I'll just get this out of the way now: the dude's rapping style is very similar to 2Pac's. Aside from being one of the most gangsta men on the planet, his rapping has more of a poetic feel, at least for the subject matter. Like I previously stated, his career has been built through work ethic, releasing countless projects, all the while staying true to his form and not conforming to the latest trends. The hard work has paid off too, as this project is arguably his most high profiled and whenever you have an unquestioned top ten all time producer working on your entire album, something's going right.
Apparently they just changed the name at the last minute, though, because every time I've heard about this album over the past couple years it's been called "Cocaine Piñata." I guess they changed the title to appeal to a family friendly audience that they'll never have. Gangsta Gibbs claimed to have had a dream where his unborn Latino son hit a piñata at his birthday and the whole thing was filled with all kinds of dope. Just a huge scene of little kids playing around in a rain of cocaine. I didn't even make that up, either. That's actually the entire meaning the album title.
After I heard that story I was fucking hooked...
1. Supplier
I've got a habit of completely over looking these intros, so I actually paid attention to this one just to make sure I'm not missing out on any loose theme. As it turns out, it's just a little audio clip about someone talking about survival of the fittest and all that shit. I'll assume that its talking about Gibbs selling drugs and doing bad shit because he had no other choice. I guess this was necessary.
2. Scarface
Madlib's production artillery is basically limitless, as he's even began delving into other genres as of late, so I was interested to see what he would go for on the opening track. Thankfully he stays away from trappier sounds that Gibbs struggled over last year. Instead he opts for a slickly produced jazz beat that's actually slight nostalgic. Freddie Gibbs is on his no bullshit mode, telling a concise, but gritty street tale. You all know I'm not the biggest fan of skits, but Madlib always brings some good ones to the table that occasionally help piece the songs together nicely. This is not an exception, as the skit sounds straight out of Madvillainy. Not the greatest song in the world, but this was a good enough way to alert the audience and introduce your album.
3. Deeper
I've actually been familiar with this song for a while, as it was the center piece of the duo's Deeper EP. Madlib's typically soulful beat backs Gibbs' story that I guess could be categorized as a love song. Apparently a girl he once loved left him for a person that didn't have their lives revolve around slinging crack. As a bonus, Gibbs' lyricism has really fucking improved. Not that it was ever terrible, but the imagery he uses on here is pretty damn impressive. This also has one of my favorite lines on the album: "Maybe you's a stank ho, maybe that's a bit mean/ Maybe you grew up and I'm still livin' like I'm sixteen." One of the first times I've seen that much introspection in the remorseless persona of Gangsta Gibbs. Huh, cool shit.
4. High (Feat. Danny Brown)
Well, on a much lighter note, Freddie Gibbs takes one of the most overused subjects in the history of everything and makes it somewhat interesting. But the reason this songs actually ends up working is because of Madlib's incredible instrumental. It has more melody than you'd expect on a Gibbs album, and it's sped up tempo works to the advantage of our host and guest Danny Brown, who sounds shockingly at home. His verse is short and sweet, but it works well in context of the album. I also liked the little distorted beat change up towards the end, as it sounds like something out of A$AP Rocky's debut mixtape. For some reason, that's a good thing today.
5. Harold's
Oh wait, there's the 2Pac influences. I'm not saying Freddie ripped off one of the most popular, yet polarizing hip hop artist of our time, though. It's just obvious that Pac had a major role in shaping Gibbs' style. This song was also on the Deeper EP I referenced early, so its impressive that the beat is a comfortable fit with the previous track, which at least keeps Piñata on a cohesive path. It's a little too mellow for me to derive my full entertainment dollar from this song, but it was actually one of my favorite songs from the EP, so I'm glad to see that it made the final cut.
6. Bomb (Feat. Raekwon)
Since a lot of the album recalls Raekwon's untouchable Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, it only makes sense that Raekwon hopped on a track, and he picked the right one, as it's another gritty street take that he's basically made a career out of doing. At this point of the album, though, it's still Madlib that is stealing the show. (Even though Freddie sounded exceptionally dope on here) I can't accurately describe how it sounds, but its one of the best beats I've heard all year. My only criticism is that the ending crescendo should have lasted a bit longer. That's hardly a complaint, since I'm basically saying that I wanted more, but he still does a cool little thing towards that end where he turns the beat inside out for about twenty seconds. I could listen to this shit all day.
7. Shitsville
Ok, here's the part where Frederick starts to take over. He starts rhyming at the very start of the song and proceeds to rip the fucking tits off of the also pretty dope instrumental. He never veers too far off his perfected subject matter, but he could be talking about killing my entire family and I wouldn't care because the man's flow is down right mesmerizing. The thing is, the hook is fucking terrible and really gives its best effort to derail Gibbs' increasing train of momentum. The song is still good, but MadGibbs were one chorus away from making a truly exceptional track.
8. Thuggin'
If you're familiar with the previous work of Freddie Gibbs, then you're already familiar with this song, but hearing it in the context of the album gives me an even greater appreciation. Madlib perfects the mellowness that he had slight trouble on earlier and his beat is truly a show-stopper that Gibbs rides magnificently. And as for that question I asked earlier about how he would sound over the glitches of the instrumentals? Yeah, it's been answered. Gibbs is doing it better than almost any rapper could. I can see why other bloggers seem to love this song so fucking much.
9. Real
To be honest, I didn't even know Gangsta Gibbs and Jeezy were beefing, but unless Snow is able to pull something out of his ass, the feud is effectively over. (Although his guest verse on "War Ready" shows that it still may be capable) Gibbs addresses the topic nicely in the opening verse, but Madlib slows down the beat about mid-way through and forces you to listen to what our host is saying. He's pissed, and its fucking nasty. He's calls Jeezy a puppet, and even calls him out for not dropping a Ross dis record. It's kind of refreshing to see two artist argue about creative differences rather than having some stupid Twitter beef. "Real" serves as a high point in the man's entire career and I can completely say that this is one of the best dis tracks that's I've heard in quite some time.
10. Uno
Shit guys, are you all fucking kidding me? After I guess a little circus music interlude during the first few seconds, Madlib delivers a damn near impeccable synth dominated instrumental. It's not like he ever fell off or anything, but this album is making me remember exactly why I once considered Madlib to be my favorite producer. As for Gibbs, he sounds pretty good and keeps things relatively short, but the beat is the clear attraction here. I just wish this would have lasted like ten more minutes.
11. Robes (Feat. Domo Genesis & Earl Sweatshirt)
For as long as this blog has existed, I remember noting how Domo has laid consistently disappointing verses on every one of his damn features. Finally, and thank God, he spits one of the best verses on the entire album, which alone makes this song notable. It's just an added bonus that the instrumental is fucking beautiful. Take away the lyrics and I doubt you would even know it was meant for a hip hop song, but on here, it sounds completely natural, which really shows how much of a musician Madlib has become. Earl's verse really sucks and the skit at the ends stays around way past it's welcome, but even that can't hold this song back from greatness.
12. Broken (Feat. Scarface)
Piñata's insane level of instrumental greatness finally comes down from its high, but the entertainment that the beat lacks is completely made up by Freddie Gibbs' lyrical performance. After telling a story about hiding drugs from his mom, he opens up and says that his father used to be a cop, which is a pretty big no-no in the world of rap. He captures the line perfectly in saying, "I'm a crook and you crooked, that's all we had in common." One more thing, does anyone know if Scarface has any work coming out soon? He's been killing the feature game lately and this is no different.
13. Lakers (Feat. Ab-Soul)
Well, if you take a gander at the track list, it looks like he's making a play off of the whole Knicks/Lakers thing, so I'll reserve complete judgmental until the next song. Gibbs' tale about rising from Gary to Los Angeles is cool enough, but again, it's Madlib stealing the show, even though some of these beats are starting to blend together. Still, this is jazzier than anything we've heard thus far and the multiple layers should repay repeated listens. Most importantly, I've always said that Ab-Soul is my least favorite Black Hippy member, without completely knowing why. Yeah, shit like this is why. Ever time I start to come around on the guy, he lays a garbage ass verse like this. Oh well, this was still alright.
14. Knicks
Frederick's basketball analogy has come full circle, as the Knicks represent the nickel bags, which leads to him leaving for Los Angeles. So Lakers, I guess. This whole thing could have been executed better, but the song is still good and is actually better than its predecessor. It's smooth and undeniably cool, making it one of the signature songs on an album full of gems. Gibbs' trademark effortless delivery and engaging lyricism really makes me want a third verse, which is good. He even gives a shoutout to Iman Shumpert at the end. Fuck, this album is good!
15. Shame (Feat. BJ the Chicago Kid)
BJ the Chicago Kid sounds incredible here, but I didn't care for this song overall. Sorry.
16. Watts (Feat. Big Time Watts)
I've listened to this album several times and for the life of me, I can't understand why the hell this needed to happen. Basically, we get a really low key Madlib instrumental backing two minutes of pure slander from Big Time Watts. I don't know if he is a Gibbs weed carrier or something, but I assure you that this is not the way to get me to give a fuck about your music. Thankfully, it leads into...
17. Piñata (Feat. Domo Genesis, G-Wiz, Casey Veggies, Sulaiman, Meechy Darko & Mac Miller)
An absolute monster of a posse cut that ends the album on about as high of a note as humanly possible. Very possibly the best thing Madlib did on the entire album, but this is about lyrical exercise, and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that literally everyone fucking kills their verses. Two rappers in particular really make their mark. Sulaiman, who I'm not even familiar with, spits absolute heat and naturally I'm a sucker for any type of Ice Cube reference, especially when it involves Death Certificate. The second is Meechy Darko, my personal favorite Flatbush Zombie. He's rhyming about standard Flatbush shit, but after the hearing several regular voices, his inflection comes in like a fucking bomb and immediately makes you decide whether you love or hate it. Mac Miller closes the show, ultimately laying the weakest verse, but he's stated numerous times that Madvillainy is one of his favorite albums, so it was cool seeing him work with Madlib. The skits are long and unnecessary, but this was too awesome for me to care.
Rating: 4/5
Perhaps empowered by his years of experience recording songs and albums that never saw any official release, Freddie Gibbs comes across as a seasoned veteran on what is actually only his second full length album, Piñata. Aside from some of Madlib's best production in a decade, the thing that separates this album from the rest of Gibbs' catalog is his lyrical substance. He stays true to his Gangsta-as-fuck signature style, but at the same time, he manages to be introspective. He knows he's done bad shit, and while he never damages his character by showing remorse, he at least acknowledges that he may be in the wrong, which makes for some very entertaining moments. Freddie Gibbs may be seen as the second coming of 2Pac, what with his flow and focus as both a good and bad place to share his experiences, but that's ultimately a disservice to him, as he's nowhere near as polarizing as Tupac Shakur was. No, I didn't just say that he's better than Pac, but as long as he continues to pick out some of the best instrumentals and stay true to his form, he has a chance to reach that level. Seriously. Piñata is cohesive, consistent, and aside from a slight little slump towards the end, it's a blazing success. In a year that has been largely lackluster, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib have created an album that has separated itself from the pack. So here we have it, Cocaine Piñata, 2014 Album of the Year front runner.