Freddie Gibbs gave Phoenix a night of hypnotic ‘fine art rap’

Walking into the showroom of The Van Buren on October 29 to watch Freddie Gibbs headline, an odd realization took hold of me. I was not among typical rap fans.

Sure, the many Freddie fans eagerly packed in the venue at their core were typical rap fans, at least by anyone taking a passing glance at the room filled with young men dressed in street couture, screen-printed tees, and snapback caps. To a more discerning eye, though, they were something a bit different.

This audience felt more like rare art collectors. Each of their shirts emblazoned with the work of other artists and pop culture icons; an exhibition of taste on full display. Tour merch from Clipse, Ab-Soul and Westside Gunn, other authoritative provocateurs of fine art rap. Their caps, a second opportunity for displaying that taste with nods, pun intended, to Tyler the Creator, Dreamville, and Larry June — artists highly regarded for moving the culture forward while paying homage to its roots. This was, without question, an evening for what I’m calling fine art rap, and Freddie Gibbs is one of its only Grammy-nominated mainstays.

Touring the critically acclaimed collaboration album “Alfredo 2,” executive produced by legendary beatmaker The Alchemist, the sophomore effort from the team-up, Freddie headlined a lineup of musical composers and new school boundary pushers, all against the backdrop of a Japanese noodle shop facade aptly named Alfredo’s as stage design. The storefront had several references to a phone number that, when called, gives a prerecorded message in Japanese apologizing for missing the call, backed by the instrumental “Jean Claude” from “Alfredo 2.”

The duo’s debut album, “Alfredo,” earned the two a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The nomination tickled fans, many noting that Gibbs got the nomination from an album that features lyrics like “My name cocaine, they ain’t gon’ put me in the nominees” from Gibbs on the track “Frank Lucas.” 

Swedish composer Sven Wunder opened the night with mood-setting hip-hop adjacent jazz compositions performed with drummer Josefin Runsteen. While the pair played original pieces reminiscent of the ’70s jazz and soul typically sampled by The Alchemist for “Alfredo” and “Alfredo 2,” the tour merch line snaked through the showroom and around the sound booth. Having attended countless shows at The Van Buren, this was by far the longest line for merch I have ever seen. The fine art rap collectors wouldn’t be caught dead without a piece of Alfredo art, presumably to be worn to the next fine art rap affair (undoubtedly to see Earl Sweatshirt at the Marquee Theatre in November, another frequent collaborator of The Alchemist). 

North Carolina rapper MAVI took the stage next as patrons of the rap arts clutched to “Alfredo 2” vinyl, which probably won’t touch a record player, instead to be on view amidst their respective record collections. MAVI, who somehow performed an entire set in a long-sleeve quarter-zip fleece, was welcomed with open ears and boisterous call and response chants by the well-dressed crowd. The raspy-voiced new school torchbearer closed his set with “Self Love”, a track from his 2018 debut album “Let The Sun Talk,” directing the room to belt out the sampled vocals that make up the chorus against the drumless beat, a production style germane to the fine art rap flavor that we were to get a full belly of this evening.

I am no tourist to this fine art rap presentation. Wearing a “Blue Lips” shirt and cap, thanks to rap artist ScHoolboy Q’s tour, I felt like I made an artsy conversation-starting fashion choice by rocking the merch of an artist frequently on record claiming The Alchemist as their favorite producer. After all, that is what all art, fine or not, is supposed to provoke: a conversation, no? As much as I wanted to be a collector of rap tour finery, the merch line gave no signs of shrinking as it stretched past the main bar all the way to the entrance of the showroom now. People pouring in from the patio had difficulty figuring out which line was for merch and which was for the bar, which was already 9 people deep for every bartender on staff, trying to keep up.

For the uninitiated, this is a far cry representation of what rap shows historically look like. Not only have I attended many rap shows as far back as the early 2000s, but I’ve also worked at music venues around the valley and know that rap audiences aren’t particularly known for running up bar sales. Mainly because the typical rap fan is under the age of 21. But rap as a genre has aged. Freddie Gibbs has been in the game for over 20 years. I discovered Freddie Gibbs, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar at the same time back in 2010, all from their respective mixtapes/EPs Str8 Killa, So Far Gone, and Overly Dedicated, just in time for each of their album debuts. I was one of many fans in the room who have aged with the 43-year-old rapper, and I have the sciatica and eggshell knees to show for it. We indeed weren’t your typical rap fans; we were something new in rap — we were middle-aged with disposable income.

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist began the set triumphantly with “1995”, the electric guitar licked opening track to “Alfredo,” an apropos start to the hour and a half long performance. The beat hit like a fanfare as Freddie emerged from the front door of Alfredo’s, backed by The Alchemist on the decks in the noodle shop window. The king had arrived. Freddie Gibbs’ rap style is relentless, using the seemingly breathless triplet flow popularized by the rap group Migos in the mid-2010s.

Gibbs is a master of the style, breathing an acrobatic rhythm into lush, spacey Alchemist production. Where other rappers known for the triplet flow stagnate, Freddie makes the flow feel like a metronome, hypnotizing fans. Freddie rapid-fired lyrics about drug dealing and gun toting to a crowd of people that looked like they’d only ever tried dispensary weed. As he bounced from track to track across the two arguably classic albums, Freddie teased the crowd, asking, “Y’all want to hear Alchemist rap?” after every track, each time met with an affirmative explosion of yeah’s from the sea of fine art rap lovers. 

Halfway through the set, what appeared to be technical difficulties with Freddie’s earpiece forced him to dart backstage, leaving Uncle Al, as The Alchemist is affectionately known by, to improv a medley of classic songs he produced, including the banger “We Gonna Make It” by Jadakiss.

It was hard to tell if the medley was planned for the night or if Uncle Al was just brilliant at masking the snafu with an impromptu mix of fan favorites. Gibbs eventually returned to the stage effortlessly sliding into his more R&B-inspired tracks like “Feeling” featuring Larry June, yet another frequent Alchemist collaborator. The crowd was stiff but locked into the show, nodding their heads but keeping their hips locked and feet planted in place. The highest point in the evening came from The Alchemist walking to the front of the stage, mic in hand, making good on the night’s teasing to rap his infamous verse from the 2004 breakout single “Hold Me Down” featuring New York legends Nina Sky and the late Prodigy of Mobb Deep.

Rap connoisseurs were surely being inundated with rare art drops at this point.

Gibbs defied age at 43 with ample stamina to rap and sing every word of his setlist without missing a beat, in stark contrast to the 40-year-old, flat-footed, lower-back-pain crisis I was enduring. As I hobbled through fine art rap fans towards the exit in the final songs of the night, reluctant to miss “Enslada” featuring Anderson. Paak, which was surely saved to close the night out, I left feeling the same feeling every person felt as the show came to an end.

This was a night of taste, and we were tastemakers, no matter how pretentious and smug that feeling truly was. We came to see fine art, and that’s exactly what we got thanks to the Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs, who I deem the ”king of fine art rap.’