TierMarks

Rapper

Freddie Gibbs

Gary, Indiana's finest, at his best across the table from one producer.

Freddie Gibbs made his best records the old way: one rapper, one producer, one whole album. Piñata and Bandana with Madlib, Alfredo with The Alchemist. This collection ranks the songs and the verses, sets out the best beats he was handed, walks through the partnerships, and grades every album on the shelf.

Most streamed

The Freddie Gibbs songs played most on streaming.

  1. Thuggin'Piñata, 2014
  2. Crime PaysBandana, 2019
  3. Scottie BeamAlfredo, 2020
  4. PalmoliveBandana, 2019
  5. ShamePiñata, 2014
  6. Frank LucasAlfredo, 2020
  7. Harold'sPiñata, 2014
  8. Big Boss RabbitBandana, 2019

The pen

Where the rapping is the point.

  • Bandana, 2019EducationYasiin Bey and Black Thought go at the system, then Gibbs takes the last verse and answers to nobody.
  • Bandana, 2019Crime PaysA love song to the hustle, with the regret left in.
  • Piñata, 2014ShameGuilt on a slow soul loop, and nobody let off the hook.
  • Alfredo, 2020Scottie BeamRick Ross guests and still loses the song to the host.
  • Alfredo, 2020Something to Rap AboutA Tyler, the Creator feature on a beat built for storytelling.
  • Piñata, 2014Harold'sChicken, cash and the South Side, in that order.
  • Piñata, 2014DeeperCounty time, an ex engaged to a square, and a call years later about whose baby it is.
  • Alfredo 2, 2025EnsaladaAnderson .Paak mourns gangsters turned angels on the hook, and Gibbs raps the life that made them.
  • Alfredo 2, 2025I Still Love H.E.R.Common's I Used to Love H.E.R., answered with a love letter to the game, rap and street alike.

Production excellence

Madlib and The Alchemist, mostly, because that is where the story is: records built with one producer at a time.

  1. DeeperPiñata, 2014Prod. MadlibMadlib's soul chops at their most tender.
  2. Thuggin'Piñata, 2014Prod. MadlibThe record that started the partnership, and still its thesis.
  3. RobesPiñata, 2014Prod. MadlibA soft loop for Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt to trade on.
  4. PalmoliveBandana, 2019Prod. MadlibPusha T and Killer Mike over one of Madlib's cleanest loops.
  5. GiannisBandana, 2019Prod. MadlibAnderson .Paak over a loop that plays like a heist film.
  6. EducationBandana, 2019Prod. MadlibYasiin Bey and Black Thought, and a beat that gives them room.
  7. 1985Alfredo, 2020Prod. The AlchemistThe Alchemist opens Alfredo with a loop built for a long flow.
  1. God Is PerfectAlfredo, 2020Prod. The AlchemistA loop that plays like the closing credits of a crime film.
  2. Frank LucasAlfredo, 2020Prod. The AlchemistBenny the Butcher, and a beat named for a kingpin.
  3. HighPiñata, 2014Prod. MadlibFreda Payne's I Get High (On Your Memory) becomes the hook, and Danny Brown takes a verse.
  4. A Thousand MountainsAlfredo 2, 2025Prod. The AlchemistFlute and woodwind samples over a moody piano, and Alfredo 2 ends like a Japanese crime drama.
  5. Lavish HabitsAlfredo 2, 2025Prod. The AlchemistHarmonised guitar loops under a song about expensive taste and the paranoia that comes with it.
  6. LakersPiñata, 2014Prod. MadlibCannonball Adderley's Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, stirred into a horn loop for an ode to Los Angeles.
  7. EnsaladaAlfredo 2, 2025Prod. The AlchemistThe Alchemist on the boards and Anderson .Paak on the hook, from the sequel to Alfredo.

One producer, one album

The records that made his case, each built with a single producer from the first bar to the last.

  • with Madlib, 2014PiñataChopped soul and blaxploitation loops. The record that turned a career.
  • with Madlib, 2019BandanaSparer and meaner, a sequel that argues with the original.
  • with The Alchemist, 2020AlfredoThirty-five minutes, no skips, and a Grammy nomination.
  • with Curren$y and The Alchemist, 2018FettiA trio record, loose and warm, made in a few days.
  • with The Alchemist, 2025Alfredo 2The reunion, picking up the thread where the first left off.