The quest for authenticity is often mocked in the cynical swamp of 21st century Internet existence, but honesty remains a cardinal virtue. In contemporary rap, few voices call out nonsense better than Freddie Gibbs. The Gary, Ind.-bred, L.A.-based artist speaks with a candor that makes him the rare rapper whose interviews are as compelling as his tunes. Although most rappers mumble off-the-record asides, Gibbs offers an unflinching and unfiltered perspective.

Last year, XXL magazine named Gibbs one of the 10 Freshmen for '10, and his ability to pair chronic-dense lyricism with smooth country rap cadences has made him a darling of both backpackers and those with Pioneer speakers in the trunk. And Bill Simmons. His live performances bring a similar ferocity -- they're raw, unruly and unpredictable. Right now, as far as live rap shows go, there's Yelawolf, Odd Future, Gibbs -- and then the rest. His songs and videos are too profane to post on the Los Angeles Times' site (as was much of this interview, which required much editing, as you'll see below), but you can find plenty of tunes here.

Though you may not have noticed amid the avalanche of strong drinks, loud explosions and soon-to-be remitted resolutions, the rap world made pledges of its own last week. But instead of vows, there were symbolic gestures to send the year stepping in the right rhythm.

In what's shaping up to be an auspicious tradition, several rappers and groups are offering free downloads that will help you survive your first day back at the office/school/monastery -- a worthy successor to last year's harvest from the Cool Kids, Yelawolf, XO, The Knux and Kendrick Lamar.

Below is a bluffer's guide to what will help prop up your caffeine high. Note: Some, if not all, of these downloads contain cussing.

The Jet Age of Tomorrow -- "The Journey to the 5th Echelon"

Even if you are a committed skeptic to the expanding cult of Odd Future, you cannot deny the genre name ascribed to the sophomore album of the space funk travelers the Jet Age of Tomorrow: electric sex music -- what you would expect from a group that channels a cosmic slop of N.E.R.D., Sa-Ra and Dam-Funk.  Highly recommended for those inclined toward Afro-futuristic funk, sunbursts and sundry Alpha Centauri swag.

As OFWGKTA claims: "this Is A All Around Upgrade From The VOYAGER Release. The Quirky Spaced Out Sounds Will Have Your Ears Mind [Screwed] For Days, So We Advise Not To Do Drugs While Listening." Or at least not until 5 p.m.

Download: (via Odd Future)

ZIP: The Jet Age of Tomorrow -- "The Journey to the 5th Echelon"

 

Freddie Gibbs already knew something about Boot Camp, having languished at North Carolina's Ft. Bragg while awaiting sentencing for a crime committed in his hometown of Gary, Ind. He's been headquartered in Los Angeles for the last several years, living in a seedy part of Van Nuys -- not quite the ghetto, but rusting shopping carts litter the sidewalks and trouble isn't far off.

Thus, it's not much of a stretch for Gangsta Gibbs to pair up with Boot Camp Clik legends Tek of Cocoa Brovaz and Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah for the remix to "The Ghetto." If Price remains an original gun clapper, Gibbs is a logical successor. Nor is it easy to get an endorsement from Price. The Brooklyn-bred rapper has relentlessly mocked members of the younger generation, but Gibbs is the rare contemporary MC whose rhyme skills match the menace he projects.

Right now, there's no one in hip-hop able to condense information as well as Gibbs. Following Tek's and Price's pipe-bash verses, he introduces himself as "Freddie Gibbs grew up on fried bologna/ around the dealers and smokers/I'm smoking fried with my homies." Unlike most of the contemporary gangsta rappers, he neither glorifies nor passes judgment on his past lifestyle. He can weave a taut narrative in 16 bars, while his peers prefer to tell their stories in tedious soap operas.

Then again, when you rap this well -- you could be from Bel-Air and no one would bat a Bulgari.

Download:
MP3: Freddie Gibbs featuring Rek and Sean Price: "The Ghetto Remix"

-- Jeff Weiss

Photo: Freddie Gibbs. Credit: Freddie Gibbs-Myspace

Ask Freddie Gibbs what’s on his iPod, and he’ll inevitably tell you the same thing: early Scarface, Geto Boys and Ice Cube. Occasionally, he’ll mix in some old-school R&B or some 2Pac. But 2Pac’s favorite record was the Geto Boys' “Grip It on That Other Level,” so there’s a consistent theme at hand.

It’s neither a very unique nor diverse play list, but within those artists’ early work you can find detail-heavy street narratives suffused with emotions fit for an Olympian myth: rage, revenge, jealousy, lust and enough illicit substances to fill a bacchanalian festival. The seven deadly sins and then some.

Since emerging with a pair of acclaimed mixtapes last year, the former Interscope apostate has attempted to fill that same void of raw realist rap and haunted emotions. He has plenty of competition, but few can match his unique skill set of perfect cadence and a vengeful baritone.

Pocked by permanent physical scars from a brutal childhood in Gary, Ind.,  and metaphorical ones from the doubters he’s endured in a turbulent industry career, Gibbs has been named one of XXL’s Top 10 Freshmen and praised by the likes of hipster-skewing publications such as Pitchfork and the Fader.

Currently without a deal, he recently released his “Str8 Killa No Filla” EP on the indie-underground imprint Decon. It was an unusually hardcore record for a label primarily dedicated to positive-skewing rap, but it reflected Gibbs’ widespread appeal to rap traditionalists and anyone who still believes that rapping well with smart lyrics should matter (it should).

Paired tonight at the Echoplex with the legendary GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, Gibbs has elevated his live show to the point where he might give the grandmaster a run for his king piece -- rapping with the ferocious hunger of someone desperate to checkmate his rivals -- both imagined and otherwise.