Freddie Gibbs, is no stranger to rapping about his raw depictions of street life. But these days he’s rethinking the narrative he’s built his career on.
Speaking to students at the University of California, Berkeley, Gibbs opened up about his regrets over focusing on themes of drug dealing and crime in his music.
Full stop. This is what we call accountability and progress. Hat off to Mr. Gibbs.
“I’ma tell you the truth, man, I wish that I could get up and rap about some other sht,” said Gibbs, who grew up in Gary, Indiana. “I wish that I would’ve made a career of rapping about some funny sht or girls or comedic or any f*king thing but this sht,” he admitted.
Gibbs added “Every day I think about that. I wish I had a rap career… that was not gangsta. I don’t want this sht for myself. I don’t want this sht for my son. I rap about this sh*t because it consumed me, it’s where I’m from, it’s what I was doing on the daily for two decades,” he explained.
As you may know, Gibbs is a father of three, and he says his lyrics no longer reflect the man he is today. His priorities have shifted from street survival to family enrichment. “I don’t give a fk about no street code, I don’t give a fk about none of these n*as in the street,” he shared. “I don’t want y’all to think that I’m rapping about that sht ’cause I’m trying to glorify it; I’m really not.”
When it comes to performing Gibbs older songs, he dished it feels like a challenge. “I turn it off because I’m like, ‘F**k, I don’t wanna talk about selling drugs.’ I can have that realization now because three children later, I’m a family man.”
Now get this, these reflections come on the heels of his sixth studio album, You Only Die 1nce, which dropped in early November. The project, produced by talents like Bnyx, DJ Harrison, Andrew “Pops” Papaleo, and 454, debuted at No. 16 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart. Despite its success, Gibbs seems ready to explore a new direction in his music.
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