on march 23, 2013, the first song from the album titled "the color purple" was released. in an april 2013, interview with hiphopdx, freddie gibbs spoke about when the album would be released, saying: "i’m ‘bout to drop that "esgn" album probably in june for the summer time, just to hold niggas over before we drop that "cocaine piñata" with madlib. "esgn" is gonna be me, g-wiz, d-edge, hit screwface, g.i. fleezy and big kill. we putting that shit together right now. it’s gonna be kind of on that jay-z dynasty: [roc la familia] type shit. i got a lot of records that i like. we’re gonna fuse that thing together and make that shit work to show what we’re working with collectively. basically, this album gave me a chance to breathe and breathe fire on mothafuckas i’ve been wanting to breathe fire on. so it’s really giving me a little outlet right now. once i whack niggas on this mothafuckin’ album then i’m gonna fall back on they ass and just chill for the summertime, get my dick sucked and drink drinks with umbrellas and shit in them, nigga. just like tony soprano said, niggas is getting wacked. niggas is getting’ clipped. this album is strictly for niggas that’s getting they nuts clipped." on may 14, 2013, freddie gibbs announced that his debut album "esgn" would be released in july. on may 27, 2013, he announced on his twitter account that the album would be released on july 9, 2013. on june 11, 2013, the first single from the album "one eighty seven" featuring problem was released. on june 13, 2013, the second song from the album "freddie soprano" was released. on june 17, 2013, the music video was released for "eastside moonwalker". the album was later released three weeks before its original july 9, release date on june 20, 2013. on july 1, 2013, the music video was released for "lay it down". on july 15, 2013, the music video was released for "have u seen her" featuring hit screwface. on august 26, 2013, the music video was released for "the real g money". on january 8, 2014, the music video was released for "one eighty seven" featuring problem.