But perhaps the best proof of it’s merits lies not in it’s most fantastic moments, and they are legion, but in its lowest.

Let there be no doubt (pun intended), that Shadow Of A Doubt is a tour de force of modern-day gangsta rap: An album stacked with massive hooks, superb rapping, and unfuckwithable production. Which brings us to the other reason why his music is worth your while. What makes him legendary is that he sounds like a champion doing it.

Freddie Gibbs may not realize he’s doing it, but his brand is homoerotic as fuck. It’s just one of those little ways that hip-hop’s social consciousness is evolving, albeit at a snail’s pace, towards full acceptance of the LGBQT community. Which makes the subversive bravado of laying stripped-down in a tub covered in pythons all the more interesting. Unfortunately, the best of them (artists like Le1f and Cakes Da Killa) have made only tiny inroads into the mainstream (and even Gibbs has only begun to break through). Even in 2015, when there is a cornucopia of amazing queer rappers. So whether it’s intentional or not, all of this is decidedly a good thing, even if it might ruffle a few feathers to say it. In other words, I’m gay for Freddie Gibbs, and maybe you are too! What I am saying is this: Who exactly are these would-be sex symbols selling their sexiness to? Their overwhelmingly male (and ostensibly heterosexual) fan base, that’s who. Or ever for that matter.Īnd no, I’m not suggesting that Pac or Gibbs is gay (nor would I give a shit if they were). Which is to say, there aren’t a lot of women bumping Freddie Gibbs these days. I like muscles as much as anybody but this isn’t exactly a D’Angelo situation.

I mean, both of these guys have spent an inordinate amount of their career showing off their chests. But the kinship I’m talking about is a, shall we say, very special enthusiasm for showing off their rock-hard bods. They’ve both got a gravel-voiced, rapid-fire flow, and love rapping about gangsta shit, too. Let’s put it this way: one thing about Freddie Gibbs, whom I love by the way, is that he’s always kind of reminded me of Tupac.

Freddie gibbs - shadow of a doubt vinyl