Dropped from a major label with his album canceled. Signed by Young Jeezy’s CTE World then deciding to start his own label. Could Freddie Gibbs find the success and debut album he was looking for? Possible, but certainly not easy. Those problems would be a few that might block the road to a successful career in the music industry. Freddie Gibbs has made it to the top, and his story is one that might be told on the large screen. Or, it might be highlighted on blog posts and music articles like this one. Nevertheless, the story will be one that should provide some insight for future aspiring rappers who are looking for fame and fortune.
Fredrick Jamel Tipton, better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, was born June 14, 1982 on the east side of Gary, Indiana. He played football at Ball State University on an athletic scholarship but was eventually expelled from college. At the age of 19, he was enlisted into the U.S. Army as part of a pre-trial diversion program when he was on trial for theft and gun charges, but was dishonorably discharged only eight months later after being caught smoking marijuana.
Growing up just a few miles away in Chicago, I knew a few people who were faced with the same choice as Freddie Gibbs. Accept jail time or serve in the military. Interestingly, a brother of one of my friends who was enlisted similarly, was discharged (although his circumstances were somewhat different) and soon met a violent death.
As for Freddie Gibbs, he began working at a Gary mall, where he met local hip hop producer Finger Roll, who, according to Gibbs, was “the only guy [in Gary] that had a studio.” Gibbs then joined Finger Roll’s No Tamin Entertainment crew and began pursuing a rap career.
Gibbs’ rap career began in 2004, self-releasing his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Full Metal Jackit, which he followed up with a sequel that same year. Around that time, he was signed to Interscope Records and began working on his debut studio album, but was dropped from the label in late 2006, when the man that signed him, Joe Weinberger, left the label. This is another problem that arises for an artist after signing a contract with a major label. Record execs do move around quite a bit. They also get fired frequently. It means that an artist might have one or two A & R people who really believe in them and their music. However, once that person or group of people leave, the artist is on his or her own.
Gibbs released his debut extended play Str8 Killa in August 2010. He would continue self-releasing mixtapes until 2011, when he signed to Young Jeezy’s record label CTE World. In February that year, Gibbs announced on his website that he had joined up with fellow rappers King Chip and The Cool Kids to form the supergroup Pulled Over by the Cops (P.O.C.). In October, he released the mixtape Cold Day in Hell, which featured guest appearances from Young Jeezy, Juicy J, and 2 Chainz, among others. The mixtape received significant coverage from publications such as Pitchfork and XXL, appearing on the latter’s Freshman List Class of 2010. Gibbs and hip hop producer Madlib released their first and second extended plays, titled Thuggin’ and Shame, in September 2011 and June 2012, respectively. The EPs served as previews for their upcoming collaborative album, which was originally titled Cocaine Piñata, and later renamed to simply Piñata.
On December 11, 2012, Gibbs announced that he was no longer a member of Young Jeezy’s CTE label. He elaborated saying that there is no beef between the two rappers. On May 27, 2013, Freddie Gibbs announced he would be releasing his debut album ESGN (Evil Seeds Grow Naturally) on July 9, 2013 through his own record label of the same name. The album ended up being released on June 20, three weeks before the planned release date, due to a leak.
One of the reasons I like Freddie Gibbs is his outlook on the music industry. His decision to form his own record label was not a personal issue or beef between rappers. This was a business decision. One that would pay off well.
In September 2013, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib released the final EP from the Piñata previews trilogy, Deeper. Piñata was eventually released on March 18, 2014. The album received universal acclaim from music critics with a score of 82 on the review site Metacritic. It peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard 200 and number seven on the US Top Rap Albums charts. On July 1, 2014, Gibbs, Young Thug, and ASAP Ferg released a single titled “Old English”. It was produced by Salva and Nick Hook and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 23, 2020 for selling over 500,000 certified units.
Moving up to the past couple of years, Freddie Gibbs started to gain the ears of fans and critics who just didn’t take notice before.
On February 20, 2019 Gibbs and Madlib released the single “Flat Tummy Tea” and officially announced Bandana. The album was released on June 28, 2019 through Keep Cool Records, RCA Records, Madlib Invazion, and ESGN, to further critical acclaim. A titular second single, “Bandana”, featuring the dancehall artist Assassin, was released on March 5, 2019. Yes, after years of successful music Freddie Gibbs would start to work with a major recording company again. Another good business decision that still allowed creative freedom, as well as not being tied to some of the previous issues.
More would come. On May 27, 2020, Gibbs and The Alchemist announced that they would be releasing a collaborative album titled Alfredo. The album’s lead single, “1985”, was released one day later alongside an accompanying music video directed by Nick Walker. The album was released the following day on May 29, 2020. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200, making it both Gibbs’ and The Alchemist’s highest-charting album to date. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making him the first artist from Gary, Indiana to be nominated for a best album award by the Grammys since Michael Jackson’s HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I was nominated in 1995.
I reviewed an interview on the Breakfast Club with Freddie a little over a year ago. Freddie joked with Charlemagne about how so many had slept on his work over the years. Freddie said Charlemagne was one of those people, as the DJ/host disagreed. The truth is that nobody is sleeping on Freddie Gibbs now. That’s good for us all. As Im writing this post Im waiting to see if the rapper wins the Grammy for his album. That will change things even more.