When he first came to mixtape infamy, he was rapping over Just Blaze and Polow Da Don beats, leftover from his major-label days. Gibbs will rap over anything, which is both a strength and a weakness. Madlib did something for Gibbs that Gibbs wasn’t able to do for himself: He gave Gibbs a sonic identity. The best thing that Gibbs has ever done remains Piñata, the album that he and Madlib put out last year. But that doesn’t make him any less of a riveting rapper, and his new Shadow Of A Doubt is among the best things he’s ever done. The rap marketplace is not exactly begging for dead-eyed virtuoso tough talk, and it’s hard to imagine Gibbs ever making hits.

And honestly, it’s not impossible to hear why Interscope let him go. Gibbs’ whole origin story comes from the moment his major label dropped him, sending off on his mixtape grind and on the journey that would lead him to internet-celebrated underground-rap semi-stardom. The same is true of Freddie Gibbs, a ’90s-throwback street-rapper from a barren Indiana town who never changes his tone of voice but who gets over anyway based on pure rapping ability. “ Adrenaline“? “ Web“? Big Pun’s “ Super Lyrical“? The Tonight Show bit where he had to rap about Hot Pockets and Channing Tatum? He’s incredible! He’s a machine! The problem with the whole theory, of course, is that Black Thought is fucking awesome. The sounds of their voices aren’t going to make you feel glad to be alive. They can’t embody their moment or project their enthusiasm. Rappers who suffer from Black Thought are flow technicians, masters of breath control and syllable placement, who never seem to break through to rap’s upper echelon because they don’t have that indefinable charisma that the job necessitates. (I believe the great rap writer Noz coined the term, though I’m not sure.) The idea behind it is that certain rappers - most notably, the longstanding lead Roots rapper - have so much technical skill but so little personality that their raps, while impressive, can also feel oddly lifeless. There is a phenomenon, discussed in certain rap-nerd circles, known as Black Thought Syndrome. A quick note: I haven’t heard Adele’s 25 yet.

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