Piñata (Freddie Gibbs and Madlib album)

Piñata is the first collaborative studio album by American rapper Freddie Gibbs and record producer Madlib. 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
Studio album by
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib
ReleasedMarch 18, 2014 (2014-03-18)
Recorded2011–2013
GenreHip hop
Length60:13
LabelMadlib Invazion
ProducerMadlib
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib chronology
Deeper
(2013)		 Piñata
(2014)		 Knicks
(2014)
Freddie Gibbs chronology
Deeper
(2013)		 Piñata
(2014)		 Shadow of a Doubt
(2015)
Madlib chronology
Rock Konducta Pt. 1
(2013)		 Piñata
(2014)		 Piñata Beats
(2014)
Singles from Piñata
  1. "Thuggin'"
    Released: November 21, 2011
  2. "Shame"
    Released: June 22, 2012
  3. "Deeper"
    Released: September 3, 2013

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.

Background
I'ma tell you the truth, man. I had a dream, dog, that I had a little baby. The little baby's birthday was here and shit. You know I like Latina girls and shit, man. I want to say all of my girls speak Spanish and shit. Anyways, so the baby would probably be a Mexi-nigga or some shit. So it was like a little nigga-Mexican baby and shit. That nigga wanted a piñata, man, in the dream, man. I don't know. I must've been cooking some dope or some shit that week, because the nigga started hitting the piñata, and it wasn't shit but dope falling out the piñata. I was just like, "Damn, man." They was just kids playing in the dope. They was just playin' in the dope. It was little four-year-old kids hitting dope in piñatas. I don't know. It was a crazy ass dream. So, I just called that shit Cocaine Piñata.

— Freddie Gibbs, speaking in April 2013, with HipHopDX about how he came up with the album's original title, Cocaine Piñata.[1]

In a press release, Freddie Gibbs described Piñata as "a gangster Blaxploitation film on wax. I will show you my flaws, I'll show you what I've done wrong and what I've fucked up at.... I don't regret shit, but I'll show you the things I'm not proud of. I'm about to show niggas how to rap again. As long as I keep satisfying them, everybody else is going to fall in line."[2] Additionally, Madlib, added "My stuff, it ain't fully quantized… it has more of a human feel, so it might slow down or speed up. So you have to be the type of rapper, like [MF Doom] or Freddie, who can catch that, or else you'll be sounding crazy."[2]

In February 2014, the track list and the cover art of the album was released. The cover art features Gibbs wearing a black Adidas tracksuit and hanging out in a neighborhood park, with a zebra print border surrounding the image.[3] In a March 2014, interview with Rolling Stone, Madlib spoke about how they started working on the album, saying: "I met him through Ben Lambo. He used to work at Stones Throw. I heard some of an earlier album with Jeezy on it [Gibbs' Cold Day in Hell]. And Lambo wanted to see if he could do something different over my style of beats. That's where it all started… I had gotten over eight CDs worth of music to him, and just let him pick out whatever he could vibe to. I didn't do anything special, I just let him pick stuff that he could write to. I thought he'd pick different types of beats, [but it was] all raw shit. I didn't have to tell him, but that's what he wanted to record."[4] He also spoke about how they recorded the album separately, saying: "No, he recorded the vocals on his own. Like, I handed him all the CDs, and he picked out all the beats he wanted, he recorded them at his studio, then he handed those off to me, then we finished it. I would add little things, like these choruses. That's what usually happens: I let 'em record what they want, then I add stuff as needed after that, like extra horns or whatever… I'm usually working on other thangs, you know what I mean? I don't have time to sit there and coach somebody that just already knows what to do, and that's the kind of people I usually work with… I don't want to sit there like a babysitter."[4] Gibbs also spoke about how the album was recorded over three years, saying: "We two different guys, man. I was still in the streets when I first started that Madlib album. I was, then I wasn't. You can tell the progression on the record, though. You can tell the different places that I'm in, 'cause I did it over the course of three years, coming up with the ideas and concepts."[4]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Thuggin'", was released on November 21, 2011.[5] The album's second single, "Shame", was released on June 22, 2012. The song features a guest appearance from American singer BJ the Chicago Kid.[6] The album's third single, "Deeper", was released on September 3, 2013.[7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Album of the Year80/100[8]
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[9]
Metacritic82/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The A.V. ClubB+[12]
Consequence of SoundB+[13]
The Guardian[14]
HipHopDX4.5/5[15]
NME8/10[16]
Pitchfork8.0/10[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Slant Magazine[19]
Spin7/10[20]

Piñata was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 19 reviews.[10] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[9] Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 80 out of 100, based on 17 reviews.[8]

Brian Josephs of Consequence of Sound said, "Piñata comes with just enough to reduce the daunting 17-track length to a non-factor, although it drags a bit with overt nostalgia toward the fourth quarter. But sometimes nostalgia is good, especially when it's interpreted with the right amount of imagination."[13] Nate Patrin of Pitchfork said, "It doesn't matter if Gibbs and Madlib were once considered artists playing to different audiences -- united in their uncompromising, independent-as-fuck visions, they put together something hardcore hip-hop heads on both sides should feel."[17] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone said, "At its best, Piñata recalls the dark-alley vibes of Raekwon's classic, RZA-produced 1995 debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... It's no coincidence that one of the strongest tracks features an excellently grim guest verse from Rae himself."[18]

Joe Sweeney of Slant Magazine said, "Piñata does suffer from a bloated middle, with a few too many beats derived from '70s slow jams (imagine Shaft with less Richard Roundtree gunplay and more Richard Roundtree 'gunplay'). But by the time the title track hits its groove to close things out, it's clear that all the foreplay was worth it."[19] Paul MacInnes of The Guardian said, "It doesn't always seem a perfect fit – Gibbs' rough edges scrap up against Madlib's strings, and sometimes Piñata sounds like a low-key affair. It also feels a little dated, because Madlib has been practicing this kind of project for a decade – alongside similarly independent-minded artists like J Dilla and Doom. A-list guest appearances from Raekwon, Scarface and Earl Sweatshirt enliven the recipe, however."[14] David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "Startling numbers like the block-rockin' then dissolving "Real" crop up throughout the album and make this project even more than a sum of its parts, and with the track list flowing smoothly as attractive guests (Danny Brown, Raekwon, Scarface, Mac Miller, and the list goes diversely and gloriously on) come and go, Piñata winds up excellent overall. Extra points are added for being a peerless success while still giving fans of Mobb Deep, Slum Village, Young Buck, Odd Future, and David Banner enough familiar touchstones for easy access."[11]

Jay Balfour of HipHopDX said, "As Gangster Rap, Piñata is free of conceptual pretense; it's a slice more than a thesis. It's also a new benchmark for Gibbs and may end up as a career calling card. If nothing else, it quickly sounds like one of the year's best."[15] Ben Cardew of NME said, "At its best – as on the heart-rending 'Deeper' – Piñata sounds like a close cousin to Raekwon's classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (indeed Raekwon guests on Piñata track 'Bomb'). And that is a compliment indeed. The only complaint, surely, is that the duo dropped the original title: Cocaine Piñata."[16] Kevin Jones of Exclaim! said, "While the beats and rhymes – helped along to varying degrees by guests Domo, Earl Sweatshirt, Ab-Soul and Danny Brown, among others – are as tight and efficient as you might expect, the record's many time-honoured hood tropes and (admittedly restrained) Blaxploitation elements simply fail to inspire through certain segments."[21]

Accolades
Year-end lists
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Billboard Ten Best Rap Albums of 2014
10
[22]
Complex 50 Best Albums of 2014
33
[23]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2014
10
[24]
Pitchfork The Best Albums of 2014
43
[25]
Rolling Stone 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014
6
[26]
Spin 40 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2014
3
[27]
Stereogum 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014
5
[28]
Vibe 46 Best Albums of 2014
22
[29]
The Wire Releases of the Year 1–50
27
[30]

Commercial performance

Piñata debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 9,000 copies in the United States.[31]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Madlib.[3]

Piñata track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Supplier"Otis Jackson0:48
2."Scarface"
2:06
3."Deeper"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
  • Curtis McCormick
3:19
4."High" (featuring Danny Brown)
2:57
5."Harold's"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
2:49
6."Bomb" (featuring Raekwon)
3:43
7."Shitsville"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
3:31
8."Thuggin'"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
  • Joachim Sherylee
3:46
9."Real"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
3:34
10."Uno"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
2:47
11."Robes" (featuring Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt)
5:04
12."Broken" (featuring Scarface)
4:08
13."Lakers" (featuring Ab-Soul and Polyester the Saint)
4:30
14."Knicks"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
3:39
15."Shame" (featuring BJ the Chicago Kid)
3:03
16."Watts" (featuring Big Time Watts)
  • Jackson
  • G. Watts
1:55
17."Piñata" (featuring Domo Genesis, G-Wiz, Casey Veggies, Sulaiman, Meechy Darko and Mac Miller)
8:33
Total length:60:13
Best Buy deluxe edition (bonus tracks)[32]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
18."Deep"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
2:03
19."Cold on the Blvd."Jackson1:19
20."Terrorist"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
1:12
21."The Morning After"
  • Tipton
  • Jackson
2:52

Personnel

Credits for Piñata adapted from AllMusic.[33]

  • Ab-Soul – featured artist
  • Eothen Alapatt – executive producer
  • Peter Beste – cover photo
  • BJ the Chicago Kid – featured artist
  • Archibald Bonkers – executive producer
  • Glenn "G-Wiz" Browder – engineer
  • Danny Brown – featured artist
  • Casey Veggies – featured artist
  • Dave Cooley – mastering, mixing
  • Meechy Darko – featured artist
  • Josh Fadem – engineer
  • Domo Genesis – featured artist
  • Freddie Gibbs – primary artist, quotation author, rap
  • G-Wiz – featured artist
  • Kelly Hibbert – mastering, mixing
  • Otis "Madlib" Jackson – beats, primary artist, producer
  • Brad "Scarface" Jordan – featured artist
  • Ben "Lambo" Lambert – executive producer
  • Malcolm "Mac Miller" McCormick – featured artist
  • Henoch Moore – production coordination
  • Polyester the Saint – featured artist
  • Raekwon – featured artist
  • Matthew Scott – photography
  • Sulaiman – featured artist
  • Earl Sweatshirt – featured artist
  • Big Time Watts – featured artist

Charts
gollark: My own phone has WiFi drivers which apparently allow randomizing MAC address on every connection, thus good.
gollark: Although MAC randomization countermeasures are present in most mobile OSes now.
gollark: This is already happening so it may as well be used for good.
gollark: You have to admit that this would be very cool if implemented literally everywhere.
gollark: It was a secret GTech™ project to make an automatic theme music system by tracking people entering/leaving a room using PIR sensors and passive WiFi monitoring.

References
  1. Vasquez, Andres (April 4, 2013). "Freddie Gibbs Says A Dream Inspired His "Cocaine Pinata" Project With Madlib". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  2. "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Pinata – 3.18.14. Listen to "Robes" feat. Earl & Domo". January 29, 2014. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. Ortiz, Edwin (February 7, 2014). "Here's the Cover Art and Tracklist for Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's Upcoming Album "Piñata"". Complex. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  4. Reeves, Mosi (March 20, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs and Madlib on Cracking the Music Industry's 'Pinata'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  5. Lilah, Rose (November 21, 2011). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Thuggin". HowNewHipHop. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  6. Lilah, Rose (June 22, 2012). "Freddie Gibbs – Shame Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid (Prod. By Madlib)". HowNewHipHop. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  7. Lilah, Rose (September 3, 2013). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Deeper". HowNewHipHop. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  8. "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata – Reviews". Album of the Year. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  9. "Piñata by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  10. "Reviews for Piñata by Madlib". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  11. Jeffries, David. "Piñata – Freddie Gibbs / Madlib". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  12. Mincher, Chris (March 18, 2014). "Madlib's beats take a backseat in newest collaboration". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  13. Josephs, Brian (March 12, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  14. MacInnes, Paul (March 13, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Piñata review – 'Odd couple rappers sharing a love of independence'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  15. Balfour, Jay (March 18, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Pinata". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  16. Cardew, Ben (March 14, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – 'Pinata'". NME. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  17. Patrin, Nate (March 13, 2014). "Madlib / Freddie Gibbs: Piñata". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  18. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (March 13, 2014). "Piñata". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
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  20. Reeves, Mosi (March 13, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Craft a Deft, Eccentric Street-Rap Epic on 'Pinata'". Spin. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  21. Jones, Kevin (March 18, 2014). "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  22. "The 10 Best Rap Albums of 2014". Billboard. December 11, 2014. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  23. "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Piñata – The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Complex. December 18, 2014. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  24. "Top 50 Albums of 2014". Consequence of Sound. December 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  25. "The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Pitchfork. December 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  26. "Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, 'Piñata' – 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. December 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
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  28. "The 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014". Stereogum. December 16, 2014. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  29. "The BIG List: 46 Albums From 2014 That Are Actually Worth Your Money". Vibe. December 2, 2014. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  30. "2014 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 371. London. January 2015. p. 35 – via Exact Editions. (subscription required)
  31. Tardio, Andres (March 26, 2014). "Hip Hop Album Sales: Week Ending 3/23/2014". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  32. "Piñata Best Buy Exclusive 3/18 – CD". Best Buy. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  33. "Piñata – Freddie Gibbs, Madlib | Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  34. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  35. "Freddie Gibbs Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  36. "Freddie Gibbs Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
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  38. "Freddie Gibbs Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  39. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
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