Freddie Gibbs Rekindles the Gangster Rap Flame
STR8 KILLA, a dynamic gangster rap EP by Freddie Gibbs, was put out by Decon Records on August 3, 2010. The eight track EP delivers gangster rap music in its purest, most relevant, and unadulterated form. Collaborating on the EP with Gibbs includes Bun B., Chip tha Ripper, Jay Rock, and Chuck Inglish. With the direction of popular hip-hop ever more leading towards the auto-tuned, radio friendly, and uneducated garbage of the likes of Soulja Boy, true gangster rap has been largely lost in the midst of commercialized rap. Gibbs’ words are bullets fired with a subtle angry finesse at anybody standing in his way; he could care less about the big record deal if means sacrificing his hip-hop integrity.
Gibbs spits a rapid-fire flow on well produced samples, with lyrics defining the struggle in the ghetto of Gary, Indiana. On the EP, Gibbs raps as a complete product of his environment, with subject matters of “drugs, absentee fathers, dope ridden mamas,” and gang violence all melding together to form his viable perspective of the ghetto reality. Gibbs himself draws strong similarities to hip-hop god 2pac, both in looks and in style. While it is not a 2pac masterpiece, the EP is still a deftly effective narrative chock full of raw lyrics yet refined talent.
He switches his flow into double-time with ease, and fires alliterated verses that strike the listener with the full force of the grim realities he has encountered. Every track on the EP is worth listening too, but “National Anthem (Fuck the World)”, “Rock Bottom”, and “Personal OG” stand out the most (in that order). His tracks offer a dual-viability, through the combination of his gritty yet socially conscious narrative lyrics and the impressive way his words flow. Gibbs is a poster-boy of the hip hop irony: he is one of the best in the game right now, yet his works will most likely be lost amidst the hip-hop commercially spoon-fed to the masses. Gangster rap’s era flourished under 2pac, Notorious B.I.G., and Ice Cube, when their style and lyrics reflected their lifestyle conditions, but has since been overwhelmed and replaced by the “money, cars, and hoes” ideology of commercialized gangstah’ music. Freddie Gibbs is emerging as a force to be reckoned with, but his work largely remains underrated and confined to the ears of true hip-hop enthusiasts. My take: plug in the headphones, hit the weight room, and listen to the closest thing to a gangster-rap prophet since 2pac.
–Justin Jordan
What’s true gangster rap? If you were really a gangster, you probably wouldn’t be a professional rapper. Making good music just takes up too much time. Anyway, Biggie Smalls made some pretty commercially oriented tracks, plus he pretty much paved the way for the Bad Boy ’97/ shiny pants era.
How could you leave out “The Coldest” as a stand out track? Anyway, good review, he really is the closest thing to Pac since Pac.
I cringe at Pac comparisons. Pac was so much more eloquent than Gibbs. I mean, I like Gibbs, and I think he is refreshing in that throw back kind of way, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Just because he doesn’t use autotune and has a political fury doesn’t make him the next 2pac
Freddie Gibbs is unbelievable. Best thing to happen to hip-hop this century
The business loans seem to be essential for guys, which want to ground their company. As a fact, it’s easy to get a short term loan.
Looking for a job?…
Will you please permit this trackback on your site so that I am able to help others in locating employment…