These days, success in the rap industry is measured more in VEVO plays than artistic merit. Rapper Freddie Gibbs thinks that concept is bullshit. For Gibbs, it’s all about creating music that he can stand behind, rather than tossing a hook into the next frothy pop smash to collect a check. Originally from Gary, Indiana--a crime-laden, economic pothole of a city--Gibbs’ real life experiences with drugs, hustling, and violence fuel his content, generating powerful narratives in his lyrics, which he spits with a deep aggression that has become a signature intensity.

Despite a street-smart persona, initial success knocked too early for Gibbs to handle. He inked a deal with Interscope in 2005, only to be dropped two years later due to the aforementioned creative integrity--the execs didn't see Gibbs as malleable enough to turn into a hit-churning pop-rap act. After wandering back to his former life of drugs and dealing, Gibbs was enticed back to L.A. by his friend Josh the Goon, and this time he stuck. Both mixtapes he released in 2009, The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik, garnered considerable buzz. The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones even praised Gibbs as “one rapper I would put money on right now.”

Gibbs charged ahead, landing the cover of LA Weekly in December 2009, the first rap act to grace the front page since N.W.A. in 1989, and a spot on XXL’s Freshman Class cover in 2010 alongside the likes of J.Cole, Big Sean, Nipsey Hu$$le, and Wiz Khalifa.

2011 has been huge for Gibbs, who signed to Young Jeezy’s CTE Record label last April. He is currently touring on the Madlib Medicine Show while prepping his debut album, Babyface Killa. We caught up with Gibbs last week at The Roxy, where we talked babies, fame, karaoke – oh, and how he’s bringing truth back to gangster rap.

Have you ever worn makeup? For a show, or a shoot?

[Laughs.] Nope, I’ve never worn makeup.

Not even stage makeup? Come on, we all have our secrets.

Archie (Freddie’s co-manager and DJ): Actually, we had a photo shoot where the makeup artist was like (mimics examining a face) ‘Yeah, I can’t do anything.’ His skin was just immaculate, they didn’t need to do anything.

I use Oil of Olay…

Ha! That’s my secret, too… Alright, let’s get into this. How’s everything going?

It’s good, it’s going real good.

So, what have you been up to recently? Did you just get back into L.A.?

I’ve been touring around. I actually just got back from Seattle, Portland, the Bay… I did San Francisco with Madlib.

Any favorite spots so far?

I mean, it’s always good to go back home. Chicago, Gary, Indiana, that area. I really liked Texas. I’ve been touring with Jeezy, so it’s been a good opportunity for me to get out there. You know, it’s all a campaign, that’s all this is, and I got a long way to go.

You’ve been collaborating a lot with Jeezy, ever since you signed with CTE in April…

Yeah, yeah. Damn, was it April? [Laughs.] I already forgot.

[Gibbs pulls out a small glass jar of weed, rolls it around in his hand.]

Time really flies. So, you’ve been keeping busy--working with Jeezy, and you also recently collaborated with Dom Kennedy, and dropped a mixtape with LRG. What’s next?

Just continue to make music. I’m gonna finish up that Madlib thing, gonna do a full project for that, work on my full length album. I just shot that video with Dom about two days ago that will probably be out next weekend. I’m about to shoot this “Thuggin’” video with Madlib. I’m just working, you know, this is all just a campaign to me.

Well, how long have you lived in L.A. for now?

I’ve lived in L.A. about six, six-an-a-half years now. In about ’08 I left and moved to Atlanta. I didn’t like Atlanta, and I moved back. I’ve lived all over the city--from the nicest parts of L.A. to the worst parts of L.A. I’ve lived in Santa Monica, the Valley, South Central… Except South Bay. I ain’t been in Hawthorne or none of that.

And where do you find yourself now?

I live in Downtown now.

People don’t give it too much credit, but that’s actually not a bad spot.

Yeah, it’s cool. I can go into the Valley, go to Hollywood…I get my weed in the Valley, that’s my spot. See now, I’m right by L.A. Live and shit, I can go to all the different restaurants, take three different girls to eat at L.A. Live and not eat at the same place.

Three at the same time?

[Laughs.] No, not three at once. You can take one to Rock’n Fish, take one to ESPN Zone, take one to the Conga Room. It’s all good.

ESPN Zone is good in case one of your girls happens to be boring, then at least you have the games on. Smart thinking.

Right, right. Plus, I live in Downtown; it’s convenient for me. Girls coming to L.A., and I’m telling them, 'We be Downtown.'

I ask about your time in L.A. because I know most of your material comes from your past, from Gary, Indiana, and everything that you’ve been through. Have you found that living in L.A. and your more recent successes have started to trickle into your work?

Well, definitely I’ve recently been given more opportunities, and it’s given me a chance to really stay away from the streets and get out of that whole aspect of life. You know I’ve got things in my past that will always come back to me, people in my past that always want to get at me. Those things don’t just go away. As long as I’m smart about it and just move forward, I’ll be alright. I’m not going to worry about it.

Where do you think you fit into the rap industry, and what do you think about the state of it all?

[Laughs.] Oh, man.

Yeah, went for the big one right there. How about just some thoughts on the industry? Or, more importantly, I suppose, what are you bringing to it?

I think that when it comes to gangster rap, I don’t think there’s a lot of guys that are doing the type of rap that I’m doing. I think there’s a lot of guys that are performing, conforming to, whatever the industry wants, trying to be monetized.

And you’re not about that.

No, I’m not about all that. See, I want to do what I want to do. I’ve got to express it how I want to express it. It’s more important to me at the end of the day. And if what I’m rapping and singing about ain’t real to me, then I don’t want to do it. I’m just bringing that A-1 and shit back to the game, ain’t too many guys doing this shit, there’s only a handful of guys. I definitely think I’m bringing that element back. You know, I saw a magazine cover today, I don’t remember what it was, but it was 50 Cent and shit on it. On the cover there was this big-ass quote like ‘There ain’t nothing like me in the industry left,’ or some shit like that. I look at that shit, and I’m just like [raises his eyebrows], 'Uh, alright.' Not saying I’m anything like 50 Cent, but I’m just saying, somebody gotta wreak havoc on the rap game, guess I’m gonna have to.

Well, whose path do you admire in the industry then? Not to say that you want to follow their exact path, but whose do you respect?

Right, right. Man, you gotta look at everybody that’s rich. [Laughs.] Guys like Jay-Z, guys like Tupac. Guys that did it right and made themselves a household name doing it in a good way. That’s what I want to do. I’m not trippin’ on being famous. I just want to be rich, to be quite honest. [Laughs.]

Don’t the two often go hand-in-hand?

Sometimes, most often they do, you right. But I’m all about staying true to my art, and always being able to look myself in the mirror in the morning and I’m fine. If I did some shit for a check, like sold my soul for a check? Nah, I’m not gonna feel right about it. My integrity means much more to me.

You never thought rap was going to be your career before, right?

No, never.

Did you have a point where it all clicked to you? Where you thought ‘Shit, this is what I’m going to do,’ where the light bulb just went off?

Yeah, I got signed to my first record deal real quick, in my first year that I was rapping. I guess probably at that moment, I was like ‘Damn, I’m gonna get a check!’ But it all felt too easy. I’m glad went through all that; it taught me a lot of things about trust. But [when it clicked] was probably at the moment when I started generating dollars off of this shit. I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, I could definitely do this.’ I mean, I’d rather do this than sell crack.

Yes, this certainly seems like the better alternative.

Exactly. I’d rather do this than, say, rob. I could do that shit easy. I could drop all this shit today and go right back to where I was, no problem, but I’d rather be right here.

Any big goals for 2012? Anything you really want to accomplish?

Umm… I want to have a white baby, a black baby, an Asian baby, a Mexican baby… Nah, I’m just joking. [Laughs.] I want to sow my royal oats!

You keep going on those three dates a week and you just might get your wish.

Nah, I can’t handle three dates a week, that’s way too much pressure. That’s too hard, way too much for me. No, but truly, I just want to continue to establish myself. I think I can do some things that haven’t been done in the rap game in awhile, especially with Jeezy and everything we got going on over there. You know, I signed with him for a reason, for this movement, our movement--so, that’s what I’m going to continue to do. You’re going to see me in some film stuff, I got some film stuff coming up, so that’s about to be real.

Oh, really? What film?

Well, I’m not allowed to tell you that. [Laughs.] But, it’s with a guy that you know.

Archie: What are you two talking about now?

Nothing, manager, nothing at all.

[Laughs] We’re talking about the Freddie Gibbs sex tape coming to you soon.

Archie: Oh, yeah, we just keep waiting for that to drop. We’re just not sure which girl to credit.

There is a sex tape out there… I didn’t do it though!

Archie: Yeah, it was filmed on a Super 8 camera though, really hard to delete. All the other ones can be deleted off iPhones and shit.

I’m not trying to be like Kim Kardashian and shit. I like Kim Kardashian though; I hear she got divorced for me.

Haha! Have you ever done karaoke?

[Laughs.] I thought you was about to ask if I’ve ever done coke!

We could go that route if you want …

Nah, I’ve never done it, should I?

You live Downtown! Haven’t you ever been to Koreatown?

Yeah, I lived in Koreatown, too. I forgot. They got good food down there. I’m gonna do it. I’ve seen people make fools of themselves, but I’ve never done it. Alright, karaoke, I’m gonna go do it sometime this week.

What song are you going for first?

Probably some Stevie Wonder. Yeah, Stevie Wonder’s 'Happy Birthday.' Or 'Free Fallin’'. I love that shit.

You can hit those notes?

[Breaks into a bar of the Tom Petty classic] Freeeeeee, freeeee fallling!

Okay, I believe you now. That wasn’t bad.

That’s my shit! That’s my shower song of the week. I also like singing that Chevy song.

What Chevy song?

You know, from the commercial. [Sings with a Southern twang:] Like a rock…I was strong as I could be…

So, we can expect your country album to come out soon too then?

Oh, hell yeah. I’m gonna make a country album.

So, adding some country to the mix, six babies on the way…

Eight. Eight babies on the way. Two of them from Africa, one from the Dominican.

Of course, eight babies, and the sex tape. You’re going to have a busy year.

Written by Caroline Pham