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Last week, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib dropped a bomb of an album with their long-awaited collaboration Piñata. Released on the same day as YG’s impressive debut My Krazy Life, Gangsta Gibbs and The Loop Digga made hip-hop nerds go nuts with their combination of drug-dealing tales and luscious beats. The indie products livened up their set with A-list guest appearances from Danny Brown, Domo Genesis, Earl Sweatshirt and Scarface.

While Gibbs raps with ease over the soulful and funky landscape, Face delivers his most vivid verse on “Broken.” In our Train Of Thought column, XXL spoke with the Houston hard-hitter about the inspiration for writing his bars, what certain lines mean, and why he admires the hustle of Gibbs. —Eric Diep

Freddie Gibbs Featuring Scarface "Broken"

Verse Three - Scarface

And the money was the root to what the evil is
It's mandatory for me to live
I hustle harder than the next dude
Remember, everybody is out to get you
Niggas don't respect to live and let live
So I pack a .40 caliber cause that's how shit is
Out here, no fear, fuck feelings
Trigger man rule, that's the art of drug dealing
I'm trying to stack my money to the ceiling
No new friends, don't wanna talk about old business
Sex on the beach, sipping Guinness
With a bitch so thick she can't take no dick
Imagine working grave-yard shifts
Lost friends steady talking that shit
A million a day is for minimum wage
Work a nigga like a slave 'til he put him in his grave
Frail moments, same page
(Seven days a week I'm living in a rush
Seven grams of rock, I stuff 'em in my nuts)

Gibbs pinata
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XXL: Why did you decide to make a record with Freddie Gibbs?
Scarface: Freddie Gibbs is a really good friend of mine. I admire his work. I admire his hustle. Being from Gary, IN. and making all that noise. Michael Jackson was out of Gary and a couple more cats. Gibbs, he making noise, man. I admire that, coming from somewhere that’s not a rap capital and just kill that shit.

Why do you admire his hustle?
I would give Gibbs his own lane, his own hustle. I love what he did. It's been so long since I’ve been on the independent grind like that, so I don’t know what to look for. I see Gibbs in Gibbs. I don’t see me in him. I see him in him. I admire what he does. Anybody that can get out here and not have no major backing, no major support and make that fucking noise. You gotta admire that. Shouts out to Gangsta Gibbs.

Are you a fan of Madlib?
Man, I love him. He’s incredible to me. I love the independent movement. I just love that shit. It’s grit, grind. Struggle hustle. Bubble or fold, you know what I mean?

“And the money was the root to what the evil is / It's mandatory for me to live / I hustle harder than the next dude / Remember, everybody is out to get you." Why do you think money is the root to what the evil is?
Shit, it is. You don’t think the money is the root to what the evil is? Shit, money is the root to what the evil is. That ain’t no bullshit. Look at what people do for money. People, they sell they pussy for money. Your boy selling ass for money. And even more than that, motherfuckers sell they soul for money. Would you sacrifice your soul to be rich? Would you burn in hell to be rich here on Earth? That’s a good fucking question ain’t it? It’s a good fucking question because you don’t know what’s gonna happen in the afterlife. Some people don’t even give a fuck about the afterlife. If there is an afterlife, so yeah, feel me when I say it. I hustle harder than the next dude in real life. It’s mandatory.

Gibbs talks about being broke and coming from poverty. What is your inspiration for the verse?
My angle of the verse was, like I said, I write what I feel. I’m not trying to say what he’s saying in any way. Or be what he doing. I just wanna do me. I feel like motherfuckers is out here doing what he need to do to get it. We got trigger man rules. The art of dope dealing. Fuck it—until they put me in the grave. I’m on the same page as Gibbs. Get it how you live. It’s all a struggle. It’s all a hustle, man. It’s a hustle until you bubble or fold.

That trigger man rule, is that the code drug dealers live by now?
I live by it. If you fuck somebody out of they money, they coming to get it, ain’t they? Trigger man rules—you fuck me I fuck you back. You know the rules.

“No new friends, don’t wanna talk about old business.” Where does that come from?
That’s just the rule of thumb. I don’t got no new friends and I don’t want to talk about no old business. That’s just the rules. You don’t want to talk about nothing you did yesterday today. That shit is over with. Whatever game you was playing, shit, you don’t want to talk about that no more. Especially because of new friends.

Gibbs is also a fan of and said you made him nervous when he heard your “Broken” verse. How does it feel to have young guys still admire you?
I just do what I do. I don’t go in there and try to outdo nobody. I just write my heart. I just write what the song calls for. You feel me? I don’t do nothing extra than what the song calls for. Whatever that song's call is what I am gonna do. I go in there nervous. I go in there with these youngins, these youngins will kill me in this motherfucker. Let me leave these youngsters alone. Luckily, they let me live. They let me eat a little longer, they aren’t just destroying me out here.

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