Photo: Matt “Ginch” McGinley

“Government funds fill my city up with guns and drugs”

This one should be familiar to our audience since it’s one Freddie debuted @ Highline and a few folks kept hittin’ me for the mp3. In a definite strategic change of pace, Gibbs drops a radio version of a song. In my opinion, not a bad move @ all because at a certain juncture, artists have to venture off the internet and make a strong showing for themselves in other arenas. The tough part is an artist like Freddie gets unfairly pigeonholed by his subject matter — which is often street-orientated, true enough. If he’s rappin’ about blunts, guns and cursing, there can’t be anything worthwhile there, right? What naysayers miss is that he’s shown the versatility to craft songs of varying tempos and topics. I don’t think I actually realized it until he practically ran away with his feature spot on Mike Posner’s “Bring Me Down” with not a curse word in sight and enough wordplay to arouse the dead. Having listened to my fair of his catalog, there’s a library’s worth of variety just waiting, yet none of it is technically a radio hit.

What we have in “The Ghetto” is an opportunity for radio to broadcast a song that’s listenable, lyrical and has tinges of awareness, the final component being virtually nonexistent on Clear Channel these days. The easiest comparison, at least in my eyes, is seeing Freddie in the same vein as Pac. Many of his best, more memorable songs were not conventional in any sense. An ode to an addict mother? Teenage pregnacy? “Keep Your Head Up?” Not exactly run of the mill, nevertheless they connected with audiences because held sentiments & an authenticity that couldn’t be denied. Can you find their equivalent on the air today?

On my local station, there are only fallacies and fantasies – bottle poppin’, dancing and constant sexual foreplay with no climax. All of which make it easy to avoid, unless they opt-in with a balance that reflects our grounded reality. Yet many of our better artists literally have to fight and to get their music heard on the radio waves. Remember the uproar it took to get DJ Enuff to play “Exhibit C” on NYC radio? Heard about Trae’s plight in his Houston hometown? If you’ve ever been anywhere “Exhibit C” is played, you know the effect it has on crowds. Trae’s not just an artist; the guy has a day named after him in Houston due to his overwhelming involvement in the community.

When I received “The Ghetto” in my inbox, it was a summons, a call to arms. If you know a DJ, make sure to pass them this song. We all owe it to future of rap…and to radio.

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Download — Freddie Gibbs – “The Ghetto” (Clean)