During my interviews with Gibbs for the 2009 LA Weekly story, the legend of “It’s all Cognac” was repeatedly bandied about. It was the one song that he and his team decided to leave off Miseducation and Midwestgangsta, the track that everyone thought had the most commercial viability and needed to be saved for the “right moment.” I’m not sure exactly why that moment is now, but I’m happy that its finally seeing the light of day.
With Bink! behind the boards and Archie Bonkers on the decks, “It’s all Cognac” was originally recorded in March of 2006, shortly before Gibbs was dropped by Interscope. It’s interesting to hear it now, in light of the vicissitudes of the last four years. Understandably, it didn’t fit into the narrative of Gibbs as a Phoenix out for retribution on shady record labels, bad management and Charles Hamilton. But now, with the man universally lauded by the Internet and uh, Bill Simmons, it works as ideal capstone for a fairy-tale rise. If your version of fairy tales involves train-robbing, crack sales, and blunts the size of baseball bats.
Download: (via TSS)
MP3: Freddie Gibb-“It’s All Cognac”
