Freddie Gibbs performs on stage during weekend two of the Austin City Limits Festival at Zilker Park on October 9, 2021 in Austin, Texas.
Photo by Jim Bennett/FilmMagic.
Freddie Gibbs Accused Drake and PartyNextDoor of Stealing Art Style From '$oul $old $eparately'
Freddie Gibbs responded to fans pointing out the artistic similarities between promotional materials for Drake and PartyNextDoor's '$ome $exy $ongs 4 U' and his own '$oul $old $eperately.'
Earlier this month, Freddie Gibbs mocked a cryptic Instagram story from Drake, who wrote "U [sic] know I grew up non confrontational and always treated this game as a sport where my pen was gold." The rappers may have some lingering hard feelings over an exchange they had around the release of their most recent albums.
Gibbs addressed fans pointing out that some of the artwork for Drake and PartyNextDoor’snew joint album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, bore a resemblance to a past Gibbs album.
As Complex pointed out, the comparisons began the day before the album's Valentine's Day release, after PartyNextDoor shared the tracklist on X.In the comments section, as well as in reposts of PND’s post, people began to mention Gibbs and his 2022 album, $oul $old $eparately, and accused Drake and PND of imitating the way the album’s title is stylized. Fans also accused the pair of biting Gibbs’ use of a rabbit in promoting his music, having used imagery of a bright pink and cartoon-esque rabbit for the single artwork for his song, “Gang Signs” (with the rabbit also appearing in its music video), as well as having a pink rabbit (specifically its ears) appear on the cover art for $oul $old $eparately.
The tracklist shared by PND included three cartoon rabbits with different images in their eyes: one with money signs, another with flaming earbuds and the last one with hearts.
Eventually, Gibbs himself weighed in on the matter.
“Damn they even stole the rabbits too. I’m flattered,” the rapper wrote.
He also reposted other people’s posts highlighting the similarities.
Back in 2022, Okayplayerspoke with Gibbs about $oul $old $eparately, and the biggest lesson he learned from making it.
“I learned a lot about myself. I learned that it's going to take a lot to break me. I've been through so much, and just to hear it, it's damn near kind of eerie. But then, this album just really showed me how strong I was,” he said. “As a man, as everything. It showed me how good of a rapper I am, and that I know how to pick my spots and do the right thing.”
Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2025 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
