Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Piñata review – 'Odd couple rappers sharing a love of independence'

Freddie Gibbs is a native of gritty Gary, Indiana, Madlib hails from sunny Los Angeles. Gibbs is a grizzled street rapper with a voice that sounds uncannily like Tupac Shakur's. Madlib is a producer with a long-established reputation for raiding recorded obscurities for loops with a discernible quirk. It's an odd couple, but what they share is a fetishisation of independence, a determination not to (to coin an old phrase) "sell out". Gibbs takes the theme up lyrically, mocking big-time rappers and their "TLC deals" (where they end up chasing waterfalls) while his drug-dealing tales are less about Lambos and Cristal and more about shabby necessity. Madlib, meanwhile, sticks to the things he has done throughout his career, twisting 70s soul and funk into something both sweet and disorienting. It doesn't always seem a perfect fit – Gibbs' rough edges scrap up against Madlib's strings, and sometimes Piñata sounds like a low-key affair. It also feels a little dated, because Madlib has been practicing this kind of project for a decade – alongside similarly independent-minded artists like J Dilla and Doom. A-list guest appearances from Raekwon, Scarface and Earl Sweatshirt enliven the recipe, however.