Freddie Gibbs Kicked Off His #YOL2 Tour Last Night At The Observatory, & It Was Fucking Epic.
Freddie Gibbs Kicked Off His #YOL2 Tour Last Night At The Observatory, & It Was Fucking Epic.
Intrepid readers, it has been far too long since I have blessed y'all with some new, exclusive content, but as the saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait," and believe me when I say, good things are here. In case you have been encased in a cryogenic chamber, let me bring you up to speed: It has been one hell of a year for Freddie Gibbs. Last year, Gibbs was FALSELY accused of a sexual assault in Austria, resulting in him staring down the barrel of a 10 year prison sentence in a foreign land for something he didn't do, not being home for his only daughter's first birthday (Something that would be heartbreaking for any father, particularly were it involving his first-born), and watching several of his so-called "friends" distance themselves from him in light of the heinous (did i mention FALSE?) charges levied against him. Having been fully vindicated in a court of law, Fred returned home in October of last year. All was quiet in the public eye, until the announcement of his new album, "You Only Live 2wice" via two videos: the "No PRBLMS Freestyle", and the superbly produced and directed "Crushed Glass", the first single from YOL2. Viceland's new series "The Therapist" did an excellent job of delving into just how trying this whole experience has been for Freddie's career, family life, and personal psyche (Watch Here). As some of you may know, Fred and I go back a long way. We met in 2007 when he was signed to Interscope records, and quickly became friends. Through the years, we did a lot of work together, which acclaimed journalist Jeff Weiss expertly summed up in his LA Weekly cover story, "The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs." Hell, I'm credited in his iTunes bio for convincing him to return to LA and keep rapping. We've created numerous songs together, and have been family for years. Speaking to Fred on a regular basis while he was out on bail in France and Austria, combined with our long-standing friendship, his accusal, arrest, and eventual (inevitable) acquittal was unnerving, enraging, terrifying, and finally, joyous when I was able to greet him at LAX along with his closest friends and family members. I guess what i'm trying to say is, fuck yeah I'm biased, and fuck yeah, I'm happy Fred is back home with his fiancé and daughter, back in the studio where he belongs instead of a cell, and as of last night, back on stage as the greatest living performer in hip hop. I have a flight to New York to catch or I'd go on about how amazing the show was, the catharsis between Fred and his fans, or the air of a celebration of freedom for an innocent man that permeated the night, but I'm on a bit of a tight schedule, so I'll leave you with these clips I shot of last night's epic first show on the #YOL2 tour. If Freddie is playing in your city soon, and you don't go see him, you're cheating yourself out of the best live hip hop show you've ever seen.
Oh, and one last thing: We here at Wolf's Head treat our blog posts like we do our inventory. We only post quality. Name another shop in Santa Barbara that gets unprecedented access to the news and events we write about. Go ahead. We'll wait.
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