Freddie Gibbs and Kanye West were rumored to be cooking in the studio earlier this year, and their first-ever collaboration has finally seen the light of day. The general consensus is that the Indiana MC stole the show.
In the early hours of Tuesday (December 12), Ye and Ty Dolla $ign debuted their collaborative project at a livestreamed event held at Miami’s Wynwood Marketplace. One of the highlights of the Vultures listening party was when Gibbs appeared on stage to lip-sync his verse on “Back To Me,” leaving the room, and cyberspace, in awe.
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The 41-year-old MC’s manager, Ben “Lambo” Lambert, quote-tweeted a clip and wrote: “Verse of the year.”
“‘Just turned a bird bitch to my ex, like I was Elon’. They can’t fw Gibbs,” one fan wrote, quoting from the verse. Another added: “Freddie and Ye on a song together is actually crazy. So happy, Freddie got one of my favourite verses from this year no lie.”
Gibbs also patted himself on the back when a social media user wrote: “that’s a 10/10 verse and i don’t like freddie gibbs,” to which he responded: “Turning haters into fans daily.”
— Big 🐰 (@FreddieGibbs) December 12, 2023
Turning haters into fans daily 🐰 https://t.co/WO6gEkXlpV
— Big 🐰 (@FreddieGibbs) December 12, 2023
Ye and Ty were also joined onstage by Offset, Lil Durk, Chris Brown and Kodak Black. Playboi Carti was also supposed to attend but was running late, according to the Chicago rapper and producer.
The duo premiered a number of songs from their new album, including collaborations with Nicki Minaj (“New Body”), Lil Baby and Charlie Wilson (“Everybody,” which samples the Backstreet Boys), Young Thug (“River”), Kodak Black and Bad Bunny.
West even unveiled his first-ever musical collaboration with his 10-year-old daughter, North, with the song also featuring vocals from James Blake (who he has been reportedly making a separate album with).
“I love it here, we gonna take over the year for another year/ It’s your bestie, Miss Miss Westie/ Don’t try to test me, it’s gonna get messy/ It’s gonna get messy, just-just bless me,” she raps.
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Making sure to bring some controversy to everything he touches, Ye appeared on stage toward the end of the show wearing a black version of the notorious Ku Klux Klan hood. The pointy black mask previously appeared in his animated music video for “Black Skinhead,” which was also one of the biggest hits from 2013’s Yeezus.
This serves as his latest racially provocative stunt after the White Lives Matter shirt he wore last year followed by a string of anti-Semitic and pro-Adolf Hitler comments. Even his most recent single, “Vultures,” has been condemned by Jewish groups for its allegedly anti-Semitic lyrics, notably the line: “How I’m anti-Semitic? I just fucked a Jewish bitch.”
