Bandana

by 
AlbumJun 28 / 201915 songs, 46m 24s
Gangsta Rap
Popular Highly Rated

An eccentric like Madlib and a straightforward guy like Freddie Gibbs—how could it possibly work? If 2014’s *Piñata* proved that the pairing—offbeat producer, no-frills street rapper—sounded better and more natural than it looked on paper, *Bandana* proves *Piñata* wasn’t a fluke. The common ground is approachability: Even at their most cinematic (the noisy soul of “Flat Tummy Tea,” the horror-movie trap of “Half Manne Half Cocaine”), Madlib’s beats remain funny, strange, decidedly at human scale, while Gibbs prefers to keep things so real he barely uses metaphor. In other words, it’s remarkable music made by artists who never pretend to be anything other than ordinary. And even when the guest spots are good (Yasiin Bey and Black Thought on “Education” especially), the core of the album is the chemistry between Gibbs and Madlib: vivid, dreamy, serious, and just a little supernatural.

8.1 / 10

On their second album as a duo, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs pull themselves deeper into one another’s worlds.

B

The pair's second collaboration seems designed to dazzle, to assert a joint legacy.

8 / 10

Opposites attract on the duo's second collaborative album; Madlib and Freddie Gibbs have created this year's 'Daytona'

9 / 10

Hip-hop odd couple are at the top their game on Bandana

8.2 / 10

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, the hip-hop production wizard and charismatic MC, team up for another head-spinning album on 'Bandana'.

Piñata unsurprisingly reaffirmed that Freddie Gibbs and Madlib were a formidable duo.

Madlib and Freddie Gibbs continue to draw the best out of each other on Bandana, the spectacular follow-up to Piñata.

9 / 10

For a rapper like Freddie Gibbs, any old beat would frankly do. So astute is his auteurist eye for nitty-gritty details, so athletically nim...

7 / 10

After a five year hiatus, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib are back with their Keep Cool Records debut ‘Bandana’. Still existing in a conventional

(Keep Cool/Columbia)

9 / 10

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - MadGibb - bring magic out of each other on their second collaborative album together, Bandana.

The rapper-producer duo follow up Piñata with another cinematic series of street stories delivered with lyrical majesty

80 %

4.1 / 5

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Bandana review: wash me clean

Exploring the depths of Californian noir on ultra-accomplished rap album. Album review by Joe Muggs