Your favorite rap producers favorite rapper onAlfredo, the Grammys, and his Jeezy beef.
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Listening toFreddie Gibbsrap is like watching a running back score a hundred-yard touchdown on a kickoff return.
Speaking over the phone in mid-December, Gibbs is an intriguing mix of confident and humble.
Hes grateful for and excited about the recent accolades for his formidable catalogue.
Whats your mood?Oh, man, its surreal.
I wake up every day, and Im like, What?
I got to look at it every day to believe it.
So, Im grateful.
Itcame out right when all the protests were jumping off andtouched on the same kind of revolutionary mind-set.
Its going to take a while.
Theres a lot of things that are going to have to change, not just police brutality.
Thats the media focus, but its a lot of things.
You got to bridge the wealth gap.
Until that happens, its still going to be the same punch in of people in power.
I agree, but on another level, in four years, this country nearly turned into a dictatorship.
They tried to end democracy.
Been difficult, man.
I take everything any politician says with a grain of salt.
For one thing, nobody in the [2020 presidential] campaign talked about reparations for Black people.
And its not just a money thing.
A lot of people say youre the best rapper out right now.
Back then, I was still sharpening my sword.
I kind of zeroed in on all of that.
Really, its just studying the game, seeing where the game is at.
So, thats where the versatility comes into play.
I listen to everything so it gives me a better sense of what I should do.
If everybodys going left, Im gonna go right.
For the last handful of projects, you stuck with just one or two producers.
Do you feel like that makes for a more cohesive project?It depends.
I was real fortunate to be able to work with Madlib and Alchemist.
I feel like you gotta really work very hard to even get in a room with those guys.
Those two guys really made me a better rapper than I was before them.
They challenged me, and I accepted it and stepped my game up.
I had to step my game up to do a project with both of those guys.
All of these things are related.
If I didnt doPinataandBandana, I might not have doneAlfredo.
Not everyone can hang with both the boom-bap stuff and the trappy stuff.Thats the mix.
Thats why I think Im the best.
Because I can do all of that stuff.
I can do a lot.
Its not nothing that I cant tackle.
Im not going to spread myself thin.
Im not going to have a go at emulate somebody else.
I could fit in.
I could bring Freddie Gibbs to any world.
Thats what makes it all special: I could do anything, lyrically, that I want to do.
What kind of thought process goes into picking beats?
[I like it] if I feel like my voice would sound good on it.
We kept it simple but complex at the same time.
Im like if Suge Knight rapped.
Wait, elaborate![Laughs.]
I put it all together, the producers, everything.
I put theAlfredotheme together.
Thats why you see that black hand [on the cover].
The strings and the pasta.
Black man winning and in charge.
Thats me, man.
Howd you even get Madlib to do a second collaborative project?
Most people are lucky to get even one.Man, I rap the best; he couldnt deny me.
During the first one, me and Madlib really developed a great relationship, a real tight bond.
So it was deeper than just making music at that point.
It was like a family-jot down thing.
So it worked out for the better.
I look at all of us as one big family.
Im sharing this [Grammy nomination] with Madlib, too.
He set the precedent with those albums that he did.
They made me and Al step our game up.
We always give it up to Madlib.
Id be tripping if you didnt want to call and interview me.
I cant say that I necessarily make music for the accolades or for the awards or for the attention.
I do it because I love it, and the people that love me love it.
So my main thing is to satisfy my fan base.
And as long as I keep feeding them, Ill be happy.
I can take care of my family and do what I got to do.
Growing up in Gary, Indiana, how did that upbringing formulate your perspective on life?
Its right by Chicago.
Its a blue-collar town, steel-mill town, predominantly Black.
Thats how it was when I was growing up in the 90s.
Anybody thats from there will tell you the same thing.
I bring that blue-collar mentality to everything I do, my work ethic, everything.
My mother was a postal worker for 30-plus years.
She aint never take a day off.
Thats definitely an influence on everything I do.
Its a Gary mentality.
It seems like the same story all over the country, cities being neglected when the white population disappears.
In 20 years, Gary will probably be all condos or some shit.
Its right on fucking Lake Michigan.
Real talk, man.
Thats how they do, man, divide and conquer, dog.
Ive been traveling a lot, so Im kind of on a global wave in my thinking right now.
Im in the process of buying property overseas.
I aint even thinking just America no more.
Its probably a good time for people who have the means to get out.
The place is cashed.
I gotta rap.
Did you just stockpile music all 2020?
What have you been up to?
The albums been doing well and Ive just been in the studio.
Im renovating my house.
I rebuilt my studio.
We cant really do nothing.
I just got off vacation.
I went to the Dominican Republic, and that was cool.
I went to Miami.
Anywhere thats open I kind of go to, staying safe, though.
I was in New York for a month.
We took the time and shot a movie.
I made the most of it.
Im going to the Grammys [Ed.
note:The Grammys werepostponedto March 14 after this interview; it is currently unclear who will attend].
Whats this about a film?
Can you share any details?No, not yet.
Im naked in there, though.
Ill just tell you that.
Over the summer you signed with Warner after being independent for a few years.
You havent had the best time with major labels.
I didnt really know nothing.
I didnt have leverage.
This situation was different because Im me now.
I got more control.
My talent level is higher than it was then.
They see value in what I do and I see value in what they can bring to the table.
I think it works out.
I never worked hard to get signed.
I got signed after probably a year or two of even rapping.
I didnt really know what that was to be signed or none of that.
I got dropped in six months.
That shit came and went very quick.
I had to learn how to become my own machine.
My path to where Im at is very unique, probably quite different than a lot of other people.
But thats me and my young mind.
I would have been like, Damn, I got to do this shit 10 more years?
The years in between are all learning years.
I wasnt ready for the stage that Im on right now, back then.
But now Im ready for it.
People are too impatient to appreciate the slow burn.
Its pass or fail now.Motherfuckers feel like if they dont make it by 22, they dead.
Id rather have it later in life than get it quick and then lose it all.
Its all about longevity for me.
Jeezymentioned your name on the song Therapy for My Soul from NovembersThe Recession 2.
And youve said that you felt like he was drumming up controversy to sell albums.
Will the air ever be cleared between the two of you?Maybe.
I dont see it as a big deal.
Aint nobody get hurt, so it aint nothing like that.
Thats what it feel like when one of your favorite rappers gets at you like that.
I dont say I regret nothing.
But its better ways I could have handled things with him, maybe talked it out and communicated better.
Maybe it could have worked out.
I dont have beef with him like other people may.
I think it was just two guys who didnt communicate correctly.
I dont hate the man or anything of that nature, not at all.
At one point, I looked up to him.
And I still respect everything that he did musically.
I still listen to his music.
So, like I said, man, maybe one day, who knows?
Who won theVerzuz, though?Thats a tough one.
I was like, Damn.
Gucci one of my favorite artists, too.
So both of those guys is trap legends.
But, yeah, Gucci probably took that one.
I got to have the last laugh.
Youve got to crush them till they eliminated.
Thats just the way it got to go.
How do you find that stuff?At this point, man, people send me that shit.
Its the way I talk about it.
Im like the newTosh.0.
They want to hear me put my captions on the shit.
They know Im gonna speak the truth about shit and call it like it is.
Whats on your calendar for 2021?
Is your song withBig Seangoing on a project somewhere?Comedies, man.
Im trying to do more film in 2021.
Im trying to do sports.
Music, I got that in the bag.
Id like to thank Big Sean for being such a giving, caring person.
Hes one of the most lovable guys in the industry.
Rich-ass nigga gave me a verse.
I got more where that came from.
I just started working with Hit-Boy.
Metro Boomin hit me.
Im ready to really go in.
People saying Im the best rapper, and now Im about to stand on it.
I really want to stand on that this year and have some fun with it.
Ive shown people that I know how to make classic albums.
That aint no problem for me.
Now I want to get into these Big Sean hit singles and stuff like that.
Just jamming on the radio, maybe.
If not, cool.
I want to make some strip-club songs.
Me and Wale are going to do some shit.
Im trying to work withTobe Nwigwe.
Niggas like that be inspiring me.
Then I listen to a nigga likeFuture, and Ill be like, Oh, hell yeah.
Futures probably my favorite artist, period.
I listen to Future and 2pac every day.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
