In a genre haunted by studio gangsters, Gibbs' integrity is unimpeachable. It's that instinct that helps to make him one of the most compelling hard-core rappers in recent memory. I developed the instinct that if someone fucked with me, I'd take care of them.” Though his uncle's death steered him away from crack, it also forced Gibbs to confront concrete realities and left him with a simmering rage.
He said he'd been chasing that first great high for the last eight years.” I once asked how he went from selling to smoking it. “My uncle went from a king to a fiend, before he got murdered,” Gibbs laments. The feature, written by regular LA Weekly contributor Jeff Weiss, relays Gibbs' incredibly compelling story, and then some. The cover story is about LA-via-Gary-Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs, who's considered by some to be one of the best rappers, signed or unsigned, going today. If you haven't already picked up a copy of this week's LA Weekly, make a beeline.