Album Review - Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist - Alfredo

     Today I will be reviewing Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist's 2nd album together - Alfredo. From the album title you can already tell that this is a synergistic project, the name being a play on both their names 'Al-Fredo'. The name is further represented in the album cover depicting a puppeteer playing with some pasta with what I am hoping will be Alfredo sauce. So without further ado, let's get into the meat of this, all puns intended.

    The album starts off with the single '1985'. The single that dropped two days before the album dropped. Sneaky sneaky :). It's starts off with a soundbite from legendary comedian Bernie Mac. RIP. A theme with soundbites that will be used masterfully throughout the album. In the song itself, Alchemist bravely uses a looping guitar riff as the melody base of the whole song. One of my favorite features of his production is his ability to find these pockets of loopable sound that serve as perfect foundations to any hiphop melody. In the song, Freddie says "Geekers beamin' up to Scotty in my crack lobby" a reference to the quote "Beam me up Scotty" from Star Trek  and a reference to his later infatuation with Scottie Beam, who has a song dedicated to her later in the album. Another recurring theme in the whole album is Freddie's love for Michael Jordan (he doesn't need a URL), someone who is in everyone's recent memory after the excellent showing of the 10-part documentary The Last Dance. He says " Michael Jordan, 1985, bitch, I travel with a cocaine circus " alluding to the episode where Michael Jordan mentions a time when he walked into his teammates room to find copious amounts of drugs.

    The song then gracefully transitions into 'God Is Perfect' with the use of a soundbite/interlude. In this song, the beat mellows out significantly and in the chorus is one of the most memorable lines in the album : "Microphone check, one, two, mic checka Still pack that bladadah, Subhan'Allah, I pray to Mecca" referring to his Muslim faith. We then get an outro voiced by Gil-Scott Heron.

    Now we get to 'Scottie Beam' that was foreshadowed earlier. Freddie's lyricism repeatedly plays around with the infamous phrase: "The revolution will not be televised" a song/poem popularized by Gil-Scott Heron, another smart display of foreshadowing. Rick Ross is then featured on the song with his menacing flow and wordplay about Common, DJ Clark Kent and a beautiful shout out in the end to Kobe and Gigi Bryant.

    The next song 'Look at Me' is also transitioned into with a soundbite. In this song all I wanted to point out was the exquisite mastering by Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer on this album. It's tough having a voice sample 'Look at me' throughout the song while maintaining Freddie's vocals clear over the beat. His work is to be commended. 

    'Frank Lucas' is my favorite song on this album. Named after the notorious American Gangster famously depicted by Denzel Washington, this song is about that notoriety. The beat is hard and Gibbs uses it to make his point of anti-snitching. In his verse, he changes his speed/flow 3 times and sets the next verse up nicely for one of the best rappers in the game right now, Benny The Butcher. He absolutely murdered his verse, "Sold lines to abusers, now I abuse y'all with lines" he says. Butcher really is coming for everyone!

    At this point, 'Something to Rap About' is a welcomed less violent beat switch up. Tyler The Creator is featured on this song, where he chooses to talk about the beat "Sounds like the boat I haven't bought yet" and changing from a goblin to a "Businessman" on his exquisite one-take verse, Freddie on the other hard persists with his anti-snitch theme by not "taking the stand" and remember his old self but still sticking to his roots until he's 93.

    On 'Babies & Fools', Freddie calls on the talent of another Griselda member, Conway the Machine. The song structure is really different. Short 3 verses each and a refrain that demands the use of the sample 'All of Me' which both Freddie and Conway use perfectly while describing their lives when it comes to kids, baby mothers, and their friends.

     Finally on 'All Glass', Freddie only has 2 verses, no chorus and clever wordplay regarding baby showers, Yeezy's Sunday Service and Andre 3000's hate of Caroline. The song eloquently ends with a soundbite from one of my favorite TV characters, Walter White from Breaking Bad. An apt ending to a phenomenal album.

       In conclusion, Freddie has been the most consistent rapper in the game and it shows in his work. If you haven't heard the album please give it a listen below. Thank you for reading my review and as always stay tuned for more awesome music !