Words by Alex Ciccimarro
Video by Left Of Frame
Photography by Alexander Richter
Hip-hop’s greatest trait is the “From Nothing To Something” story. 50 Cent proved that all it takes is great music, and a great story, and you can be one of the most commercially successful rappers of all time. Rappers have gone as far as to fabricate stories about themselves, in order to give the image that they dealt with the “nothing”. From shootouts, to jail time, to bad label deals that left him back out on the streets, Freddie Gibbs is this story personified. Standing over 6 feet tall, Freddie has the largest smile as he tells us stories of altercations he had got in to (and these just happened a few nights before this interview). He tells stories of him being so sick that he needed to be hospitalized, but he still managed to give it his all on stage. He wants it more than the 40 Year Old Virgin. He wants the “something” that sits at the end of the “From Nothing To…” story. His manager Archie Bonkers is set on getting him there.
Archie knows the “From Nothing To…” story all to well. Coming up as an A&R at Interscope, “the A&R that shall remain nameless throughout this interview” screwed him over. While the details of that story aren’t well documented, all that is known is Archie was left the company with nothing to fall back on. With his back against the wall, he turned to the one artist that he believed in. The one artist he put his neck on the line for at Interscope. Freddie Gibbs. Starting off, there was no team other than him and co-manager Lambo. There wasn’t a booking agent or a publicist. Any article or cover you saw of Freddie Gibbs was their doing. But now the spotlight is on Fred, due to his recently announced deal with Young Jeezy’s Corporate Thugz Entertainment. The pressure is on again, but Freddie and Archie don’t look like their cracking any time soon.
In part 1 of our interview with the duo, we talk about the humble beginnings of their relationship. Archie discusses how he first heard of Freddie, and how they both came together after their deal was done. Freddie talks about his distrust for the music industry. To a gangster, trust is everything. “Just show respect, and you’ll get it back” Freddie told us. It’s clear it takes a real gentleman to be a true gangster.
2 Comments
Dope. Theyve made it a long way, still got much more ahead though…
I believe the A&R they are speaking about may be 3H
3 Trackbacks
[...] Freddie told us. It’s clear it takes a real gentleman to be a true gangster. – Allindstrom.com Tags: Archie Bonkers, Freddie [...]
[...] two homies Freddie Gibbs & Archie Bonkers sit down with Allindstrom.com to speak on a few interesting subjects.. In part 1 of our interview with the duo, we talk about the [...]
[...] Gibbs & his manager Archie Bonkers sit down with Al Lindstrom for some Q&A’s. They talk about they first linked up, getting screwed by a nameless [...]