Freddie Gibbs - Str8 Killa EP/Str8 Kill No Filla Mixtape (2010) [Decon] // Grade: A-

So last week, while talking about Rick Ross’ Teflon Don, I spoke a lot about the concept of street cred, and how it’s become a diminishing necessity in rap. Back in the 80s and 90s, many of the most popular artists built their empires on their backgrounds. Their art was defined by it in a very real and concrete way. As we’ve gone on past the turn of the century, however, the disassociation between “real life” and “lifestyle” has led to a confusing and strange period in popular rap, which, while occasionally producing some interesting music, has led us to down some questionable paths. Real gangsta rap kind of fell out of favor. Then along came Gibbs, Gary, Indiana’s bastard child. Former major label signee, former football player, former drug dealer,  Gibbs has made a name for himself in the last year with a series of amazing mixtapes that harken back to the mid-90s height of gangsta rap. Gifted with an innate technical skill for rhyming, an impeccable ear for beats, and a refreshing fuck-the-world attitude, Freddie Gibbs packages it all in an intangible level of passion that we haven’t heard in a long time in rap.

Make no mistake, a lot of, if not most, of Gibbs’ recent resurgence can be accredited to the same blog circuit that championed dudes like Curren$y or Lil B in past iterations. Like any artist that’s been releasing  an avalanche of music in such a short amount of time, spending a lot of time with Gibbs’ music can be exhausting especially with his penchant to talk about the same subject matter. But that said, Gibbs’ skill is pretty untouchable and he probably is getting some of the best beats out right now. Much like another rap traditionalist getting a lot of major love this year, Big K.R.I.T., Gibbs’ is gifted, but he’s also human. So it’s always wise to take the hype with a grain of salt on an artist still maturing.

All that being said though, Str8 Killa No Filla and the accompanying EP, Str8 Killa, delivers on his promise in a big way, and it’s precisely because of that passion and attention to street-level detail that it does. Gibbs is a guy who understands the importance of a big stage, and he has built these two releases into his coming out party, combining his raw technical talent with more amazing beats. Over the course of the mixtape (which has the distinction of being the first mixtape I’ve ever heard hosted by three different DJs), he’s teamed up with other blog favorites DJ Burn One, Block Beattaz, and Statik Selektah, as well as old contributors like Josh the Goon to craft some great, straight up rap. No bullshit. Gibbs makes the most of the collaborations, with Block Beattaz turning in EP highlight “Live By the Game”, and Burn One produces the great country-rap collaboration with Pill, “Do Wrong”; later in the record Gibbs just straight murders a Statik Selektah beat “Crush’n Feelings”, perhaps the best showcase of his abilities. The most immediate standout, however, is the statement-record “National Anthem (Fuck the World)”. Over a mutating, strings-heavy slow-burner, Gibbs tells you about his hard life and his mentality. He raps hard and hungry, and you get a feeling that you’re listening to someone that’s really been where he talks about.

In a recent interview with Complex magazine, Gibbs criticizes Ross’ glamorization of drug life, rapping about being a kingpin when he never was one.

It seem like all these niggas in the rap game trying to tell the boss story when 90% of these niggas was never the boss. I was never no coke boss of my neighborhood. I was a shooter, a corner boy. So that’s the perspective I gotta tell you from. I can’t tell you that perspective with no nigga that live in those million-dollar houses, I ain’t never had that.

Gibbs gives you the real, and cutting through all the bullshit hype around him, it really is refreshing to see someone who is as uncompromising as he is on the mic. Go get this shit, you need it if you really love rap.

Download Freddie Gibbs – Str8 Killa, No Filla Mixtape (Click here)

- Walkmasterflex