Freddie Gibbs and Madlib are officially back at it!!
Five years after Piñata took over our collective worlds, the emcee/producer duo have finally returned with their second collaborative album, Bandana–released through Keep Cool, a subsidiary of RCA and Sony Music, in tandem with ESGN and Madlib’s Invazion.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for and what we’ve been grinding for,” Gibbs said about the major label move. “This is an opportunity to compete with the best on the best level. I could run circles around these little independent n—as all day. I want to be up there with the top echelon rappers because that’s what the fuck I am.”
The second release of a planned trilogy (Montana is up next) that mirrors a Quentin Tarantino filmography where disconnected movies share key elements, Bandana finds Gibbs’ introspective, auto-fire raps feeling right at home over Lib’s dusty, exuberant production.
Showcasing the chemistry that’s only improved over the last half decade, the album wasn’t in need of any outside contributions, but with a guest like that includes Black Thought, Pusha T, Yaasin Bey, Anderson .Paak (“Giannis“) and Killer Mike, it’s hard to argue against it. And when you hear a verse like Pusha’s on “Palmolive,” you realize they’d be absolute fools to have them excluded. Good lawd, he smokes that!
Press play below and be sure to add Bandana on whatever streaming service you choose. The album is also available on vinyl.
