Freddie Gibbs och Madlib gjorde efterlängtad återkomst med nya skivan “Bandana” förra året. Nu har Freddie Gibbs teamat med livebandet El Michels Affair för att tolka ett flertal av låtarna på skivan. Leon Michels som leder gruppen musiker säger till Complex om processen att spela om Madlibs samplade skapelser:

“I did that for the Wu-Tang records [the El Michels Affair’s Enter the 37th Chamber and Return to the 37th Chamber]. I’ve done stuff like this before. It’s really just listening to the songs, picking out the parts that I like the most, and then assigning an instrument to it. Like in “Gat Damn,” there’s this funny synth that’s slightly out of tune or in another key, but it’s a really cool part. So the horns just play that. Everything was quick. The first time we rehearsed, it took us like 45 minutes to figure it all out, and then we just went out and got hamburgers.”

Freddie Gibbs å sin sida kommenterar vidare skillnaden att rappa över liveinstrumentering istället för beats:

“It is different, but it’s more soul, you know what I mean? It’s like when I do a live show. It’s a different kind of salt you put on it when you’re doing it with a live band. Every time I get in with Leon and them, they’re pushing me to go further as a rapper. I know I can take it. I think that’s real steel, because I don’t see a lot of guys that could rap with a live band and still feel the music come across as beautiful as it did on the track.”