“Better than John Lennon” – McCartney commends Kanye’s genius

3 January, 2015. 08:59

DARRYL SEYMOUR | Gossip and Music | CONTACT

If you haven’t heard the song yet. Listen to it.

Recorded in September and released on New Year’s Eve, the Kanye West and Paul McCartney collaboration is billed as the most important record this century. A perfect fusion of modern hip hop production and 1960’s rock and roll.

Titled “Only One” – the record is the first song released by West since the release of his sixth studio album Yeezus – and is a tribute to West’s daughter, North.

Kanye has taken the peculiar path of singing the song himself – heavily autotuned – from the perspective of his late mother, Dr. Donda West.

The most amazing development since the song’s release is the comments made by McCartney when speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine on the 2nd of January. The former Beatle was quick to praise Kanye West and announced they would be returning to the studio the following day.

“Kanye has shown me a new side to music. I feel like I’m eighteen again, making women faint at the airport. He really is the most amazing creative mind to come out of America – and maybe even the UK,”

“I’ve thought this for a while, ever since he dropped N*ggas in Paris – That was some gangsta shit – but to actually work with him. It just confirmed it. If he was 40 years older we would have found a way to enlist him in the Beatles. He would have offered so much more than Ringo and John,”

When asked further about his comments regarding Ringo Starr and John Lennon, McCartney appeared unashamed in clarifying his praise for the man dubbed ‘Yeezus’.

“You’ve heard Ringo’s solo rubbish, and you’ve heard John’s creepy save-the-world shit… Kanye West runs rings around all of that. Don’t get me wrong – The Beatles worked well together… but if we had Yeezus instead of either of those two – wow!”

When asked for comment about McCartney’s “better than Lennon” remarks, Kanye West appeared quite bashful.

“[Laughs] Did he say that? – that is so Paul. I feel like we are such good friends now. He’s definitely replaced Jay-Z as my mentor. Jay could only get me so far… plus now I got Kim and North bringing me down…”



“But yes, Paul did mention that in the studio. It didn’t surprise me really. Notice how Paul wasn’t the one doing vocals in the song? Ha (sic) I used autotune so I didn’t show him up… I sing better than any Beatle ever did. Paul knows that.”

The track is the first of two rumoured releases and includes uncredited vocals from fellow Chicago musicians Ty Dollar Sign and TPR. Kanye West is described in a press release as not being able to remember singing the words to “Only One” when he and McCartney were later reviewing the early 2014 sessions that generated the song.

Later, West “realized that perhaps the words had never really come from him … he understood in that moment that his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who was also his mentor, confidante, and best friend, had spoken through him that day … A message had been passed down through generations.”