Millville, New Jersey emcee/producer Gibby Stites ending his 2024 by putting out his 6th studio LP. Starting in the music industry over a decade ago off his first 2 mixtapes Gillmatic & Broke n Local, he wouldn’t catch my attention until performing a set during Netfest On Your Couch during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Later that fall, he signed to Majik Ninja Entertainment & I had the honor of interviewing him shortly after the deal was made public. The 13th Wonder pretty much showcased Gibby to the juggalos as Jamie Madrox’ protégé & Welcome to iLLViLLE several months later took listeners through exactly where he comes from, but decided not to renew his MNE contract to form his own label iLLViLLE Worldwide shortly after. Off Air from last summer marked his return behind the boards after 5 years & is so far my favorite thing he’s done since leaving Majik Ninja & Pariah earlier this year was centered around mental health. However only 4 months after he & Charlie Beans to take us to the Echo Chamber, it’s time for him to fully self-produce Syndication.
“Wait List” hooks up some pianos & hi-hats talking about taking the crown that was waiting for him whereas “MVP” takes the boom bap route instrumentally representing iLLViLLE & still ridin’ after a few losses. “Jersey Drive” featuring Brick City icon Redman goes full-blown jazz rap for both of them to represent their home state for 2 & a half minutes leading into the soulful “Never Fall” talk still feeling hungry even though he’s the same age as me.
ILLtemper joins Gibby on “April Showers” sampling soul music once again seeing the future knowing it’ll be theirs just before “Don’t Give Up” luxuriously encourages everyone to keep it pushin’ & staying focused on the mission. “Recoup” featuring Method Man returns to the boom bap talking about them equally being the type of people to regain, but then “Phuck It Up” featuring Insane Poetry brings a hypnotic trap flare to the table as they fuck up a couple bodies.
“Demon King” pushes further towards the end of Syndication by showing off his storytelling abilities refusing to let a victim go & making Dragon Ball Z references along the way while the closing track “Haunted House” featuring Gibby’s girlfriend Karah Beth finishes with this crooning boom bap beat talking about being on his grind & moving similarly to house inhabited by disembodied spirits of every single MC who wanted out.
Gibby hasn’t self-produced a whole project of his since the 2018 debut album Technical Difficulties, so for him to come off 2 of the best EPs he’s put out since starting iLLViLLE Worldwide & recapture the energy of that LP was all about timing. He’s grown a lot as an artist & as a producer in the 6 & a half years in addition to the small handful of features being are more consistent than Pariah & Echo Chamber with a couple of them being high profile.
Score: 7/10
