Bandana - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Review
Are a veteran MC/Producer duo both of whom have a high tier pedigree in the rap game. Freddie has spent the better part of this decade releasing cutthroat mixtapes and albums full of lyrical bars detailing his upbringing and trapping. Madlib on the other hand goes further back and has a long history of working with legendary MCs and rap figures like MF Doom, J Dilla and Talib Kweli. The two connected in 2014 for Pinata, one of the most critically acclaimed rap albums of the 2000's, and after going their separate ways to continue working they are reuniting five years later to release a follow-up to their already classic first album.
Review By Lavender:
I certainly won't be the first person to tell you that Pinata is a masterpiece. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib teamed up at a point where they were both working at their sharpest and what resulted is a blend of Madlib's jazzy and soulful sample heavy instrumentals with Freddie's lyrically dense and brutally thematic rapping that combined into one of the best rap albums of this entire decade. Despite the fact that I haven't been truly head over heels for a release from either artist since 2014, they both have more than enough pedigree to make the hype for Bandana well worthwhile. Now that it is here the huge expectations for it seem well worth their weight as the album presents the successful formula that made Pinata with a few minor adjustments that keeps it refreshing and compelling throughout.
The Bandana era got off to an incredibly hot start, when the duo released four singles leading up to the record. While three of these songs are fantastic, there is no need to worry about a dud here because the underwhelming and uninspired single Bandana was cut from the tracklist, proving that the two artists veteran pedigree pays off big time with the consistency of this album. Flat Tummy Tea was the lead single and has received an even heavier and more blood pumping mix on the version that lands on the record. The song features a driving refrain and rapid fire verses that barely let you breathe when mixed in with the distorted wailing that litters the beat. The song is a banger that perfectly blends old and new and when it dropped I couldn't imagine a better single but I was in for a big surprise.
Crime Pays is this albums unequivocal masterpiece and it's felt like that was a foregone conclusion since the very first time I heard it. The song is a serious song of the year and single of the year candidate and is just as sharp as many of my favorite tunes from Pinata. Madlib's beat is an absolute masterwork with brilliant keys interlacing Freddie's bars and a perfect chorus sample with swelling low-fi synth loops that is one of the catchiest things I've heard all year blending together brilliant singing interlaced with Freddie's hooky "Crime Pays" refrain. Throughout the track Freddie is also hitting it off with veteran caliber bars dictating his history with the law and the many workarounds he has taken. All of this while never breaking stride on his hard hitting bars and ruthless delivery. If you listen to just one track on this album please make it Crime Pays, and stay ready to see it highlighting my end of year lists.
The final single Giannis is yet another example of artists working well together. The beat works in some distant and icy keys that match Freddie's cold-blooded flows and melds perfectly with guest Anderson .Paak's soaring lead melody and soulful verse. One thing that the album undeniably does perfectly is cast features onto its tracks and while they are few and far between, they are rewarding every single time. Palmolive is one of my favorite tracks here as it works in a classicly low-fi but impossibly catchy Madlib beat with some immaculate bells and whistles that makes Freddie's intro verse both hard hitting and gloriously shimmering. Killer Mike handles the chorus here and while it took me a few listens to come around to it I've realized the brilliance of his hook within the track and despite its simplicity the harsh bravado and tight performance he delivers it with is exactly what the track commands and while I do wish he could have given a full verse I am satisfied with his addition. As usual in his features Pusha T manages to completely steal the show on this track with a show stopping verse that is climbing my Feature Of The Year List every time I hear it. He hits off with unmatched lyricism as he takes his time developing one hard hitting bar after another and his verse sounds like it was meant for a Madlib beat as he channels some of the great lyricists of rap history in a series of unmatched bars that perfectly encapsulate what makes him one of the greatest of all time.
The only other track that has features here is the brilliant Education on which three MCs set out to tell a heavily lyrical series of stories detailing social reform and ongoing racism. So it is incredibly refreshing that Freddie recruits two of the best names you possibly could for a song like this, Mos Def and Black Thought of The Roots. The beat is a very lowkey jazzy take on conscious rap and the overall quality of the song dips decisively low-fi, more so than any other song here, but for very good reason. Mos Def opens the track up with a killer verse that modernizes some classic New York rap-isms and gets the song started off right. Black Thought goes second and has the most low-fi vocals on the record and while at times it can be a little hard to decipher everything he's saying especially once the bars get quicker I think it was ultimately a good thematic choice as it fits the themes of his verse and the track itself very well. Freddie ends the track off with one of his most conceptual and lyrical verses on the entire record and the track is both a highlight on this record and just in conscious hip hop in general in 2019.
So with all of the feature songs and singles out of the way what we have left is mostly a series of absolute bangers that see Freddie and Madlib hopping around stylistically and scorching the earth over everything they touch. Freestyle Shit is the albums opening track and comes with a much needed warning of the oncoming storm. The song has a tight beat loop from Madlib that wraps Freddie's bars around a claustrophobic flow that comes out fast paced and relentless as Freddie details his days of drug dealing and kicks the record off with a great start and tone setter. This is followed by Half Manne Half Cocaine which features an honest to god Madlib trap beat in its first half. Thankfully Madlib brings a veteran swag to the style and makes the beat hard hitting and intricate enough to keep pace with Freddie's amazing flows and lyrics both on his verse and the "Bridges Burn, Tables Turn" chorus. The second half of the song features a beat switch-up into something still very hard hitting but much more in the Madlib domain and while I do prefer the tracks first half they are both engaging and excellent additions to the record.
Massage Seats features a classic vocal sample full beat from Madlib that is less melodic and more hard-hitting as Freddie wraps two verses around luxury cars with massage seats. Making numerous references to the NBA including the depth of the Golden State Warriors Roster, Rockets coach Mike D'Anotni's preference for shooters, and recent New Orleans Pelicans addition Lonzo Ball. The song is an exercise in Freddie's ability to weave great lyrics, double-entendres and hilarious references around a low key beat and he does it to perfection. Fake Names has a pretty simple and tightly looped beat and sees Freddie rapping more personally and emotionally than is typical and the power of his performance manages to shine through as he really gives this track his all. Hearing the strain on his voice and the emotion in his complexion makes the words he's rapping even more compelling and turns this song into yet another highlight of his talent. The song has a beat switch-up in its second half that turns it a touch more melodic but the two work well together.
Practice is a patient and jazzy song that serves as the albums take on a rap ballad where Freddie's personal and vulnerable lyrics mirror Madlib's building instrumental in an incredibly compelling way. With the title in reference to Allen Iverson's famous "Practice" interview the song doesn't quite stick to its serious subject matter all the way through when bars about Pokemon Go pop up in the second verse but sonically the effect is already well executed and worthwhile. The final song I see as an unequivocal highlight is Cataracts, an absolute fucking banger that could have fit perfectly in the tracklist of Pinata. The beat is simple but effective and you can really tell both artists had a lot of fun putting it together as the vibe of the song lyrically and instrumentally is unquestionably fun and persistently engaging, try to frown during this track I promise you Freddie will say something that makes you want to smile and dance.
Even though not every track here is perfect the artists tend to lend a hand to each other when one falters. Situations sees some of the most uninspired production Madlib delivers on the entire record and the beat here falls far short of impressing me. Thankfully Freddie picks up the slack with a killer delivery of one flow after another and his lyrical execution across a track with constant flow switch-ups is super impressive and makes the track worthwhile. Soul Right is the closer and plays role reversal from the last cut. This time Freddie is merely going by the numbers in his verses and revisits a painfully slow hook numerous times over the course of the song. Thankfully Madlib was more up to the challenge and makes this song sound like a much more substantial closing moment from an instrumental perspective, despite this I was just hoping for a more dramatic and worthwhile closing song to the record.
The only song on the alum that I don't enjoy at least in some capacity is Gat Damn, which sees Madlib delivering a fine instrumental but nothing that blows me away. The real turn off here is Freddie's half sung half rapped bars that sound absolutely terrible and completely take the edge off of everything he is saying for most of the song. It isn't even bad from a songwriting perspective but the performance certainly turns me off of listening to the track frequently and made for the only real low moment on the record.
Bandana is everything I could have possibly hoped for in a follow-up to Pinata with consistently great beat work from Madlib who takes on a variety of approaches successfully across this record, or even more so from Freddie who delivers one incredible performance after another and blows me away with the variety of his lyrics, flows, one liners, and emotion in his delivery. The two don't let themselves get caught up in hip hops past or in the shadow of their own success and pump out about half a dozen of the best rap songs you'll hear all year, including some amazing features from some artists with serious hip hop pedigree. It would be hard to ask from much more out of two of raps most legendary names. 9.5/10
