There's a new trend in hip hop and it's becoming bigger and bigger. Collaborative albums between the artist and the producer. Now of course it's not really that new. We've seen plenty rap duos in the past that fit this description (Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr to name a few). The difference however is that those were legit groups. We're talking about the random pairing of a producer and a MC. So far it's already seen some huge success. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis being the best example as those two just one a Grammy together. Well now comes hopefully the next big MC/producer tandem in rap. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. Now Gibbs has been a well known underground name for at least the last half decade. He was at one point a member of Young Jeezy's CTE label (we'll address that later). Then there's Madlib who is one of the most recognized underground producers and musicians in all of hip hop. He's a veteran that's done numerous production and collaborative projects for artists like Talib Kweli, MF Doom, Jay Dilla and so on. So what we have here is two completely different types artists coming together for this much anticipated project. Their debut collaborative album Piñata. For me this is my first time hearing a full project from either of them. Gibbs is coming off of his debut solo album ESGN which dropped in June of last year. Meanwhile Madlib is coming off his third album Yessir Whatever (under the alter ego Quasimoto) which also released last year. Two projects that I unfortunately missed. However, I'm well aware of how different they are. When I heard about this project dropping my immediate thought was how would Freddie Gibbs gangsta street mentality mesh with the soulful, eccentric sounds of Madlib's production. How could they make this work? Well...they did it and did a superior job of it. This album was nothing short of fantastic. A damn near perfect album. Gibbs ad Madlib's different sounds meshed so perfectly together on this track that words can't describe how brilliant it is. The vintage soulful production mixed with Gibbs gangster persona made this sound like a true throwback gangster rap album. Generating a sound you don't hear a lot of today. I mean this literally was an old school gangster film on wax as Freddie Gibbs said himself. There's honestly so much I could say about this album as a whole but I'll keep it short and get right into everything I loved about this album. Right off the back the album started off with a bang. The second track "Scarface" has this strong vintage 1970's sounding production. It sounds like something straight out of a 70's blaxploitation film. Loved it. The next track "Deeper" is where he talks about a girl that left him for another guy because of his gangster or violent ways. It's a dope track because the way he describes this situation is exactly how I expect a thug to interpret it. Calling dude a sucker because he's an astronaut and running into him in the barbershop confronting him and such. That is how a rapper is supposed to tell a story like that. Had this had been a Drake song it would have sounding like a whining soap opera. "High" is a more fast paced jazzy instrumental that samples Freda Payne's "I Get High (On Your Memory)" (remember Styles P. "Good Times"? Same sample). The track features Danny Brown whose wild and bizarre flow on this laid back track was a little too much to take at first but I ultimately ended up liking it. Other faster paced tracks like "Shitsville" and "Uno" were also dope. The more controversial track and the track that had everyone talking was "Real". Now I spoke about him once being a member of CTE. Well that was a while ago when things were cool. Now...not so much. Gibbs attacks, not disses but straight up attacks Young Jeezy on this track. Apparently his separation from CTE wasn't a pretty one. He just goes in hard. Questioning Jeezy's hood cred, him being scared to respond to not only Gibbs but other people Jeezy has feuded with in the past like Rick Ross and Gucci Mane. Whether you're a Jeezy fan or not, you have to think there's some truth to what Gibbs is saying considering the fact that he's been around Jeezy for a while and knows him well. Anyway, this was one of the harshest diss tracks I've heard in a while and I loved it. I loved the zone out and "spacy" sounds of "Bomb". It's very fitting that he put Raekwon on this because this did sound like something straight from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. "Thuggin" was a song the actually dropped a couple years ago and is superbly dope. He continues flexing his gangsta with lines like "pants gonna be saggin' til I'm 40". On "Robes", Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt dropped some seriously dope guest verses on here that truly made the song shine. When I heard the track "Broken", 2Pac immediately came to mind. His flow, the production and the overall sound of it just sounds like 2Pac. Even the stuff he's rapping about sounds like something from Me Against The World. To make it even better, Scarface is on this song and just takes it to the next level with his masterful lyricism. Then there's the Ab-Soul assisted track "Lakers" which then transitions well in to the track "Knicks". Both dope. The final track "Piñata" is a hook-less posse track that features Domo Genesis, G-Wiz, Casey Veggies, Sulaiman, Meechy Darko and Mac Miller. There was not one wack verse on this in my opinion. The beat was also a big change of pace from other ones but still dope nonetheless. I want to also point out all the skits on this album that were all excerpts from old school 70's/80's films. That of course fit perfectly with the theme of this album. I honestly don't have any real negatives with this album. One thing I can say is that with Freddie Gibbs does take some getting used to. His monotone voice drags a bit at times and you sometimes get lost in what he rapping about. With these soulful mellow beats from Madlib it might make it a little worst for some. Not for me though. The only thing I would probably change with this album is it's length. Bonus tracks included it's twenty one tracks. Quite long for a debut. This could have easily been a fourteen/fifteen track album and still would have been just as good. Well in closing, I didn't have any real expectations for this but man did this blow me away. Totally wasn't expecting an album this great. I give this a final grade of an A. I really hope this isn't it for Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. I hope they drop another project because their chemistry is too perfect. This new trend of rapper/producer collabo albums definitely just had it's bar raised by these two guys. Although it's doubtful, we'll see if anyone can top this. As far as I'm concern, this is the blue print for these kind of albums. Take notes. End.
Final Grade: A
CREDITS
Executive Producers
Eothen Alapatt
Ben Lambert
Archibald Bunkers (A&R)
Lead Artist
Fredrick Tipton
Production
Otis Jackson, Jr.
Collaboration
Daniel Sewell
Corey Woods
Domonique Cole
Thebe Kgositsile
Brad Jordan
Herbert Stevens IV
Bryan Sledge
Glenn Browder
Casey Jones
Malcolm McCormick
Label
Madlib Invasion
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