Earlier this week Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist were teasing cryptic messages and signage that had many wondering if they would be dropping a sequel and follow-up to their very critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated collaboration album, Alfredo. Well yesterday a select number of fans arrived at Los Angeles’ Brain Dead Studios cinema for a special advance screening of Alfredo: The Movie. With today, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist delivering on the rumors with the official announcement of, Alfredo 2, which will be released a week from tomorrow on, July 25th.
Directed by longtime collaborator, Nick Walker, the short film of, Alfredo: The Movie, was shot on location in Japan, and offers a cryptic glimpse into the Alfredo 2 world. Equal parts yakuza noir and Ghost Dog, the film casts Gibbs and The Alchemist as partners navigating a seedy, hyper-stylized version of the city’s criminal underground. They’ve traded pasta for noodles, operating out of a humble ramen shop while studying ancient methods of preparation, boiling bones by day and laundering money by night. Alleyway negotiations, back room deals in smoky izakayas, and warrior monk training montages––it’s a bold reintroduction to the duo’s creative universe steeped in noir aesthetics, shadowy criminal underworlds, and razor-sharp bars.
Along with the announcement of the new album and release of the short film the duo of Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist, also release the opening track and lead single from the upcoming highly-anticipated new album with, 1995. That shows the chemistry between the duo that made the first album so great and critically-acclaimed is still there a little over five years later after they released the first installment. From his opening verse of, “It’s the way God planned it, h*e, you can’t stand it. We don’t die, we multiply like rabbits. Ran back like an addict. Took the high road on n***as, I’m ridin’ overpasses. Nothin’ in your catalog classic, you Shaqtin’ like Thanasis.” To also his third verse of, “N***as really don’t want no smoke, they want that clout shit off the bat. Man, this rap beef shit is corny now, I’d rather not be attached. To none of these lame-ass n***as. You can’t do another interview without the Kane Train gettin’ mentioned.” Freddie continues to take shots and jabs at his former ally and collaborator to now enemy, Benny the Butcher. Which seems intentional coming not even 24 hours after Benny dropped his latest project, Summertime Butch 2. Ironically enough both Freddie and Benny collaborating for one of the most standout tracks, Frank Lucas, from the first album too.
