MAX BECK THROWBACK: Freddie Gibbs Interview, San Francisco 2014

This a little look back into a chapter of my story. Back in these days I was still making music videos and had recently began shooting shows. I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do, nor did I have the luxury of bountiful opportunity, so on the side, I began doing work for a local Bay Area rap blog, "Thizzler on the Roof", much of which ended up being interview-type content. Aside from the occasional $100 parlay gig, I did this work entirely for free - my pay was opportunity and access. If I had been hard pressed about charging $100 or $150 for my work, there's a good chance I would have squandered the opportunity entirely.

Technology was a lot shittier 10 years ago and subsequently, more expensive. This was the absolute best I could do given the circumstances and as you'll be able to see - it isn't precise or masterful work by any means, but it worked! And more importantly, I was proud of the work I had done. Out of the 4 or 5 interviews I conducted completely by myself, this was the one I was most nervous for. I spent the whole day and the night before watching and rewatching any interview from Freddie Gibbs or Madlib that I could. I watched Breakfast club and other rappers impromptu/backstage interviews to study the structure and see what similarities I could pick up on. I was totally over-prepared, a lot of what I learned I could hardly apply, so a lot of that work/stressing I did was ultimately unnecessary. But, when you're trying to trail blaze a pathway for yourself, you will absolutely, constantly spend too much time on the "wrong" things, and that's okay - because when you don't know the pathway forward, you just gotta hack away and hope, knowing you don't really know.

The doors at 1015 Folsom Nightclub open a day before my 21st birthday and this was a 21+ club. Sitting in a parking lot nearby, I take another swig from my flask before tucking it behind the passenger seat and I begin walking to will-call. My name is on the list and my all-access credentials are ready to go (which at this point in my career never happens) so the stars somehow aligned for me, great!

But, now the final boss is glaring at my I.D. and I hear the words I dreaded the most. "You're not 21" the door man says as he begins catering to a more "of-age" person. I begin bartering, "Well I turn 21 at midnight, see?" pointing to my I.D.

 "Come back at midnight then", he fires back. Motherfucker. Freddie Gibbs had just kicked off his tour for his new album "Cocaine Piñata". Not only am I slated to interview him, I'm a fan, so there's 0 chance I'm missing this because I've already put in all this work; I'm already doing this for free.

So I begin arguing more, "Dude, I'm interviewing Freddie Gibbs and Madlib for Thizzler on the Roof, so we gotta find a way to make this work" When in doubt, make it more official. And sure, on paper, saying you're here to do work on behalf of "Thizzler on the Roof" isn't exactly official. But when you say things officially enough, you'd be surprised how often it works. Believe it or not, I have a bad habit of acquiescing to the whims of authority and rejection. When I'm less disciplined, I'm super vulnerable to the "shrugs oh well, I tried" disease. Not this time! I could feel him budging and eventually I was granted access under the conditions "Don't order any drinks until after midnight or I'm throwing your ass outta here". And that was super easy to agree to because the club was dark anyway.

"One Adios Motherfucker please"
I head backstage to the green room with my blue drink. And now it's official. I'm 21 years old a whole two hours early and needless to say I begin emanating bad boy, bad ass energy. Maybe even reverberating? Who knows, but others had to have felt that, no shot they didn't feel that energy!! Lmao regardless, as I enter the green room there's only one other person there, so I just start making small talk with him, but as the conversation continues I recognize he's wearing quite a bit more turquoise jewelry than your average person. Interesting. Moments later I come to realizer I'm talking to Madlib. Even after my research, I somehow manage to not recognize him. I feel like a complete dumbass about it and pay my respects to him, but he's about as cool as anyone could be and pulls out a blunt from behind his ear asking if I'm tryna smoke. I indeed, was tryna smoke. Super cool dude.

For those who don't know, Madlib is a legendary producer, peer of the late, great producer J Dilla, one half of rap-group Madvillain and frequent collaborator with the late, great MF Doom, amongst so many others. He made the beat for Kanye's "No More Parties in LA" and more recently produced Tyler the Creator's "What a Day" - the reason he was at this show in the first place was because he produced Freddie Gibbs' album, Cocaine Piñata, and was DJing the tour. And in classic Madlib fashion, did so behind the collab alias "MadGibbs"

I won't get into rest of this story now, already way too fucking long and I've told it in some capacity before, so likely redundant. However, nights like these remain a testament to pushing forward despite the obstacles, even when the benefit is unclear! Even when there might not be a benefit at all. Even when you look back on it and think "Wow, that's not impressive, I should have done better" Because if the present moment's potential ever actualizes itself for you, you may not become consciously aware of it until years later; if ever. Keep trying! I believe in you<3