While there haven’t been many notable rappers who shined on the big screen through the years, there have been a few. 2Pac was a masterful villain in Juice and Above The Rim, DMX made an iconic performance as Tommy “Buns” Bundy in Belly, and you just can’t say enough about how spot-on Method Man was as Melvin “Cheese” Wagstaff in The Wire. But it could really go either way (I’m looking at you, Common), because the transition isn’t always fluid and not every rapper has legit acting chops.
If the trailer for Down With The King indicates anything, it’s that Freddie Gibbs can act and he’s ready to rise to the occasion as a multi-talented artist. The film, which is Gibbs’s film acting debut, is about a big-time rapper who gets sent to live in a rural farming community by his manager (played by David Krumholtz), in order to get away from the hoopla of celebrity culture and the music industry for a while.
Gibbs’ palpable range as an actor comes through immediately in the trailer. There’s a balance between pensive moments, well-delivered lines, and even the comic relief of Gibbs corralling pigs in his Timberland boots. To his and the film’s credit, it’s already gotten hat tips from a number of film festivals, including Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Diego Ongaro, it’s out digitally and on-demand June 28th.
Watch the trailer for Down With the King above.
Freddie Gibbs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.