"I'm the Best Nigga To Rap on These Madlib Beats": Freddie Gibbs Wanted 'Bandana" to Be Better Than 'Madvillainy'
Complex spoke with the dynamic duo and Leon Michel.
On Thursday, Amazon Music released The Diamond Mine Sessions, a three-track reimagining of standouts from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's Bandana. For the exclusive release, the two enlisted the help of the El Michels Affair band. On Thursday, they spoke with Complex about the experience.
Unsurprisingly, the topic of Madlib's pre-Pinata catalog arose. Regarding their unlikely partnership, Gibbs admits that in 2014, he wasn't as familiar with Madlib's history.
"It's something that just happened, man," he said of the connection. "The first time it was something new to me. When it caught on, it was like 'wow this is crazy.' Then the second time, I got tired of motherfuckers talking about MF DOOM and what the fuck DOOM did with Madlib. I don't give a fuck about none of that shit. I was like man, he can't fuck with me."
From that point, Gibbs said his inspiration for recording Bandana was to top Madvillainy.
"I went in with that mindset," he said. "The challenge was like, yo, I got to make something better than what they did with that Madvillian shit...that's cool and all. But I was like 'man, shit, I'm me. That nigga can't rap like me, so let me prove I'm the best nigga to rap on these Madlib tracks."
The Diamond Mine Sessions is available for streaming on Amazon Music.