André 3000 is speaking out following his leaked collaboration with Kanye West.
During his Sound 42 show on SiriusXM on Saturday (Sept. 4), Drake played an unreleased DONDA song called “Life of the Party.” On the six-minute track, Ye calls out his rival amid their reignited feud.
“I put Virgil [Abloh] and Drake on the same text, and it wasn’t about the matching Arc’teryx or Kid Cudi dress,” he raps. “Just told these grown men stop it with the funny shit / I might hire the whole team from ACG.”
Adds Ye, “Thought we was the new Abu Dhabi / Told Drake don’t play with me on GD / And he sent that message to everybody / So if I hit you with a ‘WYD’ / You better hit me with, ‘Yessir, I’m writing everything you need.’”
For his part, André 3000 steers clear of any beef, instead paying tribute to his late mother. In a statement obtained by Variety, the OutKast legend explained why the track didn’t make DONDA and said the version he wrote his verse to did not contain the Drake diss.
“A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the DONDA album. I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom. It felt appropriate to me to support the DONDA concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013. We both share that loss. I thought it was a beautiful choice to make a clean album but, unfortunately, I didn’t know that was the plan before I wrote and recorded my verse. It was clear to me that an edited ‘clean’ format of the verse would not work without having the raw, original also available. So, sadly, I had to be omitted from the original album release,” said André 3000.
“The track I received and wrote to didn’t have the diss verse on it and we were hoping to make a more focused offering for the DONDA album but I guess things happen like they are supposed to,” he continued. “It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth. I wanted to be on Certified Lover Boy too. I just want to work with people that inspire me. Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil Baby, Tyler, and JAY-Z. I respect them all.”
Kanye’s diss comes after Drake took shots at him on “7am on Bridle Path” off Certified Lover Boy. “You over there in denial / We not neck and neck / It’s been a lot of years since we seen you comin’ correct,” raps Drizzy, who also responds to Kanye sharing his home address on Instagram: “Give that address to your driver / Make it your destination / Instead of just a post out of desperation.”
Kanye previously previewed “Life of the Party” at his listening event in Las Vegas and again during his trip to Berlin last week.
