[Comp] FREDDIE GIBBS - "Volume One: The Guest Spots"

Last week I saw Freddie Gibbs perform  a blazing 90 minutes set ar KB (Kulturbolaget), Malmö, Sweden. No hype-man, only a DJ at the back and his mic presence was nothing short of incredible. A true emcee if I ever saw one - with no bling and other stuff distracting from the music Gibbs gave his best performing in only jeans and a white Tee, and the setlist was absolutely terrific. The Gary gangster performed outsanding versions of some of his best tracks from "Pianta","ESGN", "Shadow Of A Doubt", "The Miseducation..." and some of his iller guest spots. Since I am, even in this day and age, an album guy, I didn't truly get into Gangsta Gibbs unti his modern day classic "Pinata" (2012) with Madlib. While Gibbs gruff voice and gangster mannerism and thuglife boasting isn't really nothing new, he does it with same conviction as 2Pac and legends of that stature and there's never a case in which you don't believe him. Then you enter his current muical partner Madlib which he did the entire "Pinata" album with and the marriage between 'Lib's sunny soulful, chopped up sample goodies has never been attacked by an emcee in such a manner before - making "Pianata" a truly original album that will be regarded as a classic a couple of years from now. 

The night included material from his early mixtapes, his mini-albms, his two real LP:s and then some, and through the years Gangsta Gibbs has popped up everywhere as an impeccable guest features on some hard hitting beats by the likes of Alchemist, Just Blaze, Statik Selektah, Madlib (including the cherished B-sides from the "Pinata" LP) and more. There's no denying that Gangsta Gibbs is one of the more interesting and original artist to emerge out of this decade, having released an album with Madlib that's about as dope as "Madvillain"was in 2004. Gibbs is also one of the rare breeds who's at home with a multitude of different styles - he can get busy over soulful, obscure sampe chops, banging West Coast bangers, NY bom bap type beats, Trap beats and then some. I can't think of any other artists who can handle that entire range of modern hip-hop with that kind of authority - another aspect that makes him one of the greatest doing ir right now. And this live concert was ample proof that Gibbs is not only a great studio artist but an all-around great artist, both on and off stage.

Following the combination of "Pianata" and this outstanding concerts there was no doubt i my mind that there was time for a Freddie Gibbs compilation here at The Lost  Tapes, something I've been meaning for a long time anyway. This 20 tracks compilation mainly focuses on Gibb's guest spots, a few B-sides and remixes from the Madlib sessions, as well as the single "Freddie Soprano" which is just too dope to sleep on. It's very likely you'll find a Volume 2 here @ The Tapes in a couple of week or so, but this is the real deal so turn out, tune in and DROP OUT.... and don't forget to TURN IT wUP!!


01. "Freddie Soprano"

02. "Deep" (w. Madlib)

03. "Cocaine Parties in L.A." (w. Madlib)

04. "Home" (Ft. BJ The Chicago Kid) (w. Madlib)

05. "Scottie Pippens" (Ft. Prodigy & Alchemist)

06. "Till Three Angels Come" (Ft. Prodigy, Domo Genesis & Alchemist)

07."Pimp Hand" (w. The Purist)
08. "Clap" (w. Mr. Green, Chill Moody & Apollo The Great)
09."Break It Down" (w P-Money & Fashawn)
10. "Make It Out Alive" (Ft. Statik Selektah & Termanology)
11. "The Return" (Ft. Danny Brown)
12. "God Damn!" (Ft. Reks)
13. "Who's That" (w. Apollo Brown & Maffew Ragazino)
14. "Gunnin' For The Throne" (Ft. A-Villa, elZhi, Naledge & Vic Spencer)
15. "Illegal" (w. Ski Beatz)
16. "Terrorist"
17. "Bugatti Bullet Holes" (w. Vanderslice)
18. "Built For This" (Ft. Method Man & StreetLife)
19. "Carry On" (Ft. Joey Bada$$ & Statik Selektah)
20. "Remember" (Ft. SEAN PRICE)

FREDDIE GIBBS - "GANGSTA GIBBS VOL. 1"

[Article] A look back at METHOD MAN's "Tical 0" (2004)

With Method Man's first album in almost 10 years just around the corner with "Meth Lab", lets take a look back at what is often described amongst hardcore Wu-Tang fans as one of the straight up wack releases from an official Clan member ever released. So what the hell went wrong? Both "Tical" (1994), "T2: Judgement Day" (1998) [extremely underrated album] and his first collabo with Redman on "Blackout!" (1999) was at the very least solid projects that gave Wu fans that grimey shit of what they wanted and expected from the one member of Wu-Tang Clan who already from the first single was designed to be its number 1 face outwards due to his slamming solo single that was even titled after his name. Funny thing is that due to some less stellar Wu solos and albums and an interest in the backpack / underground movement of El-P, Cannibal Ox, Mr. Lif, Mr. Len, Chubb Rock, and so on I stopped checking for Wu around 2001 after "Bulletproof Wallets" and "Iron Flag" - two albums that I have since reevaluated. Anyway fast forward to late 2004, and a real good friend had received a free cassette of J-Love's "A Taste Of Tical 0: The Prequel Part II" which he gave me and I was blown away by how dope this shit was and how much of these songs I had missed out on (remember this was a bit before the internet truly blew up and I hadn't checked for Wu for a few years, so I was thinking these hardcore gems was from the album it was promoting). After several spins I found myself in a record store picking up the actual album, thinking well at least Method Man never dissapoints so this will b interesting to hear at the very least. Who could have known...

Before we even get into the music, let's take a look at the cover. This cheesy Photoshop hack job is downright embarassing and at the same time playing on the over used hip-hop cliché of the artists showing themeselves as young kids not knowing they would become superstars. At least the back cover with Meth writing in his diary looks ill as hell and should have been used as the front cover, plain and simple! So on to the music - is this album rightfully hated or is it just so dissapointing that it has deserved an unfair rep as a totally horrible album. Well, given that Method Man is a superstar that can do so much better I'd say it's something in between. And while it is Meth's own fault and his poor judgement not understanding how to please his fans, he afterwards has blamed Puff Daddy's involvement in the albums creation as the LP:s A&R - well who hired Diddy in the first place Meth? And Diddy is responsible for countless classic albums but Wu and Bad Boy don't mix like two dicks, and that's just the bottom line. While there are stand out tracks on the album, the tracks produced by Daddy's Hitmen are generally the low points of the album save for the excellent "The Motto" which was produced by the always trustworthy Nashiem Myrick, who produced a lot of classics for B.I.G. This is the sound they should have gone with, so why the hell not enlist Carlos Broady and Nashiem Myrick more and this album could have been fucking great?! 

Another thing that made the album fail big time is how Kevin Liles and Sean Combs vetoed against RZA's involvement in the album. What the hell? RZA made Meth's career, he produced the single that made Meth sell double platinum on his debut. Apparantly RZA and Meth had been in the studio recording and completing no less than seven records, but at the end only one song made the actual tracklist. Is it a coincidence that it happens to be the best song of the album ("The Turn" featuring Raekwon?). Even great producers like No I.D. who the same year supplied two absolutely amazing joints for Ghost's "Pretty Toney" album on the same label. It's quite easy to see that the A&R:s and execs asked No I.D. for a generic beat that could work in the club and the result was the abonimation that is "Tease". It's a shame because I love Meth's flow and I love No ID's production and that this is the only collabo we are left with between the two is just a sad state of affairs. Another thing that really bugs me about the album is that they cut away Wu-Tang features that would've been a great selling point to us hardcore heads. LA The Darkman was featured on the excellent RZA production "That Thang" while Ol' Dirty Bastard provided a banging hook on the song "Who You Rollin' With" which was mysteriously absent from the retail version.

Still "Tical 0: The Prequel" got it's moments, though they are few and far between. It would make for a dope EP, the main single with Busta, "What's Happenin'" always get me hyped as hell, I like the title track, I like "The Show", I love "The Afterparty" with Ghostface and as I mentioned above "The Turn" with Rae and RZA is a bonafide Wu classic. Still giving Meth's statue as one of the true greats, this album deserves all the hate and ridicule it has come across. Check out the "That Thang" track with Darkman below and the ODB original version of "Who Ya Rollin' With" and add those to the tracks mentioned in this paragraph and you got a nice lil' EP. Let's hope "The Meth Lab" will provide us with that real heat! Big shout out to CL2Coming for the rare 192 kbps album rip of the rare ODB version of this joint and the J-Love version of "This Thing". You'll also find "Take The Heat", Meth's collaboration with Dr. Dre recorded for the album, it's decent but given the high profile collabo I'm suprised they ditch this. Download all of them below.

METHOD MAN Ft. ODB & STREET - "Who Ya Rollin' Wit"
METHOD MAN Ft. RZA & LA THE DARKMAN - "THIS THING" [produced by RZA]
METHOD MAN - "TAKE THE HEAT"

METHOD MAN Ft. StreetLife & Hanz On - "The Meth Lab"

While Method Man undoubtedly has one of the illest voices in the entire hip-hop game, and always stands out on any Wu-Tang Clan or Meth/Red releases (including more overlooked albums like "8 Diagrams" and "A Better Tomorrow")  but his solo ventures in the new millenium has been quite so-so with few expectations, leaving many dissapointed fans with an horrible album such as the bomb that was "Tical 0: The Pequel". Another thing is that he's known for taking MAD long to release a proper solo album. His latest "upcoming" releases "Crystal Method" and "The Meth Lab" was announced some years ago and just when you're sure we won't hear these projects, Meth finally unveils the first single from the album and after several listens I can say that it's a pretty damn ill cut that also features long-time rhyme partner Street Life and Meth's protogé Hanz On. The result is classic drug raps and braggadocious shit which sometimes can be a good look for a first single. It took me a few listens to appreciate it, but now I'm even more hyped to see what the album's got in store. The fact that both 4th Disciple and Allah Mathematics are the two confirmed producers so far, makes this even more exciting looking at these guys track records together. But anyway, enjoy the title track to the album and don't hesitate to drop a comment on the subject.

[Stream] RZA Presents "MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS"

About an hour ago, I posted the first video from above mentioned  soundtrack, Meth's, Gibb's and Street's "Built For This". Turns out, I got something a whole lot better for y'all today, something that I'm definitely gonna give a real through spin later tonight. I'm talking about a stream of the complete "Man With The Iron Fists" original soundtrack, not the score that is, but the 17-tracks exclusive joints version that drops on October 23. As I said before, the half I do have heard is nothing short of exceptional, so it will be real fascinating to see if the remaiing tracks lives up to the same standard; in that case, this is another absolutely amazing soundtrack directed by The RZA (see the trailer below). 
A lot of Frank Dukes production, a lot of live instrumentation by The Revelations, a RZA/Kanye production collaboration (that has wack lyrics but an exceptionally well produced backdrop), two new Wu-Tang Clan joints; one of them featuring Kool G Rap, a couple of RZA collaborations, the beautiful cover of "I Forgot to be Your Lover" by Tre Williams and The Revelations, a smooth but excellent Talib Kweli & RES collaboration, the final version of "Tick, Tock" with Danny Brown added, etc. For some reason the last song, Wu-Tang Clan's "Six Drections of Boxing" is not included in this set. Neither is the Wu-Block type of bonus joint which is good since that means there's still a suprise in store for us left once the album drops. If you're still not convinced by everything written abovfe, then this is clearly not for you. For us others, put on your favorite pair of headphones, click play below and let the 15 tracks play in full from front-to-back...And enjoy!

[VIDEO] Method Man / Freddie Gibbs / StreetLife

The first music video from the HIGHLY anticipated Original Soundtrack to RZA's "The Man With The Iron Fist" feature movie, is fittingly made for the first official single from the project. One of the hottest "new" artists of the moment, Freddie Gibbs, is invited to pop a memorable verse between long-time friends and collaborators Method Man and Streetlife's sixteens. Produced by Frank Dukes, which live instrumentation, "Built For This" had me from day #1, and it sounds just as good now. A great deal of the soundtrack has already been released or leaked, and while I haven't heard every leak, I have 8 of the 17 songs in perfect CDQ quality on my iPod, and it is getting steady rotation so I can only imagine how incredible it will sound when I finally will be able to listen to the project in full. Unless the remaining 9 songs are really weak (and tbh, that's hardly a risk), this is an instant purchase. The soundtrack drops on October 23 through RZA's newly overtaken Soul Temple Records, which will also release the forthcoming Ghostface Killah / Adrian Younge collaboration. You can buy the autographed 5 disc box version which also comes with the limited vinyl directly from RZA and Soul Temple, or put your pre-orer for the regular verison on sites like UGHH.

Method Man / Freddie Gibbs / Streetlife - "Built For This"

I'm really looking forward to RZA's directorial debut, "Man With The Iron Fists" which is now announced to hit theaters on November 2. The accompanying soundtrack will most likely be a definite purchase, just check out this Method Man single featuring Freddie Gibbs and Streetlife. That's a line-up that works perfectly, and producer Frank Dukes (who's really has shown and prove the last two years) really gives this the right vibe. You also hear The Revelations on live instruments, these guys are killing it!