A collaboration review by Nathan Dobbie & Christopher Kevin Au. Images by Liam Cameron via FBi Radio.
Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs has become a favourite for Australian audiences and local promoters Astral People. We have fond memories of his headline set at OutsideIn Festival back in 2013, where he dominated the day’s performances convincingly while wearing a full red tracksuit. On his latest Australian tour, he returned with the same staunch attitude that has earned him global respect and a cult-like status in the underground.
On the sold-out Sydney leg of his visit, Manning Bar was filled with punters of all shapes and sizes – sportswear dons with face tattoos, indie fans with slightly skinnier jeans and dedicated hip-hop heads made for an electric atmosphere. Having just missed support emcee B Wise, we walked into the venue as local DJ duo B&G (Batesy and GCOO) got the dancefloor moving with rambunctious selections – which notably included The Game’s underrated heater ‘Ali Bombaye’. Also, shouts to Batesy for wearing a Cro-Mags shirt and inspiring us to listen to The Age of Quarrel on repeat from now until next week.
After a short changeover, the crowd was moments away from a riot when the lights cut and title track from his latest album, Shadow of a Doubt barged out of the speakers. The wavy sounds of ‘Rearview’ provided the perfect backdrop for Freddie to spit assertively onstage, much to the delight of the clamouring crowd. Like Gibbs’ entire catalogue, ‘Rearview’ is hard as nails but seemed almost angelic once he launched into ‘Rob Me a Nigga’.
Known for his flow and lyrical ability, Gibbs launched into acapella versions of his tracks before the music dropped – a refreshing move in an era where rappers are increasingly reliant on backing tracks, hype men, weed carriers and mic grabs that should be exclusive to NYHC shows. It was a joy to witness Gibbs show his prowess live.
Knowing the crowd was in his hands, Gibbs launched into a tirade of threats towards Donald Trump and some idiot who (no doubt regrettably) threw a cup at him. Two things: 1) Don’t throw cups at artists onstage and 2) Definitely don’t hurl any projectiles whatsoever at Freddie Gibbs. The rapper stopped the music and spent the next two minutes calling the cup-thrower a ‘pussy ass bitch nigga’, which might have been the hottest acapella he dropped that night. He further stated that he’d bring him up on stage if he didn’t think it would end with a lawsuit, before continuing with the jams.
Gibbs later partook in some more friendly crowd interaction. After being prompted by a fan holding up a Pinata record, Gibbs launched into Madlib cuts ‘Deeper’, ‘Harold’s’ and ‘Thuggin’. Having now seen Gibbs for the fifth time, we can safely say that ‘Thuggin’ is one of the best live tracks of all time, maybe alongside ‘Lowest of the Low’ by Terror and ‘Angel of Death’ by Slayer.
‘Still Livin’ brought fans back to 2012’s Baby Face Killa. Sounding just as menacing as when it released, the crowd was at its peak obnoxiousness before Gibbs cut it short and moved into last years ‘Pronto’, a welcome change of pace for those pressed against the barrier in the front row, trying to ensure their ribs would remain intact.
Moving back to his latest album, Gibbs launched into a fast paced cut with the Tory Lanez-infused ‘Mexico’ before segueing into ‘Fuckin Up The Count’ – one of the best tracsk from his latest album and another certified banger to add to his live repertoire. With so many tracks perfect for closing his show, Gibbs returned to the Baby Face Killa era to conclude with ‘BFK’.
Gibbs is your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper, and nowhere else is it more evident than his live show. Not scared of going acapella, not scared of not having a backing track and definitely not scared of a cup – Gibbs added another incredible show to his undefeated streak of Australian appearances. What other rapper has consistently murdered every show he’s ever played in Australia?
