Hi,

This week’s newsletter is a deep dive into the career of Freddie Gibbs - a hip-hop artist from Gary, Indiana who has arguably gotten bigger in his career as he’s gotten older.

I recently went down the rabbit hole into Freddie’s career and realized there were lots of takeaways applicable to artists, their teams, and creators.

Let’s explore below.

Let’s dive in ⬇️

Okay so…I’ll admit, I was super late on Freddie Gibbs. Like…really late lol.

As someone who works in hip-hop (and loves the genre), I’ve seen his name before and heard some of the music but didn’t do my research until now.

My best friend actually recommended I check out his music and after doing a deep dive into his catalog, I learned he was actually an expert at world building and built a career that many would dream of - it’s quite rare that an artist actually gets bigger and more successful as they get older.

Freddie is 43 years old and became more successful in his late 30’s and early 40’s.

So…let’s jump in. This is Freddie:

Freddie has an interesting story unlike most artists in that he actually served in the military for a brief stint.

He joined the US Army and was kicked out in less than a year on dishonorable discharge after being caught smoking.

Gibbs used that situation to take his music career seriously and after landing a major record deal with Interscope, he was dropped in less than a year and forced to take the independent route.

After being independent for almost two decades, (before ultimately signing back to a major record label), Gibbs has built a name for himself and found success using strategic collaborations, world building, his personality, resilience, and great music.

He would go on to be nominated for a Grammy (he didn’t win but the nomination itself was massive) and release critically acclaimed projects.

There are lots of takeaways and gems from his career:

1) Resilience

Resilience has a been a common theme throughout Freddie Gibbs’ journey. He didn’t let being discharged from the military stop him, nor being dropped from his label.

So many artists get dropped from their label never to be heard from again. Freddie used those challenging situations as fuel and motivation to level up and take matters into his own hands.

2) Strategic collaborations

Similiar to Larry June, Freddie Gibbs has engaged in strategic collaborations throughout his career. One of those collaborations almost landed him a Grammy when he collaborated with The Alchemist on the album Alfredo (nominated for Best Rap Album).

Gibbs also has collaborative projects with Madlib and collaborated with other artists including Westside Gunn, Leon Thomas, Amine, Cordae, and more. Each of these collaborations was an opportunity to reach a new audience while the producer collab projects were an opportunity to push himself creatively and create a cohesive sound.

3) World building

I’m so late to the party (ugh I’ll admit it) that I didn’t even realize Freddie Gibbs is actually one of the best artists in the hip-hop game at world building. His projects are conceptual and thematic, with their own story and branding.

In addition to concept albums, one recurring theme throughout Gibbs’ career is the rabbit character. I wasn’t able to find what it entirely represents but it’s a motif that has its own creative through line, appearing in different moments and eras.

The rabbit first appeared on the album “Pinata” and then again on the album “Bandana”. It’s become almost a symbol or avatar of his artistry - similiar to Drake and his OVO owl. It’s another symbol to remember Freddie Gibbs.

For example, when promoting his album $oul $old $eparately, Freddie launched a series of cartoons on his social media featuring the rabbit as his sidekick.

From gambling to popping champagne, the rabbit is the life of the party in these cartoons.

The rabbit has also been used in tour and show promotion branding.

It’s a recurring theme and part of his brand that has taken on many shapes and forms throughout his career.

4) Personality

Another element that has helped shape Freddie’s career is his personality - he’s not the rapper that’s “too cool for school” and afraid to put himself out there.

His personality and sense of humor have actually become part of his brand and set him apart from other artists.

In addition to the rabbit cartoons mentioned above, there’s also playful creative like this:

4) Great music + catalog building

While all of these elements are important, let’s not forget possibly the most important one of all - great music and great art. Making great music got him nominated for a Grammy (Alfredo) and lauded with a critically acclaimed breakout project (Pinata).

It’s not as prolific as Larry June but Gibbs still has had a high output with + 20 albums on DSPs over the course of his career.

Giving fans so much quality music to listen to has helped him near almost 5 million monthly Spotify listeners.

5) Slow burn and getting better with time

Freddie Gibbs’ career is a great example of someone playing the long game - a slow burn, building his career brick by brick and getting better with age.

Building real fans that can stand the test of time.

He wasn’t nominated for a Grammy until 37 years old.

Some of his best work didn’t arrive until he was in his 40’s.

He’s currently 43 and still going - making great music at a high level when so many artists “fall off”.

He’s really the definition of consistency - while he did have some big moments, he kept pushing and compounding his wins to get to where he’s at now.

Who put an age limit on being an artist anyways?

Hopefully this was helpful on your journey.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

_{NYC Meetup}

Our NYC meetup with The Digilogue later this month is officially capped! With 450 RSVPs, I’m excited to meet other like minded people.

_{The Vault}

 1) Claude - last week’s newsletter featured Claude Code, a coding tool that is part of the Claude family. Claude itself is an LLM similiar to ChatGPT. While I still use ChatGPT, I’ve found it helpful to prompt in multiple places and saw that Claude can actually provide different kinds of responses than GPT - my responses (with the same prompts), have been interesting perspectives. More info HERE

2) The Artist Marketing Playbook - I teamed up with my good friend and fellow music marketing expert Drew De Leon to present The Artist Marketing Playbook. An in-depth look at what an artist can do to set themselves up for success in 2025. More info HERE.