""You are now about to witness the power of street knowledge,"" is the line that introduced the world to gangster hip-hop. It demonstrates the necessity of a background on the streets to spit true gangster raps. It establishes street cred and makes reputation an inherent concern for rappers. The eventual suburbanization of the genre into mainstream forms of R&B and rap—ranging from radio-made hitsters like Lil' Jon and Akon to gangsters who moved up to middle- or upper-class society, like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common, or Kanye, who has brought the most credibility to suburban rap with his polos and troubles in college—is a response to rappers finding it easier to keep a somewhat clean image and avoid the ire of concerned parents and other more active opponents of potty-mouth lyrics. With labels shrinking and forced to sign artists like the ones mentioned above (who tap into the easiest market to make money off of: suburban kids), gangster rappers who relied on street knowledge to survive only to depict their troubling lifestyles through verses and beats have been relegated to mixtapes.
Rapper Freddie Gibbs learned of this shift in the industry when he moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to get to work with Interscope on recording an album, and according to Gibbs, he's not looking for another one. ""If one of them is a good situation I'll get in it, but I'm not lookin' for a record deal."" One and done is his philosophy, claiming he learned from the experience but now he's only concerned with doing it his own way. ""If we do sign one, it's gotta be the right one, but I'm not looking for one; I'm looking for the best song, the best beat.""
Last year, Gibbs proved he doesn't need a label to show off his talents, hinting at an enjoyed freedom from label restraints and a do-it-yourself path, saying, ""We raised to be able to fend for ourselves.
""My mom always told us she wasn't gonna be there for us to feed us, so I don't ask for shit. That's just my mentality,"" Gibbs confessed with hardened determination. ""I'm just not a n**** that's gonna ask for nothing.""
That hardened attitude comes from his hometown of Gary, Ind. Gibbs attaches himself much more closely to Gary than any other rapper to any other hometown—even N.W.A. and Compton. Song-by-song reminders inform listeners of the life of drugs, pimps, addicts and crime coming out of Gary.
""It is the streets, you're surrounded by it,"" Gibbs said of his hometown. ""You go to school, and even if your household ain't fucked up, if you in a class of 30-40 mofo's, about 20 of them got crack in their house."" This is the lifestyle that gave birth to gangster rap, and as a result, it is the only lifestyle fit to produce true gangster rappers. Gibbs proves it's still possible. Even a stint at Ball State University on a football scholarship, a trip to Army boot camp and stints out west as part of his new career haven't chased Gary away from his mentality.
""I definitely respect the culture and love the music, but I'm Gary all day baby.""
From the laid-back groove-fit-to-cruise production and blunt-filled lyrics of ""Boxframe Cadillac"" to the borderline emotional Gibbs of ""World So Cold,"" a revealing song about Gibbs' stillborn child, he reveals what life is like on the streets of Gary with the same foundational goal of hip hop in mind that inspired N.W.A. to reveal their lifestyles. ""I'm opening people's eyes to a whole different place, showing them what Gary is,"" he said Gibbs gives credit to his craft, defending its original purpose, saying, ""Hip hop is the best form of communication for that."" Gibbs is looking to align himself with Gary, a goal so ignorant in ambition that it will take a complete disregard for the mainstream to succeed.
""I'm never outside my fans or making them feel beneath me,"" he said. ""I'm always gonna be able to relate 'cause I'm always gonna be the streets; I got homies on the streets, family in the streets, so I'm always gonna be connected.""
As for his music? ""It's definitely entertainment, but it's definitely from the heart,"" he said. ""It's just real-life shit. I got a lot of experiences, and now I'm talking about selling dope, but maybe in five years I'll be talking about mortgaging houses.""
So while the thought of a gangster rapper exploring the seedy side of the real estate industry may not sound like the revival of a genre, his current connection to the streets definitely does. Revealing story after story of often misogynistic and always criminally minded activities, suburban parents should be running for their pitchforks and torches. Not that Gibbs cares what people think.
""Mofo's be takin' offense to shit, not that I give a fuck.""
And when asked about the suburban parents the industry seems to cater to who might take offense to his lyrics: ""I hope they do so I can get more money [from the exposure]. They ain't supposed to want they kids to listen to it.""
Going on to add a separate order aimed at peers in the rap game (which he plans on taking over to fulfill his five-year plan), ""I'm waitin' on a rap n**** to diss me. They diss me, that's the end of they career.""
