This summer, Freddie Gibbs is heading from the stage to the country. The rapper’s film debut, Down with the King, has officially scored a June 28th digital release date, and as a preview, the project’s first trailer is out now.
Directed by Diego Ongaro (Bob and the Trees) and co-written by Ongaro and Xabi Molia, Gibbs stars in Down with the King as Mercury “Money Merc” Maxwell, a superstar rapper who is sent by his manager to a small town farm community in order to escape the stresses of city and celebrity life. But while the trip initially appears to be some sort of writing retreat, Money Merc quickly takes to farm life, and contemplates leaving the music business altogether. After all, “What other job in music do you gotta worry about getting shot?” he asks in the trailer.
Bob Tarasuk, Sharon Washington, and Jamie Neumann co-star in Down with the King, while Gibbs pulls double duty as executive producer. The film has already earned some hype: After premiering in the ACID (Association for Independent Cinema and its Distribution) lineup at Cannes and winning the Grand Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival, the project secured a distribution deal with Sony Picture’s Stage 6 Films. Watch the trailer for the film below.
Earlier this year, Gibbs teamed up with Rick Ross to reimagine Raekwon’s 1995 classic track “Ice Cream.” The budding actor will also appear in the season premiere of the revitalized Yo! MTV Raps, which hits Paramount+ on May 24th.
