Freddie Gibbs had a tough 2016.

Last June, the Indiana rapper was arrested in France on rape charges, allegedly occurring in Vienna in 2015. After being extradited to Austria and engaging in a lengthy court battle, during which time Gibbs cooperated with the authorities entirely, he was acquitted of all charges six months later. With an inevitably tarnished reputation but a massive fanbase still intact, Freddie Forgiato is finally ready to make his return.

Gibbs posted a cryptic video on Instagram yesterday, showing a Renaissance-esque painting at an art gallery: the painting was revealed today to be the cover of Gibbs’ new album, You Only Live 2wice, set to drop March 31st.

The cover shows Freddie Gibbs, clad in roman attire, levitating over the ground like Jesus resurrected, over strippers, police, and fans taking photos. Gibbs has been in the centre of the public eye for the worst reasons, but he’s rising above it, ready to reclaim the throne as one of the smartest, most versatile rappers going.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRTjW1QDats/?taken-by=freddiegibbs&hl=en

Ahead of the album, Gibbs has released his first single in a while: “Crushed Glass”, a rousing new track that addresses both the case itself, and the difficult separation that occurred between Gibbs and his infant daughter and fiance.

You Only Live 2wice is only one of three projects expected from Freddie Gibbs this year. Curren$y announced recently that he and Gibbs had a collaborative EP on the way, titled Fetti, which follows a history of collaborations on tracks like “Stash House” and “Socttie Pippen” (Curren$y also has a much anticipated studio album due this year, as well as another collaborative project with Big K.R.I.T., so don’t expect Spitta to slow down after his 12-albums-in-12-months 2016).

The second project due out soon is Bandana, a sequel to Gibbs’ arguably classic collaborative album with producer Madlib. Their 2014 project Pinata brought out the best in both MC and producer, and their highly anticipated followup is supposedly made up of unused beats that Madlib submitted to Kanye West, dating back to his MBDTF sessions (the only one of these beats that was actually used was the Kendrick-assisted “No More Parties in LA”, which appeared on last year’s The Life of Pablo and received a prompt remix from Gibbs shortly thereafter). Bandana was listed in my Most Anticipated Albums of 2017 list, but to be fair, there’s been no indication that it’s going to be released this year: Gibbs described his last project with Madlib as one of the most difficult feats of his career, so the duo could be taking their time with the followup.