Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Deeper, High, Harold’s, Shitsville, Thuggin, Real, Robes, Lakers, Piñata
This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Piñata is the first collaborative studio album by American rapper Freddie Gibbs and record producer Madlib, also known as MadGibbs. It was released on March 18, 2014, by Madlib Invazion. Entirely produced by Madlib, the 17-track LP features contributions from Raekwon, Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown, Domo Genesis, Scarface, BJ the Chicago Kid, Ab-Soul, Casey Veggies, Meechy Darko and Mac Miller, among others. The album was recorded by Josh "The Goon" Fadem and Glenn "G-Wiz" Browder between January 2011 and October 2013. It was mixed and mastered by Dave Cooley for Elysian Masters, except for "Shame" and "Terrorist", mixed by Kelly Hibbert. Piñata was preceded by three EPs including Thuggin' (2011), Shame (2012) and Deeper (2013). The album received widespread acclaim from critics and debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 9,000 copies in the United States.
Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Deeper, High, Harold’s, Shitsville, Thuggin, Real, Robes, Lakers, Piñata
Many good vinyl records will reveal some of their character to the light at a lucky angle. Dynamic range allowed by plastic and managed by master becomes texture; Formal boundaries unevenly stripe. Piñata has the organic protrusions of that kind of object, thanks I think to Madlib. Gibbs swaggers over the beats, but he doesn't show up in the skits as some kind of character. Thus, it's a record - and not a short one! - in a totally classic mode, still the right amount of surprising, a true collaboration.
Great modern hip-hop LP with well-sampled beats and a who's who of guest stars. Does feel a bit crowded and overlong as a result, meaning Gibbs' own personality here is a bit hard to decipher against MadLib's stylings, but given the stellar production and instrumentals (+ poor showings from the more recent selections on the official list), I'm willing to give this a high rating for being such a rock-solid and fun album.
Smooth as hell. A good listen
A bit of a gap for a hip hop head, filled. I enjoyed it, probably would have benefitted from a little more sonic diversity but the features kick ass more often than not.
Better than I expected
I don't really see what anyone thinks Freddie Gibbs brings to the game that 2Pac didn't already do 20+ years earlier.
Not my thing. 2 stars.
I like the beats more than the rhymes, but it's an interesting blend.
It was cool to hear a modern rap album that I didn't hate. This was pretty cool. Maybe one day I'll listen to it again. 3/5.
There's an easy flow here to groove to though I lost a lot of the lyrics with the loose, mumbly rapping. The relentless crudity wore thin. I didn't dislike it but doesn't hit the standard of other Madlib collaborations like Madvillain.
Not really for me but its not bad 3 Shitsville kinda banger Ok its fckn good
I'm always a bit sceptical on hiphop albums. But this one wasn't all too bad
Not a fan of the gangster rap. Gibbs vocal tone is ok. The production and noises are quite good, but overall not my taste.
Well-crafted and engaging, with an assertive but easygoing flow. Lyrics are vivid and grim, and a bit much for my taste.
This is a pretty solid album with great beats by Madlib. Stylistically, I was reminded a lot of Wu Tang (having Raekwon on helped) and lot of Tupac. In a way, it was nice to hear these styles together, yet at the same time, I wonder why this was even needed. While the work is solid, it must made me want to listen to Wu Tang and Tupac. I wouldn't have believed this came out in 2014 if I didn't already know that going in.
I quite enjoyed this hip hop album. Like many of the genre, I'm not a fan of the skits. The music is eclectic and cool, though, and the skits can be skipped. Rating: 3.5 Playlist track: High Date listened: 29/08/24
A lot of f*ck, sh*t, b*tch going on here but I fail to see the relevance of this album. Sorry.
I wasn’t impressed with it
Quite boring, hypnotizing hip hop because of how repetitive it is. Maybe the lyrics have content but they are irrelevant in the face of such simple music.