Freddie Gibbs – “Fuckin’ Up the Count” (Singles Going Steady)

Ryan Dieringer: This says classic to me in so many ways. It has that cinematic grip on narrative you get from seminal Kendrick. The story sticks you and sticks with you. The Rhodes production has that rooted, vibey feel that digs the track deeper into its sense of reality. There is a real struggle that Gibbs is digging up from memory but exacting in the present. A nice gritty departure from the more imaginative stuff on Pinata. This one is gonna be good. [9/10]

Kevin Korber: Rap like this probably isn’t going to sniff near the charts again, which is a shame because Freddie Gibbs would have been a household name in the early 2000s. His flow certainly deserves the recognition; hearing Freddie rap is the closest anyone has come to sounding like Tupac without explicitly trying to sound like Tupac. There aren’t a lot of people doing songs like “Fuckin’ Up the Count”, and quite frankly, Freddie’s the only guy who can do this without embarrassing himself. [7/10]

Steve Horowitz: The song and video are strong. Sure we have heard and seen it before; innocents corrupted by the lure of money only to suffer horrible fates because of the dangers of the drug life. This time the story’s told straight and tight, but it’s not addictive. [6/10]

COMBO SCORE: 7.33