a soulful record.

PN: On the record, especially on ‘Real’ you reference your beef with Young Jeezy…
FG:
Right.

PN: Did you have to give that a lot of thought before you put that out there so publically?
FG:
It’s just how I felt that day, at that time, ya know? I wouldn’t even really call it a beef. I couldn’t care less about him; I’m doing great with my career, that’s how I feel, but you can call it a beef.

PN: Would you welcome a reply on record from Young Jeezy?
FG:
I really don’t care, if he do that, great…if not then great, either way I’m just doing what I gotta do, if I feel like dissin’ somebody today I might, ya know?  It’s all about how I feel today, if I feel like talking about whatever, I will.   I’m not really worried about his reaction, I don’t do stuff worried about the next man’s reaction. I do stuff with just myself in mind, however he reacts don’t affect me one bit.  He probably gonna just keep on dissin’ me subliminally like he been doing the past six months, or have his lil’ homies diss me or something. I dunno, who cares.

PN: Looking back to when you parted ways with CTE, at the time did you feel like it would affect your career in a negative way?
FG:
Yeah, I thought it would affect my career in a negative way at first. I mean, nobody wants to be the guy that left the label, left the crew. When you get with like, a rap crew type shit, you don’t wanna be the one who looks bitter, and that’s the picture people painted of me. They made me look like I was a bitter brat, or I was acting like a bitch just because I was standing up for what I believed in and what I was worth.  People hate for you to call out their heroes and call out the people they love when they’re wrong, but he couldn’t admit he had done wrong, so I just pointed it out, you know, and that’s what it was. It weren’t nothing more or nothing less than that.

Yeah it could put a bad mark on your career when you do things of that nature, you know what I mean? But people know my character and know what I’m about, so for the most part I weren’t really too much worried about it, me leaving. I thought about it a little bit, of course people in his camp said it was bad for me and things wasn’t gonna work out for me and I was done. A lot of people said that, especially inside the major label system, they wrote me off.  It didn’t really matter; I just continued to do what I do and stayed focused on what I do best.

PN: It must be good to be proving those people wrong now with your career going from strength to strength?
FG: Yeah man, I’m steadily making more and more money every day and learning the ins and outs of this record industry.  I think that I’m definitely becoming, probably, the number one underground rapper.  I don’t need a major label to validate me to show that, you know?  I just let the work show for itself and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.  It wasn’t a big promo or media circus around this album, it just goes to show that when you got good material you can just let the work show for itself. I don’t have to make hoopla about me being the best rapper; I’ll just show y’all I’m the best rapper.

PN: Taking it right back to the start, is it true you first got into rapping through Indiana hip-hop legend, Finger Roll?
FG:
Yeah, hangin’ round Finger Roll studio, just chillin’, hustling, getting in with dealers, rappers, street people, you know.

PN: Do you think moving to LA it changed your sound?
FG:
I can’t say it changed my sound, but it definitely enhanced me ‘cos I grew up in Indiana but I spent most of my adult life in Los Angeles, so it definitely shaped my sound; it gave me a second home.  I can’t say it changed my sound ‘cos I don’t sound like nobody in LA. But my sound definitely grew to what it is in Los Angeles, I can say that.  I think I influenced a lot of LA rappers actually…definitely.  I’m at the point of my career where I influence people.

PN: On this album, you’ve got some really cool collaborations (Raekwon, Ab-Soul, Scarface, Danny Brown) how did they come about?
FG:
It’s just people I’m cool with. If I think they’ll sound good on the record, they’re my homies, you know?

PN: Is there anyone you’d really like to collaborate with that you haven’t had the chance to yet?
FG:
Erm…Jay Z.  I wanna collaborate with some good rappers, great rappers you know.  I just done a song with Scarface, so I know I’m doing great, I held my own on a song with Scarface.

PN: You’ve got a solo record coming out too, Eastside Slim, is that still scheduled for release later this year?
FG:
I dunno, I might drop it this year, maybe.  I might keep riding the legs of Piñata still though.  I know people are anticipating that one so I’m just gonna build the anticipation up even more.

PN: Is there a Piñata tour?
FG:
Yeah after I’ve done the Tech Nine tour.

PN: Will it be coming to the UK?
FG:
Oh hell yeah, definitely!

PN: There’s a lot of love for the record in the UK and it’s already being hailed a classic by reviewers, how does that feel?
FG:
Wow man, it’s crazy man.  To have a classic album in London, that’s crazy man. Hopefully it’ll be the UK number one rap.  I remember the last show I did in London was crazy, so I know when I come back that my show gon’ be wild!

Piñata by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib is available now.

Micky Roots


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