Freddie Gibbs Announces Two New Zealand Shows

As the new year shows keep stacking up, gangster rapper Freddie Gibbs has announced his return to New Zealand for two performances in February. Gibbs, whose collaborative album Pinata (made with off-the-wall hip hop producer Madlib) is finding itself on the top 2014 album lists of Pitchfork, NPR, Billboard and Okayplayer, will be hitting both Auckland and Wellington. Here's the details...

Freddie Gibbs

Friday 20th February, The Studio, Auckland
Saturday 21st February, James Cabaret, Wellington

Here's the video for Freddie Gibbs and Madlib collab 'Deeper' from Pinata...

PRESS RELEASE:

FREDDIE GIBBS TO PERFORM TWO SHOWS IN NEW ZEALAND

Astral People in association with Robin Fernando presents the uncompromising and fearless Freddie Gibbs. As an uncut distillation of his surrounds, Gibbs will set foot in New Zealand for two shows next year in February.

After a colourful career beginning on the streets of Gary, Indiana and soaring into the bright lights of Los Angeles, Gibbs’ work has gone from strength to strength. In his early days, he was quickly regarded as a gifted writer who stood out amongst his peers with his reserved wit and command of language. Freddie rapped about the things he saw. A rapper notorious for his beef with some of hip-hop’s heavyweights and for undercutting the glorification of rap, Gibbs has carved a solid career spitting rhymes to make your hair stand on end.

As word of his skills spread to the coasts, he aligned himself with notable producers like The Alchemist, Red Spyda, Just Blaze, and Buckwild to create a discography that illustrates his experiences as a struggling denizen of a blighted community. In 2010, XXL Magazine caught wind of Freddie’s unique approach and nominated Gibbs to their Freshman Top 10. Subsequently, Freddie Gibbs’ previous mix-tapes, which capture the forsaken instrumental aesthetic of 90’s boom-bap and juxtapose it with his distinctly Midwestern double-time flow, began to garner widespread critical acclaim and industry attention.

Through a raft of mix-tapes (featuring the likes of Young Jeezy and Juicy-J) and the 2013 album ESGN, Gibbs has established himself as one of the most stylistically diverse and thematically cutting rappers in the business. A 2014 collab with Madlib, Pinata, scored an impressive 8.0 on Pitchfork, the reviewer singing Gibbs' praises as ‘an anti-bullshit activist… intricately tight-knit verses and simple, to-the-point hooks highlights just how skilled he is at both’.

The announcement comes just weeks after gunfire broke out on Gibbs and his entourage after a performance at a Brooklyn record store. With a contribution to the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack and tipped to release his next solo album at any second, make sure you catch Freddie Gibbs while the heat’s on. His willingness to both function in the world of gangster rap and to step outside the strict confines of hip hop to form unexpected collaborations with artists from a broad musical spectrum highlights a truly versatile musician. And Gibbs is only going to get hotter.

Tickets on sale from Tuesday, 23 December at 9am through Dash Tickets.