Drake Leaked An Unreleased Kanye "Donda" Track And Now André 3000 — Who Was Featured On The Song — Is Caught In The Middle Of Their Feud
The Kanye West and Drake feud does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
In a recent flare-up of the more than decade-long rivalry, Kanye doxxed Drake by sharing his home address on his Instagram. Both rappers have also taken shots at each other in their new albums — Donda and Certified Lover Boy, respectively.
On Friday, Drake leaked an unreleased track called "Life of the Party" from Donda — Kanye's 10th album dedicated to his late mother — on Sirius XM's Sound 42 show.
The outtake, which features a verse from André 3000, includes shots at Drake, where Kanye says, "I put Virgil [Abloh] and Drake on the same text, and it wasn’t about the matching Arc’teryx or Kid Cudi dress / Just told these grown men stop it with the funny shit."
In the song, the Jesus is King rapper also hints at a collaboration with Drake that never occurred: "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.'"
As for Andre's contribution to the track, it includes a tribute to his mother — in line with Donda's larger theme. In a statement, the Outkast alum opened up about why the collab didn't make it onto the album's final cut and explained that the version of the song he contributed to did not include a dig at Drake.
“A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the Donda album," he shared. "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."
He explained that his stance on profanity influenced his decision to step away from the track: "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."
He continued, “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."
In his statement, the hip-hop artist also called the current beef between the two acclaimed rappers "unfortunate," writing, "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."
He also added that he wants "to work with people that inspire me," including Kendrick Lamar on his forthcoming album; Lil' Baby; Tyler, the Creator; and Jay-Z.
