Just Getting Started

Not content with releasing fourth album Unfinished Business, west London rapper Fredo also has a clothing line and his own record label. Here, he discusses how fatherhood ignited his ambition, and announces the imminent arrival of new music from his long-awaited collaboration with Nines

- By Seth Pereira

We’re in an age where we are all obsessed with appearing busy. Our social media accounts are littered with snapshots that attempt to portray busyness, because that’s what equals success, right? Rarely do our online identities reflect reality, but Fredo is the exception. He is most certainly as busy as he appears in his online persona. He’s a difficult man to pin down, and our proposed interview is spread over three separate meetings. The first is at his Rolling Stone UK photoshoot, where Fredo seems at ease sporting a range of different designer outfits, culminating in a tracksuit he designed himself.

Fashion has always set West London rappers apart from their contemporaries. As any proud citizen from this part of the capital will tell you, Global Sports — the iconic streetwear shop located in Shepherd’s Bush Market — was the driving force behind a lot of 90s and early 00s trends. Fredo is no different, attributing his love of style to the aspirational stock he would see on the shop floor. Today, fashion has become a business venture as well as a form of self-expression for him. With prudent investments in high-end clothing and trainer store Kick Game, and a clothing line of his own called PG (short for parental guidance), it’s little wonder that Fredo’s life embodies the title of his fourth studio album so well.