Best known for his esoteric and eccentric concept albums, myriad alter egos, and love of all things jazz, Madlib is one of today's most prolific and constantly evolving producers. The musical backbone of much of Stone's Throw's massive discography, he also sounds great when teamed with "harder" emcees (see: Percee P, Guilty Simpson). On Thuggin', he shows a strong chemistry with Freddie Gibbs of Gary, Ind., dropping sweeping soul loops and extra-grimy drums on "Deep" while unleashing hypnotically jangly guitars on the title track. Gibbs' streetwise lyrics, believable voice, and rat-a-tat-tat delivery matches each beat flawlessly, and with any luck we'll get a full-length out of this duo soon. Also dope is the instrumental closer, "Cold on the Boulevard"; it's a plodding, bass-driven funk score just begging for a rowdy verse.