Author’s note: This is a work of fiction. The only thing real about this story is the music.
“I’m tired of man’s crowded ways of life”
A soulful shriek shakes him out of his slumber. He removes his headphones and sees clouds of smoke hovering above him. He steps out of his red 1965 Mustang convertible to find landmarks and landscapes alike ablaze.
He gets back in his car and continues his journey with a renewed sense of urgency. Streets are on fire and there is nothing he can do about it. A draw from his blunt and a track skip to Revelation Funk’s “Elastic Lover” calms his nerves.
He thinks about where he has to go and what he has to do to get there, hoping that karma won’t be the thing that stops him from reuniting with his family. Visions of their faces fill his mind as he drives but so does those of his victims as well.
“S***'s so real, gotta use fake names / Every time I sleep, dead faces, they occupy my brain”
Kids playing in the dope. That was the thing that made him change his profession. He remembers the way the children huddled around a broken piñata, only to find cracked vials and dirty needles hiding amongst the candy. Maybe it was a dream, maybe it was a premonition of a future yet to come.
What about the faces of those that overdosed on his supply or the lives ruined by his relatives’ actions? The boundary between the real and imagined became increasingly blurred as he sped down the highway.
All the driver could think about now was his destination, the lush green and the zebras that will graze upon it - an endless supply of bounties offered by the Treasure State.
“I been struggling my whole life…I pour it up and get my soul right”
The song that started his journey comes back again to end it. However, this time, it appears in a distorted form. The voice of the singer is chopped and looped in a way that speaks to the driver but how do you write about some of the worst years of your life in 48 bars? How do you capture what it’s like to be jailed in a foreign land? How do you accurately portray the mental anguish of being isolated from your loved ones for an extended period of time?
The producer of these instrumentals is due to meet the driver in Montana but the question remains of whether the driver’s family will be joining them there as well. Will those he loved and lost be interested in seeing him again? Can they ever forgive his faults and failings?
The driver finally arrives at the place he’s been dreaming about. He is greeted by a man wearing sunglasses with gradient lenses, who waves him over with a black paisley bandana in his hand, the next chapter of the driver’s life awaiting him at the other side of the gate.
Further Listening
[1] Freddie Gibbs, You Only Live 2wice (2017)
[2] Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Piñata (2014)
Further Reading
[1] Thomas Hobbs, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs on making one of 2019’s best rap albums, Dazed
[2] Shane Ryu, For Freddie Gibbs, the Devil is in the Details on Bandana, DJBooth
Further Watching
[1] Down with the King (2021)
[2] Locke (2013)
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