Kanye flips another classic from Ms. Hill’s catalog in a preview of a new song.
Amidst a bid for president, an unending Twitter screed against Universal Music and Sony, and even a handful of comparisons to biblical figures, Kanye somehow still has time to make music.
In his latest dispatch, the rapper-turned-White-House-hopeful proved just that, sharing a preview of a new track, presumably titled, “BELIEVE WHAT I SAY.” Pinned to his feed in a clip featuring footage from a boat ride out at sea, the song commences with the familiar layered harmonies of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s 1998 hit, “Doo Wop (That Thing),” from her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But the track quickly adds a four-to-the-floor kick and a buoyant bass line, flipping the neo-soul staple into a mid-tempo house cut a la Pablo’s “Fade.”
As his label and publishing wars have gone fully public over the last few weeks, West threatened to withhold the release of any new music until he’d secured full ownership of his masters. Not long after, West claimed to be giving those artists signed to his G.O.O.D. Music label his half of their publishing back. That move was met with support from his roster, specifically from Big Sean and 070 Shake. With all of that taken into consideration, the preview of this new song may have been meant as bait/leverage for his negotiations. But we should all have better sense than to speculate over West’s intentions at this point.
It should also be noted this isn’t the first time West has sampled Ms. Hill. “All Falls Down,” the third single from West’s debut album, College Dropout, featured a quote of Ms. Hill’s stunning “Mystery of Iniquity” from her live album, Unplugged 2.0.
Hear Kanye’s latest flip of a Ms. Lauryn Hill classic below. Hold tight for his next transmission. Shouldn’t be long now.
BELIEVE WHAT I SAY (snippet) pic.twitter.com/U7Y2KQJ5UC
— ye (@kanyewest) September 26, 2020