In 2024, Kanye West released Vultures, a collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign. The album received mixed-to-negative reviews from much of the public, but one track that stood out for many was "Back To Me." The track featured Freddie Gibbs, who delivers arguably the best verse on the album. But, Gibbs recently revealed on the Butcher Block Podcast that Ye was not happy about it.
"This n***a Kanye was mad about that s**t," Gibbs said in the clip. "That n***a was telling n***as like 'man, how the f**k this n***a think his verse is the best on my album?'" Gibbs referenced sending West an article from Complex calling his verse one of the best of the year.
"When I sent it to him, I sent it to him thinking that, with the premise, he'd be proud of me. 'Cause I look up to you," Gibbs continued. "So I would think that, I rapped on your album, and people talking about it like this, you would think that a n***a like you would be proud of me [...] That pissed him off."
Gibbs has previously discussed what Kanye West's music meant to him. In 2016, he delivered his own flip of the "No More Parties In LA" beat, titled "Cocaine Parties In LA." The track was briefly on streaming platforms after the release of the 10th anniversary edition of Pinata (as Madlib made the beat), but it did not last there for very long. Prior to that, Gibbs rapped on Ye's beats on his old mixtapes.
This story seems like a picture perfect example of why sometimes, it's best to not meet your heroes. Even with Freddie Gibbs delivering such a high-quality verse, West still made it a negative.
On the bright side, the time spent working on Vultures helped strengthen Gibbs' relationship with Ty Dolla $ign. At the end of the clip, he confirmed that the pair have new music on the way. It does not seem as if Gibbs and Ye will work together again anytime soon.