![]() ![]() Nearly everything, but especially “Careless,” “Fuckin’ Up The Count,” “Lately,” and “Basketball Wifes,” can all endure dozens of listens without being diminished in the slightest. While his worst moments are still fairly awesome, his best are, well, timeless. You’re simply not going to catch him slipping on this thing. The whole enterprise feels like Gibbs had something massive to prove. Nevertheless, for the rest of us, it will serve as an inspiration–maybe even an instant classic in some circles. The album is too dark, too rough around the edges, his gangsta bona fides are just a little too real for him to do Beiber numbers, at least not now.Īn album this ahead of it’s time will take a while to catch on. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that Shadow Of A Doubt is going to be his moment. He’s is on the same level as any of those guys. He’s gotta be rubbing his hands as he watches artists like Future, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar become household names. He’s put in serious work and it’s no secret why. Or to put it another way: Gibbs simply isn’t allowing any failure here. The fact that this track manages to be solid makes the whole thing nothing short of a Christmas miracle. Yet, despite an ex post facto “Guwop” verse (that kills in spite of being from who-knows-when) and E-40 rambling about how he’s going to make the “the pussy clap like it’s an encore”–it works! All things considered, if Freddie Gibbs escaped “10 Times” with just his dignity intact it would have been an epic accomplishment. Dude’s got a long, and I mean long, track-record of dropping just dreadful, god-awful verses. How on earth is E-40 getting so much play right now? I have literally never heard a verse by him that didn’t rub me like sandpaper. This song exemplifies the two most befuddling conundrums of rap music today, which are:Ī) How the hell is Gucci Mane still throwing down this many white hot verses? Isn’t he years deep into a prison sentence?ī) This one is kind of the opposite. But perhaps the best proof of it’s merits lies not in it’s most fantastic moments, and they are legion, but in its lowest. Let there be no doubt (pun intended), that Shadow Of A Doubt is a tour de force of modern-day gangsta rap: An album stacked with massive hooks, superb rapping, and unfuckwithable production. Which brings us to the other reason why his music is worth your while. What makes him legendary is that he sounds like a champion doing it. Freddie Gibbs may not realize he’s doing it, but his brand is homoerotic as fuck. It’s just one of those little ways that hip-hop’s social consciousness is evolving, albeit at a snail’s pace, towards full acceptance of the LGBQT community. Which makes the subversive bravado of laying stripped-down in a tub covered in pythons all the more interesting. Unfortunately, the best of them (artists like Le1f and Cakes Da Killa) have made only tiny inroads into the mainstream (and even Gibbs has only begun to break through). Even in 2015, when there is a cornucopia of amazing queer rappers. So whether it’s intentional or not, all of this is decidedly a good thing, even if it might ruffle a few feathers to say it. In other words, I’m gay for Freddie Gibbs, and maybe you are too! What I am saying is this: Who exactly are these would-be sex symbols selling their sexiness to? Their overwhelmingly male (and ostensibly heterosexual) fan base, that’s who. Or ever for that matter.Īnd no, I’m not suggesting that Pac or Gibbs is gay (nor would I give a shit if they were). Which is to say, there aren’t a lot of women bumping Freddie Gibbs these days. I like muscles as much as anybody but this isn’t exactly a D’Angelo situation. ![]() I mean, both of these guys have spent an inordinate amount of their career showing off their chests. But the kinship I’m talking about is a, shall we say, very special enthusiasm for showing off their rock-hard bods. They’ve both got a gravel-voiced, rapid-fire flow, and love rapping about gangsta shit, too. Let’s put it this way: one thing about Freddie Gibbs, whom I love by the way, is that he’s always kind of reminded me of Tupac. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |