Freddie Gibbs

If it weren’t for drug dealers, we wouldn’t have drugs. If it weren’t for the internet, we wouldn’t have viral mixtape downloads. And if it weren’t for Freddie Gibbs, Gary, Indiana wouldn’t be back on the map in our cold, post-Music Man / Michael Jackson world. More importantly, were it not for rappers like Freddie Gibbs, we wouldn’t be in the new golden age of rap. The street poet and hip-hop star built his following organically, bringing the block to his music through honest, uninhibited lyricism and just the right amount of braggadocio to make him exemplar of trill. (That’s true + real for those of you who’ve been hittin’ the haze too hard). His full-length Madlib-produced album Piñata is set for release on March 18 via Madlib Invazion, and will feature Danny Brown, Earl Sweatshirt, Ab-soul, Mac Miller and a host of others alongside Gibbs, so hop atop a kush cloud and float your way up to bust the Cocaine Piñata at one of the supporting tour dates.

Sat., March 22, 7 p.m., 2014