There is an alternate reality where one of the five albums Kanye West produced this year (so far) could have been a Paul McCartney album. In GQ?s latest cover story, Paul opened up about working with the West back in 2014 and said that West asked if he could produce his then distant album, Egypt Station.
?[Kanye West] did very kindly offer to produce this album,? McCartney shared. ?And then I thought, no, I kind of knew what direction I wanted to go in. And I knew that would be very different from where Kanye would go with it.?
The idea never evolved past the brief inquiry from West. Although, the Egypt Station singer did explain his shock at Ye?s request.
?No, I said, ?That?s great, wow,?? he continued. ?I?m just amazed that he said it. And then we never talked about it again. It was just a thought that was thrown away. I certainly thought about it and got very excited and thought, ?That?s something, there?s no denying that ? but is it something I want to do?? There?s the thing. And I thought, ?Maybe not.'?
Thankfully, the world did end up hearing what a Kanye and McCartney collaboration sounds like on ?All Day,? ?Only One? (featuring Ty Dolla $ign), and Rihanna?s ?FourFiveSeconds.? The legendary Beatles singer explained that he brought his bass to the studio, ?in case we were going to get more serious,? but detailed how West likes to gather elements into an ?ingredient pool? he uses later.
While McCartney?s reasoning is sound, the world is being deprived of Kid Cudi humming for an entire track as Paul McCartney ad-libs between Pusha T?s coke raps ? something worth considering for his next album.
