WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 I want you to picture yourself just for a second. 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:07.280 walking right into a massive glittering Las Vegas 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:09.960 casino. Oh, yeah. Sensory overload immediately. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:12.060 Exactly. Like, you know the exact feeling. The 00:00:12.060 --> 00:00:14.599 lights are blinding, but they're beautiful. The 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:17.339 noise is just this constant overwhelming hum 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:20.379 of slot machine bells and distant cheers. And 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.019 they're literally pumping purified oxygen into 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:25.660 the room just to keep you awake, right? They 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:27.739 keep you playing. Yes. It's this environment 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:29.940 meticulously designed to make you feel like a 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:33.079 total winner, like right up in until the exact 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:34.820 moment the house takes absolutely everything 00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:37.420 you have. Because that entire ecosystem is built 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:40.320 on a very specific illusion, I mean, it promises 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.119 limitless luxury, but the invisible toll it extracts 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:47.039 is just this profound, relentless level of risk. 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:49.479 Right. You're always just one bad hand away from 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.820 ruin. And that's exactly why we are here today. 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:54.759 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We are unpacking a 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.439 huge stack of sources today. We've got a massive 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.500 deep dive into Wikipedia lore, some really sharp 00:01:00.500 --> 00:01:02.859 critical essays, and detailed production notes. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.180 Lots to get through. Tons. Because we want to 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.540 figure out how an underground hip hop veteran 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:12.400 used that exact fictional Las Vegas casino setting 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:15.829 to, like, process the moral cost of his major 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:18.069 label success. It's such a fascinating shift 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:20.409 in a career arc. It really is. We were getting 00:01:20.409 --> 00:01:23.409 into Freddie Gibbs's 2022 album, sold separately. 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:26.049 We're looking at a guy who grinded in the independent 00:01:26.049 --> 00:01:28.969 underground scene for well over a decade and 00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:31.870 then finally signs to a major label, Warner Records, 00:01:32.109 --> 00:01:35.049 which is huge, huge. But instead of dropping 00:01:35.049 --> 00:01:37.730 a generic, you know, victory lap. pop record, 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:40.250 he builds this suffocated conceptual universe 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:42.750 to ask himself if the victory was actually worth 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.170 the price of admission. And the timing of this 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:47.209 release is really the critical context here. 00:01:47.290 --> 00:01:50.290 I mean, Gibbs spent years putting out these critically 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:53.269 acclaimed, purely underground collaborative projects. 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:55.510 He was the rapper's rapper. Exactly. And stepping 00:01:55.510 --> 00:01:57.989 onto the major label stage in your late 30s or 00:01:57.989 --> 00:02:00.590 early 40s, that's practically unheard of in hip 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:02.450 hop. Right, because the expectation is usually 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:04.909 that an artist is going to compromise. They'll 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.450 trade their gritty, authentic sound for some 00:02:07.450 --> 00:02:10.680 slick radio hits. For sure, but Gibbs actually 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.199 leans into that anxiety. He builds an entire 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.259 narrative to interrogate what mainstream success 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:19.139 actually demands of an artist's humanity. Okay, 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.479 let's unpack this because the foundation of this 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:24.080 album is just brilliant. We really have to start 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.199 with the physical setting he constructs for the 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.919 listener. The triple S. Yes, the fictional dollar 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:31.740 resort and casino. According to the lore woven 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:34.360 through the sources, he has isolated himself 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.879 inside the penthouse of this extravagant resort 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:40.969 to finish recording the album. And the casino 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:43.969 isn't just a fun cinematic backdrop for the music. 00:02:44.389 --> 00:02:46.430 Gibbs has explicitly stated that the gambling 00:02:46.430 --> 00:02:48.729 theme represents the terrifying risks he had 00:02:48.729 --> 00:02:51.729 to take just to keep his career alive. Wow. So 00:02:51.729 --> 00:02:54.449 the very literal metaphor for him. Exactly. When 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:56.409 you're an independent artist, especially one 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:58.569 navigating the street life to fund your studio 00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:01.610 time like Gibbs did, every single move is a gamble. 00:03:01.870 --> 00:03:03.870 You're gambling with your livelihood and your 00:03:03.870 --> 00:03:06.870 freedom. The casino magnifies that tension because 00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:09.159 a casino is a place where like desperate where 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.139 people go to change their lives overnight, but 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:13.020 it's also where wealthy people go to flirt with 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:15.159 losing it all. That's a great point. Gibbs is 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:16.979 standing right at the intersection of those two 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:19.439 extremes. And the title of the project tells 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.520 you exactly where his head is at in that penthouse. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.960 Soul sold separately. Yeah, that title has a 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.099 really specific origin story in the sources. 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:30.099 Right, it traces back to a track called Education, 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.659 right? Yep, from his 2019 underground masterpiece 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.319 with Mad Lib Bandana. He has this one really 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:41.039 visceral line on there, drugs for the free, soul 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.460 sold separately. Man, that's heavy. It is. And 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:46.560 Gibbs broke down the psychology of that specific 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.840 lyric in some interviews we looked at. He was 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:50.960 reflecting on his past, you know, selling drugs, 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:53.500 making fast money, achieving material wealth 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:55.680 on the streets. But questioning what it cost 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.719 him. Exactly. The lingering haunting question 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.419 was the exchange rate. He was looking at the 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:03.680 luxury around him and asking what the invisible 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.259 cost was. Like, did he trade a piece of his spiritual 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:10.300 well -being for a Rolex? And so by lifting that 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:12.479 specific lyric and making it the title of his 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.460 major label debut, he's directly comparing the 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.689 corporate music industry to the drug trade. Precisely. 00:04:19.050 --> 00:04:21.490 The executives are the new cartel bosses, the 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:24.149 record advance is the new re -up, and the soul 00:04:24.149 --> 00:04:26.350 is still the collateral. Which makes this entire 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:29.149 concept album function almost like a Trojan horse 00:04:29.149 --> 00:04:32.790 if you think about it. Oh, how so? On the surface, 00:04:33.110 --> 00:04:35.810 you're greeted with this highly commercial, glossy, 00:04:36.509 --> 00:04:39.589 easily digestible Vegas aesthetic. It's got the 00:04:39.589 --> 00:04:41.930 flashing lights, the chips clinking, the VIP 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:44.610 velvet robe. Right, it draws you in. Yeah. He's 00:04:44.610 --> 00:04:46.649 inviting you, the listener, into the high roller 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:49.730 suite, popping champagne. But then once the door 00:04:49.730 --> 00:04:52.569 locks behind you, he turns around and asks if 00:04:52.569 --> 00:04:55.370 your soul is still intact. He definitely uses 00:04:55.370 --> 00:04:58.990 that shiny veneer of mainstream success to sneak 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:01.750 in some devastatingly heavy introspection about 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:04.230 morality and ambition. And the critical reception 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:07.209 from the sources really zeroes in on that specific 00:05:07.209 --> 00:05:09.230 psychological tension, don't they? They absolutely 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:12.069 do. The album secured generally favorable reviews 00:05:12.069 --> 00:05:14.490 across the board, an average Metacritic score 00:05:14.490 --> 00:05:18.449 of 78. That's really solid. It is. But what fascinated 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:20.910 critics wasn't just the wordplay. It was the 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:24.269 duality. You have these lavish, beautiful musical 00:05:24.269 --> 00:05:27.529 arrangements paired with intensely dark, vulnerable 00:05:27.529 --> 00:05:30.009 lyrical content. The contrast has to be jarring. 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:33.189 It is. Thomas Hobbs from The Telegraph actually 00:05:33.189 --> 00:05:35.689 captured the mood perfectly. He pointed out that 00:05:35.689 --> 00:05:38.509 the album constantly oscillates between Gibbs 00:05:38.509 --> 00:05:40.509 feeling like the king of the world unwinding 00:05:40.509 --> 00:05:43.410 in a presidential suite and a man deeply paranoid 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:46.209 of jealous enemies plotting his downfall. It's 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:48.029 the ultimate isolation of the penthouse view. 00:05:48.470 --> 00:05:50.189 You have the highest vantage point in the city, 00:05:50.470 --> 00:05:52.189 but you're completely alone behind bulletproof 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:54.310 glass. Right. Staring at the elevator doors. 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:56.509 Staring at the doors wondering exactly who is 00:05:56.509 --> 00:05:58.870 coming up to take your spot. And Paul Simpson 00:05:58.870 --> 00:06:02.189 over at AllMusic noted something similar. He 00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:04.389 said that despite the constant verbal references 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:08.110 to luxurious excess, like the cars, the jewelry, 00:06:08.269 --> 00:06:11.550 the women, the core of the lyrics actually focuses 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:14.129 on the bleakest aspects of his past struggle. 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:17.399 So he's physically residing in luxury, but mentally 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:19.699 he's still trapped in the trauma of his past. 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:22.560 Exactly. And critics like Matthew Ritchie at 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.500 Pitchfork praised this dynamic. He called Gibbs 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.560 razor sharp when he turns his pen inward to critique 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.980 his own flaws and mistakes. So what does this 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:34.620 all mean then? I mean, Did the critics universally 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:37.579 buy this vulnerability? Or did it feel to some 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:39.620 like a wealthy guy just kind of complaining about 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:41.800 the temperature in his penthouse? That's a really 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.120 fair question to ask. Because you hustle your 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.720 entire life to escape the struggle. You finally 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:48.560 get the Warner Records deal. You get the Triple 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.939 S Resort Suite. Does getting everything you ever 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:54.839 wanted just give you infinitely more to lose? 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.459 And that is exactly where the pushback came from 00:06:57.459 --> 00:07:00.470 in the critical essays. Paul Attard from Slant 00:07:00.470 --> 00:07:03.370 took a much more skeptical stance on Gibbs's 00:07:03.370 --> 00:07:05.629 supposed vulnerability. Oh, really? What was 00:07:05.629 --> 00:07:08.670 his take? Attard argued that while Gibbs frequently 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:10.949 brings up his real life controversies and beefs 00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:13.610 on the record, he mostly does so in ways that 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:16.089 let him dodge actual accountability. Oh, interesting. 00:07:16.209 --> 00:07:17.990 So the paranoia is actually more of a defensive 00:07:17.990 --> 00:07:20.889 shield. Exactly. In that view, if you claim everyone 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:23.649 is out to get you, you never really have to fully 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:26.949 explain your own missteps. Right. So the introspection. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:28.980 according to some of these critics, is highly 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:31.980 curated. He's showing you his scars, but he's 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.180 still controlling the lighting in the room, if 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:38.209 that makes sense. And that claustrophobia, whether 00:07:38.209 --> 00:07:41.089 it's genuine trauma or a curated defensive shield, 00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:44.790 it entirely dictates the sonic landscape of the 00:07:44.790 --> 00:07:47.230 album. It really does. The contrasting themes 00:07:47.230 --> 00:07:50.970 of paranoia and luxury, they demand a very specific 00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:53.829 sound. And to score this feeling of opulence, 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:56.490 Gibbs assembled a production roster that frankly 00:07:56.490 --> 00:07:58.649 reads like a hip hop hall of fame. The sheer 00:07:58.649 --> 00:08:01.050 diversity of the producers involved is staggering. 00:08:01.170 --> 00:08:03.490 I mean, you have the architects of the gritty 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:06.480 underground sound that Gibbs built his name on 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.420 legends like Mad Lib and The Alchemist. What 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:10.339 you'd expect from him. Right. But then he brings 00:08:10.339 --> 00:08:12.699 in forward -thinking alternative electronic producers 00:08:12.699 --> 00:08:15.139 like Kate Trinada and James Blake. And finally, 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:17.339 to signify his arrival on the major label stage, 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:21.100 he pulls in absolute stadium -status hitmakers 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:25.410 like Boy Wanda, Jake One, and DJ Paul. That is 00:08:25.410 --> 00:08:28.649 wild. You have East Coast Boom Bap, Midwestern 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:31.269 Soul, Southern Trap, and Alternative Electronic 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:33.769 all colliding on one tracklist. It's a massive 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:36.909 melting pot. Putting a dusty, irregular, sample 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:40.090 -heavy Madlib beat on the same album as a booming, 00:08:40.669 --> 00:08:43.529 mathematically -precise Boy 1 Doe. I mean, that 00:08:43.529 --> 00:08:45.690 sounds like a recipe for a completely disjointed 00:08:45.690 --> 00:08:48.070 playlist. It does sound like the purest underground 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:50.450 clashing violently with the mainstream pop machine. 00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:54.230 Exactly. So did it work. Well, the critical consensus 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:56.850 was that Gibbs and his team somehow managed to 00:08:56.850 --> 00:09:00.129 thread the needle. Dash Lewis of Hip Hop DX highlighted 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:03.370 how the album utilizes wide, spacey synthesizers 00:09:03.370 --> 00:09:06.129 and lush soul samples that just snake around 00:09:06.129 --> 00:09:08.730 these tightly coiled drum patterns. Spacey synths 00:09:08.730 --> 00:09:11.549 and tight drums. Yeah, and that specific combination 00:09:11.549 --> 00:09:13.370 of sounds is brilliant when you think about the 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:15.029 psychology we were just talking about. Because 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:18.389 the wide echoing synthesizers create this massive 00:09:18.389 --> 00:09:20.549 cavernous feeling. Like, it sounds like you're 00:09:20.549 --> 00:09:23.230 standing alone in an empty marble -floored hotel 00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:26.730 lobby at 4 a .m. But the drum patterns underneath 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:30.730 those synths are fast, erratic, and tightly coiled. 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:33.730 It creates this underlying, inescapable feeling 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:36.090 of a panic attack. That's it, exactly. The music 00:09:36.090 --> 00:09:38.230 literally sounds like an anxiety attack happening 00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:40.690 inside a five -star resort. I love that description. 00:09:40.929 --> 00:09:43.429 Yeah. But I'm guessing not everyone loved that 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:46.009 heavy sound. No, you're right. That incredibly 00:09:46.009 --> 00:09:49.490 luxurious, thick sound provoked a deeply polarized 00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:52.370 reaction among the critics. Let me guess. Some 00:09:52.370 --> 00:09:54.730 loved the scale of it, and some hated the gloss. 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:57.470 Hit the nail on the head. All music championed 00:09:57.470 --> 00:10:00.269 the production. They stated the album was grander 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:02.649 in scope than Gibbs' previous single producer 00:10:02.649 --> 00:10:04.870 projects while remaining remarkably consistent. 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:07.070 OK, and the detractors. Others felt the weight 00:10:07.070 --> 00:10:10.190 of that grandeur was a huge detriment. Hip -hop 00:10:10.190 --> 00:10:12.529 DX argued that the glossiness makes the album 00:10:12.529 --> 00:10:14.970 buckle under its own pressure at times. Ouch. 00:10:15.149 --> 00:10:17.529 And Slant was sharply critical. They described 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:21.299 the opulence as having a, quote, decidedly perfunctory 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:24.519 whiff of excessive grandeur. Oh man, I have to 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:26.159 push back hard on those critics right there. 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.460 Really? Because if we remember the foundational 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:30.740 context of this source material, that this is 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:33.960 a concept album set inside a corrupt, high -stakes, 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:36.919 artificial Las Vegas casino, shouldn't it sound 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:39.639 exactly like that? You're saying that gloss is 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:43.139 the point. Yes. Shouldn't it possess a whiff 00:10:43.139 --> 00:10:46.659 of excessive grandeur? To me, that overwhelming 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.919 heavy glossiness is a highly deliberate artistic 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.779 choice. It's meant to make you, the listener, 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:55.659 feel the suffocating weight of the dollar resort. 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:58.299 That's a really interesting defense of the Alba's 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:00.940 sound. I mean, Vegas is excessively grand. It 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:03.659 is glossy to the point of nausea. If the album 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:05.200 sounds like it's buckling under the pressure 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.600 of its own opulence, isn't that exactly what 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.779 happens to a human soul when it spends too much 00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:13.179 time chasing the jackpot? Wow. It really forces 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:16.019 us to ask how we should evaluate concept albums. 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:18.779 If the aesthetic perfectly mirrors the conceptual 00:11:18.779 --> 00:11:21.159 environment, but that environment is intentionally 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:23.679 designed to be overwhelming, plastic and exhausting, 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:26.860 is the listener's fatigue a flaw in the music 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:29.100 or a triumph of the world -building? Exactly. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.240 It makes the album a fascinating case study. 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:34.139 It really does. But, you know, while the beats 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:36.620 spark intense debate, there was one element of 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:39.399 the album that received absolute universal acclaim 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:41.379 across every single source we looked at. Oh, 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:43.980 I know what this is. Freddie Gibbs on the microphone. 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.539 Yeah. The actual physical act of rapping. Oh, 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:49.000 without a doubt. His technical proficiency is 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.559 treated as an undeniable fact of nature by this 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:53.740 point. Yeah, the guy is a machine. The reviews 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:57.320 consistently refer to him as a flawless MZ. They 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:00.679 highlight his incredible rap pyrotechnics, labeling 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:03.460 him an eternal technician with a craftsman -like 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:06.220 approach to syllables and breath control. It's 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:08.740 like whether a critic loved or hated the casino 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:11.899 concept or the glossy beats, no one disputed 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:14.700 his actual vocal performance. Right. No one argued 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:17.559 that his ability to manipulate cadences and flows 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.580 isn't at an elite Hall of Fame level. Okay, here's 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:23.389 where it gets really interesting. because we 00:12:23.389 --> 00:12:26.289 have to look at how he chose to structure this 00:12:26.289 --> 00:12:28.149 album. Yeah, the structures where things get 00:12:28.149 --> 00:12:30.909 a bit bumpy. Bumpy is a good word for it. We 00:12:30.909 --> 00:12:33.269 have this flawless, craftsman -like rapping, 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:36.730 but the structural glue holding these incredible 00:12:36.730 --> 00:12:39.769 vocal performances together created a massive 00:12:39.769 --> 00:12:41.879 amount of friction. for the listeners. You're 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:44.179 talking about the skits? I am talking about the 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:46.340 skits. Yeah, the skits are woven between almost 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:49.620 every song to drive that SSS casino narrative 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:52.440 forward. And they primarily take the form of 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:55.139 voicemails left for Gibbs by celebrities. Who 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.200 are we talking about here? Everyone from Joe 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.200 Rogan to Kevin Durant to the comedian Jesus Trejo. 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:02.740 And the kicker is, Gibbs never answers the phone. 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:04.580 He just lets it go to voicemail. Think about 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:07.559 how isolating that is. You are in the most crowded, 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:10.340 chaotic city in the world, staying in a building 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:13.019 with thousands of people, getting calls from 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:16.039 massive celebrities. And your only human contact 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:18.600 is a glowing screen on a phone you refuse to 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.379 pick up. The isolation is deafening. And thematically, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.200 it underscores his paranoia and lowliness perfectly. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.580 Thematically, sure. But practically. Right. Practically, 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:29.340 for the listener, the contrast is stark. You 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:31.820 have this universally praised, intricate rapping 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.440 abruptly cut off by these long conversational 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:36.320 voicemails. Which really breaks the flow. It 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.299 does. Hip -hop DX cited the skits as the most 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:41.899 jarring element of the entire album, and Pitchfork 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:44.159 was even less forgiving. They dismissed the skits 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.519 as outright nonsense that the listener has to 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.679 actively manually skip to enjoy the music. And 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.860 we aren't talking about a brief interlude here 00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:54.480 or there either. The standard edition of this 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.769 album is a sprawling canvas. It's 15 tracks. 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:01.029 And he's bringing in heavyweights who represent 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:03.549 completely different eras and facets of the hustle, 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:06.129 too. Right. You have an underground godfather 00:14:06.129 --> 00:14:09.490 like Scarface on the exact same track list as 00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:12.350 a mainstream pop leaning feature like Kelly Price 00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:15.330 or Rick Ross. It's a lot to take in. It is. The 00:14:15.330 --> 00:14:17.289 standard version alone is a heavy listen. And 00:14:17.289 --> 00:14:19.809 then the bonus edition pushes it to 20 tracks, 00:14:20.129 --> 00:14:22.629 adding features from Big Sean and Schoolboy Q. 00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:25.840 It's nearly an hour. of dense lyrical hip hop. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.019 So constantly being interrupted by a jarring 00:14:28.019 --> 00:14:30.700 voicemail skit can feel incredibly antagonistic 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:33.240 to the listener. It breaks the immersion completely. 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:37.100 You are grooving to a meticulously crafted James 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:40.039 Blake production, listening to Gibbs weave these 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.730 complex internal rhymes, and suddenly, bam! The 00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:45.590 beat drops out. And you're listening to a comedian 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:48.009 leave a rambling voicemail about a casino lobby. 00:14:48.330 --> 00:14:51.350 It's like watching a master woodworker painstakingly 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:54.389 construct a flawless, intricate mahogany table. 00:14:54.950 --> 00:14:56.610 You know, every joint is perfect, the finish 00:14:56.610 --> 00:14:59.029 is impeccable, and you are entirely captivated 00:14:59.029 --> 00:15:02.149 by the sheer skill on display. Right. But every 00:15:02.149 --> 00:15:05.230 10 minutes, a loud, obnoxious, flashing neon 00:15:05.230 --> 00:15:08.110 casino advertisement. blasts over the workshop 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:09.850 speakers. That would be incredibly annoying. 00:15:09.909 --> 00:15:11.450 It shatters your focus. You get annoyed. You 00:15:11.450 --> 00:15:13.190 just want to watch the craftsman work in peace. 00:15:13.250 --> 00:15:16.529 But then you realize the craftsman installed 00:15:16.529 --> 00:15:19.929 the loudspeaker himself. He wants you to feel 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:22.389 that disruption. So the disruption is the point. 00:15:22.570 --> 00:15:26.070 Yes. That friction is the Vegas experience. He 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:27.950 won't let you just passively consume the beauty 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:30.990 of his art. He forces you to constantly be reminded 00:15:30.990 --> 00:15:33.889 of the transactional, noisy, chaotic corporate 00:15:33.889 --> 00:15:36.330 world that the art is being packaged and sold 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.179 in. the major label machine, the dollar resort. 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:42.700 Exactly. The skits might be profoundly annoying, 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:45.500 but they violently yank you back to the reality 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:49.480 of where he is operating. And when we step back 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:52.179 and synthesize all of these polarizing elements, 00:15:52.419 --> 00:15:55.059 like the flawless rapping, the intentionally 00:15:55.059 --> 00:15:58.100 jarring skits, the heavily debated lavish production, 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:02.090 and the deeply paranoid lyrics, We see exactly 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:04.929 what Soul Sold separately accomplishes. Which 00:16:04.929 --> 00:16:07.490 is? It's not just a collection of rap songs thrown 00:16:07.490 --> 00:16:10.250 together to satisfy a new Warner Records contract. 00:16:10.309 --> 00:16:13.350 It is a profound, multi -dimensional look at 00:16:13.350 --> 00:16:15.529 the architecture of success. The architecture 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:17.950 of success. The literal blueprint of what it 00:16:17.950 --> 00:16:19.830 actually takes to build the penthouse. Right. 00:16:19.830 --> 00:16:22.289 It forces the listener to deeply consider what 00:16:22.289 --> 00:16:24.690 happens when the massive payout finally hits. 00:16:24.970 --> 00:16:27.450 You grind in the underground for a decade. You 00:16:27.450 --> 00:16:29.750 finally secure the major label backing. You get 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:31.950 the luxury you get the view from the top. But 00:16:31.950 --> 00:16:34.450 then what? Well, as you are sitting up there, 00:16:34.590 --> 00:16:36.809 looking down at the glittering neon lights entirely 00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:38.870 alone, letting your phone ring to voicemail, 00:16:39.289 --> 00:16:41.450 you realize the compromises you made to navigate 00:16:41.450 --> 00:16:43.509 that casino might have fundamentally altered 00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:47.289 who you are. The album is a dark, beautiful reflection 00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:49.590 on whether the jackpot was actually worth the 00:16:49.590 --> 00:16:52.570 bet. It is such a heavy realization to arrive 00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:55.610 at, especially when from the outside, the whole 00:16:55.610 --> 00:16:58.529 world thinks you have just won the lottery. Exactly. 00:16:58.940 --> 00:17:02.200 We started this deep dive by walking into that 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.980 glittering casino feeling the purified oxygen 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:07.400 hit our lungs, getting blinded by the illusion 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.460 of limitless winning. And Freddie Gibbs basically 00:17:10.460 --> 00:17:12.720 takes us all the way up to the top floor just 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.960 to show us how incredibly thin the air really 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.180 is up there. It's a sobering view. It really 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:19.759 is. So as we wrap up today, I want to turn this 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.980 around and leave you, the listener, with a final 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.460 thought to mull over. Think about your own life. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.079 Your own hustle. Yeah, your own goals, your ambitions, 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.539 the things you are hustling for every single 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:32.380 day in your career or your personal life. If 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:34.559 you were locked away in your own version of the 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.470 Triple S Casino, working tirelessly to finally 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:40.309 achieve your absolute biggest dream. What is 00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:42.930 the price you would flat out refuse to pay? When 00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:45.430 the chips are down. Right. When the ultimate 00:17:45.430 --> 00:17:47.210 payout you've always wanted is sitting right 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:50.250 there on the table. What part of your soul remains 00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:52.710 strictly not for sale? That's a boundary we all 00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:55.089 have to define before the house forces us to. 00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:57.769 Keep your chips close. We'll catch you on the 00:17:57.769 --> 00:17:58.589 next Deep Dive.