Oct 21, 2015 So one night, Kanye and a group of friends called him and said they were going to come by to pick him up. The two really hit it off—scamming on girls, rhyming together—and when Kanye dropped him off, he told him, “You know, we picked you up because we were gonna jump you and beat you up and leave you somewhere, but you’re a cool dude.” The two have been thick as thieves ever since—so thick, that when Rhymefest stumbled upon the ARC Choir’s 1997 a capella gospel tune “Walk With Me,” with its haunting chorus of “Je-sus Walks,” instead of using it for his own demo, he forked it over to Kanye. The song became the rapper’s biggest hit off his debut album, The College Dropout, and went on to win the Grammy for Best Rap Song. “I’ve written for all of Kanye’s albums with the exception of 808s & Heartbreak,” he says, adding, “There are a lot of songs that my name isn’t even on.” “I stumbled upon the sample, and it was supposed to be on my demo,” recalls Rhymefest. “But Kanye had access. He was already signed to Def Jam and had an album slated, so this is the point where you could become selfish or practical. He rapped the song better than I probably would’ve at that time. He knew more about the industry, and he made that song a success. So he should get the credit for that. But he wouldn’t have all that without my words.” Many have even called it Kanye’s most personal song—which strikes Rhymefest as a tad strange, since he wrote virtually all of the lyrics. “It was a personal song, but it was my words,” he says with a polite shrug. This revelation invites an interesting discussion about Kanye. Well before Drakegate, the musician/fashion designer/entrepreneur multi-hyphenate has been the subject of accusations that he employs ghostwriters who pen his lyrics for him—both from his G.O.O.D. Music label and elsewhere. One piece claimed that CyHi The Prince “has been doing a spot of ghostwriting for Yeezy,” while ex-G.O.O.D. Music rapper Consequence put Kanye on blast a few years back for allegedly not crediting him on a handful of ghostwritten tracks. And back in May, Amber Rose called out her famous ex at a nightclub, claiming Travis Scott writes Kanye’s songs. Now, in Ice-T’s documentary The Art of Rap, Kanye claimed that the raps on his first four albums only flowed through him. “I didn’t write my raps down for my first four albums—like all, I did it from the head straight to the booth,” he said. He added that he only began putting pen to paper on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and that he “spent 5,000 hours” writing “Power.” But according to Rhymefest, he’s been writing with Kanye since The College Dropout, and hasn’t received credit on a lot of the songs he’s worked on. “I’ve written for all of Kanye’s albums with the exception of 808s & Heartbreak,” he says, adding, “There are a lot of songs that my name isn’t even on.” Does Kanye write any of his own music? I ask him. “Anymore? Or ever?” he replies, with a grin. Both! I say, before mentioning the bizarre situation surrounding Kanye’s recent song “All Day,” which boasted 21 credited artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Vic Mensa, French Montana, and CyHi The Prince. “There are 21 writers. I wouldn’t be a part of that,” says Rhymefest, before taking a long pause to ponder the question of whether or not Kanye writes his own raps anymore. “I think sometimes people get to a point where they’re so busy—I’m doing fashion, I’m doing this, I’m doing that—that you lose focus with the foundation of what it is,” he says. “I think sometimes we… we have so many things, that we’re just trying to keep our things, so we lose track of the fact that it wasn’t about the things. You shouldn’t be trying to keep the things, you should be trying to make new things.” “I feel sorry for some of my wealthiest friends, because a lot of my friends who are very wealthy now, they’re afraid to really live,” he continues. “They’re trying to maintain or build their wealth, and some of them confuse wealth with power. You can have power when you empower others.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/21/kanye-west-s-songwriter-wants-his-due.html
Oct 21, 2015 @gorealsteady is this why you have an 808s avy? Because you know an avy of any other of his albums would be a LIE
Oct 21, 2015 Interesting. I knew he did spot writing for Kanye but had no idea he'd written so much through his 1st 4 albums. Seems like Ye has always gotten a pass for this since the end product is so great. Drake on the other hand gets killed and he's only been accused of this on portions of a handful of songs.
Oct 21, 2015 Kanye also got away with it because of his production. Drake is solely a singer/rapper. Kanye is more of an artist.
Oct 21, 2015 Agree with that. It's one area where Drake will never be comparable to him. I still don't think it makes him beyond criticism for this though.
Oct 21, 2015 Lol 808s is his best album. No lie. Ye is a composer, a director, a creative, an architect. Both in a lyrical and musical sense. He uses people like he uses instruments.. the only problem i have is when he willfully tries to obscure info about who contributed what. All albums are exceptionally good because of the overall quality output, not the amount of work put in. There are worse artists who spend more time in studio's i reckon. In the end only Ye is responsible for what goes in. I think you couldn't erase an album of his without losing a unique perspective in hiphop.
Oct 21, 2015 Nobody gonna denie that Kanye writed mama's boyfriend and only one, the only tracks I think are more important lyrically than production wise.
Oct 22, 2015 Call me naive (also I stick mostly to listening to the music, and don't really follow the whole other side of the indu$try), but this whole ghostwriting part of the business is pretty disappointing, because you just assume that the rappers you admire will write their own verses, and put their soul into the music, given that rap music is so personal (most good rap music anyway). I figure this only happens in the mainstream though, and I'm sure those on the sidelines get to see some nice share of bucks too (?)
Oct 22, 2015 If true, it is shady that Kanye didn't credit him on the songs he helped him write but just like the whole Q. Miller situation, who cares? Good music is good music, would be stupid to criticize Kanye for collabing with other song writers/artists.
