Freddie Gibbs grew up in Gary, Ind., a gritty industrial town 30 miles south of Chicago.
It’s the kind of place that can’t help but infect Gibbs’ old-school brand of hip hop, a worldview rife with rhymes about nefarious actions, sex and a host of cultural references from the obvious to the obscure. And while Gibbs has talked in recent years about growing tired of the “rap game,” his output has remained plentiful and creatively vigorous, anchored by an effortless flow that ranges from laconic to quick hitting.
His latest effort, 2025’s “Alfredo 2,” is yet another fruitful collaboration with producer/DJ du jour The Alchemist. As one might guess, it’s a sequel of sorts to 2020’s stellar “Alfredo,” supposedly inspired by mafia movies like “The Godfather.” “Alfredo 2” claims gangsterism of a different ilk as an influence — in this case, the Yakuza — but that angle is far from apparent unless you count “Gas Station Sushi” and a few clips from Japanese movies as conceptual through lines.
“I just wanted to do a theme that I wasn’t seeing in rap,” Gibbs told Billboard when “Alfredo 2” dropped last summer. “I had went the year before to Japan and was super inspired by the architecture, the art, the food, everything. The first one was kind of like Italian mafia style. With this one, I was like, ‘Let’s go Yakuza with this.’ It was all about creating the world, man, and with this album we had more freedom because we got to do the film.”
The film is a 14-minute short shot in Japan that accompanied the release of the album. Gibbs and his team claim that Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” which features Forest Whitaker as a mafia hitman guided by an ancient Japanese warrior code, as an inspiration for “Alfredo 2.” Knowledge of this backstory is not necessary when listening to a record that rides high on Gibbs’ penetrating delivery and The Alchemist’s blunted beats and use of cinematic, ’70s soul samples likely to have cross-generational listeners nodding in appreciation.
In fact, Gibbs seems as interested in such curious touchstones as Bill Cartwright’s whack jump shot and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s unintentionally amusing “Bloodsport” as he is in investigating Japanese culture in a serious way. No matter — “Alfredo 2” is typically addictive.
Geordie Greep, best known as a frontman for the now-defunct English oddballs Black Midi, is set to open multiple shows on Gibbs’ current tour, including the Cincinnati stop a Bogart’s. This is an unexpected double-header worthy of investigation.
Freddie Gibbs with Geordie Greep is happening on June 12 at Bogarts (2621 Short Vine St.) Click here for ticket information.