It's certainly been Fred again..'s year, hasn't it? Dropping a viral Boiler Room set, selling out four nights at London's Alexandra Palace and casually headlining Coachella alongside Skrillex and Four Tet, Fred Gibson hasn't strayed far from the headlines in 2023.
Gibson has slid right back into our coverage once more this week, following the news that the British producer and electronic artist has contributed to Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign's forthcoming collaborative project, Vultures. According to album credits shared on Genius, Gibson has contributed production to the song Slide.
While 2023 has seen Gibson become well-known for his work as a solo artist, the artist has previously worked as a behind-the-scenes producer for many pop artists, including George Ezra, Rita Ora, Clean Bandit and Ed Sheeran. Gibson won Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards in 2020 and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2024.
Originally slated for release on 15th December, Vultures has been delayed in typical Kanye fashion. West has held several listening parties for the album in recent weeks, including one such event hosted in Miami on 14th December that was reportedly shut down by police after only a few songs were played. Tickets for the event were sold for $2000.
The controversial rapper has drawn criticism for wearing a KKK-style hood at several of these listening parties during playback of the album's title track, which features a lyric referencing a "Jewish b*tch". This follows previous antisemitic comments made by West that led him to be suspended from Twitter/X and dropped by his talent agency, CAA, in 2022.
West has a history of bungled album releases: two projects announced in 2020, God's Country and Donda: With Child, have still yet to be released, while nearly every project released in recent years has been delayed.
Watch a clip of Slide being performed at one of West's listening parties below.
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