One of Kanye West’s oldest collaborators says he’s written on all but one of Ye’s albums.
Chicago rapper Rhymefest has been working with Kanye West since they were teenagers, but he claims that not all of his contributions have been credited.
In an illuminating interview with The Daily Beast about his new documentary, In My Father’s House, Rhymefest said: “I’ve written for all of Kanye’s albums with the exception of 808s & Heartbreak,” adding, “There are a lot of songs that my name isn’t even on.”
Asked if Kanye writes any of his own music, he replied: “Anymore? Or ever?”
But he seems relaxed about letting Kanye take the credit. “I stumbled upon the sample, and it was supposed to be on my demo,” he said of the gospel sample in Kanye’s breakout hit ‘Jesus Walks’. “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.”
He’s also listed as a co-writer on Common and John Legend’s Selma anthem ‘Glory’, but he wasn’t credited when the song won an Oscar. “I wasn’t onstage,” he said of the ceremony. “They didn’t mention me when they talked about it.”
He added: “It does kind of bother me that I go to my friends’ $20 million houses, and last year I was trying to figure out how to pay my mortgage. It’s not their fault, totally. When you look at the way artists get paid now, streaming has decimated the income of the writer, so the writer doesn’t really have a career anymore. My ASCAP royalty checks went from a lot to almost nothing.”
Rhymefest also talked about Kanye’s recent song ‘All Day’, which listed 21 artists in the credits, including Kendrick Lamar, Vic Mensa and French Montana. “There are 21 writers. I wouldn’t be a part of that,” he said.
Check the rest of the interview here – it makes for interesting reading.
