Following the launch of two critically- and street-acclaimed EPs, and a single released in conjunction with television network Adult Swim, Madlib and Freddie Gibbs return with a final EP launch before they release their long-awaited collaborative album, Piñata. Anticipation is high. MTV calls the duo "ferocious" and says "Expect vocal fireworks to ensue." Complex goes further, saying, "If you're looking for a darkhorse candidate for 2013's Album of the Year, consider the soon-to-be-released Freddie Gibbs and Madlib collaboration…Gibbs is easily one of the most underrated rappers in the industry today, boasting nearly unparalleled technical abilities, along with some of hip-hop's rawest storytelling…"
The Deeper EP delivers on this promise, and more. Gibbs showcases the yin and yang of heartbreak and anger on the title track, in a lovelorn narrative that meshes perfectly with the weepy strings and insistent rhythm of Madlib's beat. We haven't heard
something like this in rap music since Nas' "One Love," nearly twenty years ago. The B-side, "Harolds" – exclusive to this EP – gives Gibbs a chance to ride some low down Beat Konducta-fueled funk in a nostalgic ode to the Chicago chicken-shack that served as the backdrop to many of his seminal life experiences.