Rapper Freddie Gibbs is set to make his feature film acting debut later this year in Down with the King, in which he plays the lead role.
The news of Gibbs’ acting debut, Complex can reveal, comes just as principal photography on the film has wrapped. The Alfredo rapper portrays Mercury Maxwell, a rapper who goes by the name Money Merc and is looking to leave hip-hop. As he’s sent by his manager to a house in the Berkshires to record his next album, Maxwell instead forms a bond with his farming neighbor and announces his retirement. After his focus shifts from rapping to farming, Maxwell’s manager is determined to get him back into the music scene.
Written and directed by Diego Ongaro, who previously helmed Bob and the Trees, the drama also stars Jamie Neumann (Lovecraft Country), David Krumholtz (The Deuce), Sharon Washington(Joker), and Bob Tarasuk (Bob and the Trees). Produced by Breaker Studios, the movie hasn’t gotten a release date just yet but is bound to show up at film festivals later this year. In addition to his acting, Gibbs also wrote and performed original music for the project.
“My primary desire with Down with the King is to collide two unlikely worlds: rap and farming, and to share the improbable story of a rap star who falls in love with the countryside and the refuge that it offers him from his own reality and fame,” said Ongaro. “Many films that feature the hip-hop community tell underdog ‘success stories,’ whereas Down with the King does the contrary. Mercury is at the top of the hip-hop world but desperately seeks a simpler life.”
Ongaro added that Gibbs helped craft the character, using his experience in hip-hop to offer further depth. “Freddie Gibbs and I worked intimately together to craft Mercury’s character and backstory; some of it pulled from Freddie’s experiences and values, much of it invented,” Ongaro said. “It was an absolute thrill working with someone as sharp and multi-talented as Freddie in this collaborative way.”
Look out for more from Down with the King in the near future.
