Iron Mike Tyson has always had a rap star flair about him. Even though “The Baddest Man on the Planet” was a boxer and not an emcee, Tyson is still enthusiastically embraced by large sections of Hip Hop culture.
Freddie Gibbs adopted the essence of the former undisputed world heavyweight champion’s unbeatable mentality for his latest release. The Indiana-bred spitter sampled Tyson for the beginning of the “Big Boss Rabbit” single.
“I’m the best in the world, even though a lot of you don’t like to hear that… These fellas, how dare they challenge me with their somewhat primitive skills. They’re just as good as dead,” Tyson can be heard saying at the start of the song. That sentiment is clearly the message Gibbs wants to convey about himself through his music.
The Warner recording artist is not the only rapper who recently used Tyson’s voice for their content. The Bronx’s Lil Tjay tapped the 54-year-old ex-prizefighter to narrate his Destined 2 Win album trailer which arrived earlier this week.
“Big Boss Rabbit” is Freddie Gibbs’ third official single since partnering with Warner Records. Previously, the Midwestern wordsmith dropped the tracks “4 Thangs” featuring Big Sean and “Gang Signs” featuring Schoolboy Q. Those collaborations joined a career catalog that includes independent LPs such as Shadow of a Doubt, You Only Live 2wice, and Freddie.
Gibbs earned widespread critical acclaim for his recent run of joint rapper-producer albums. 2014’s Piñata and 2019’s Bandana, both with Madlib, were lauded as among the best Hip Hop projects of those respective years. 2020’s Alfredo, with The Alchemist, earned Freddie Gibbs his first Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.
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PHOTO CREDIT: JMP