Hello, I’m MusiCommentator, and for my 28th edition of Song Of The Week, I will be discussing “Palmolive” by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib (featuring Pusha T and Killer Mike).
While I have yet to listen to this pair’s first collaborative project “Piñata”, I recently listened to their newest project “Bandana”, and needless to say, I was quite impressed. Madlib provides a slew of impressive, chilled-out, soulful beats for Freddie Gibbs to perform over, and while they may not all be as memorable as his work from “Madvillainy” (*cough*see my Song Of The Week on “Accordion”*cough*), he proves that he still has great production skills 15 years later. Freddie Gibbs also performs masterfully on this album, spitting relevant bars with speed and tact through some wicked rhyme schemes. I had a few songs I was debating discussing for this episode of Song Of The Week (“Half Manne Half Cocaine”, “Flat Tummy Tea”, “Giannis”, “Education”), but I ended up settling on “Palmolive”.
“Palmolive” offers a potpourri of lyrics that address the artists’ gangster upbringings and their feelings towards that kind of lifestyle. Madlib provides one of the best, most chilled beats on the album, using a well-sung vocal sample as the instrumental’s backbone. It’s a great use of a vocal sample! Freddie Gibbs comes in with the first verse, providing lyrics on the street life and his skepticism of the government’s involvement with this lifestyle such as “These n*ggas don’t know how hard you ridin’ for they ass ’til you park it” and “I disrespect his name and he signed my face with a razor blade”. The whole “Maxine Waters, f*ck your poison, keep your vaccines off us” line is a bit iffy, but I’ll let it slide this time, Gibbs. Now, if you know my blog, you know I have pretty positive feelings towards Pusha T (see my Top 10 BEST Albums Of 2018 for proof), so it’s no surprise for me to say I love his verse on here. He delivers his usual cutthroat, drug life lyrics like “The love of your life rap n*gga wear fake watches/The serial number don’t match the gift boxes” and “It was snowfall and Reagan gave me the visual/Obama opened his doors knowing I was a criminal”. He also has an amazing chemistry with this beat that I would not expect, and it really makes me want a Pusha T/Madlib collaboration album or EP! Killer Mike provides the hook for this track, and while his performance is good, it would have been nice to see him lay a verse, too. But, that does not hinder the other great elements of this track!
Thank you for reading my 28th “Song Of The Week”! If you liked this post, make sure to follow my website, Twitter, and Instagram, like this post, and be sure to check in soon for future content. Also, if you have something you want to see me review, tell me in the comments. Until then, keep on listening to good music! I know I will.
MusiCommentator 