In many ways Freddie Gibbs feels like a throwback: a macho, bellicose rapper whose warts’n’all approach stands out among the Instagram-ready introspection of his younger contemporaries. Last time out he teamed up with Madlib for Pinata, a fun, sample-heavy boom-bap experiment. But Shadow of a Doubt is a wholly modern affair, featuring beats from Blair Norf and Jay Z’s go-to guy, Mike Dean, and on which Gibbs’s dextrous delivery is encased in minor-chord synths. The backing doesn’t change his subject matter: the drug game is everywhere (Fuckin’ Up the Count) as is his mockery of the trappings of modern rap (Basketball Wives, Extradite). There are softer moments, such as on Insecurities, when chinks in his armour appear, but as soon as it seems Gibbs is changing his MO, along comes album closer Cold Ass Nigga, just to remind people exactly who he is. A lone shark in a sea full of seals.
