Drake has leaked an unreleased collaboration between Kanye West and André 3000. The Certified Lover Boy rapper played the track, titled “Life of the Party,” early Saturday morning during a guest DJ set on SiriusXM’s Sound 42 radio show.
“Life of the Party” appears to be a diss track aimed at Drake, as Kanye takes several swipes at the Toronto rapper. “I put Virgil and Drake on the same text/ And it wasn’t about the matching arc’teryx or Kid Cudi dress,” Kanye raps, referencing his recent text exchange with Drake and former collaborator/fashion designer, Virgil Abloh. “Just told these grown men stop it with the funny shit/ I might hire the whole team from ACG/ So don’t text me like I’m Juanita JCV.”
A few bars later, Kanye fires off another warning shot: “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, ‘Yes sir, I’m writing everything you need’/ I told you I was gonna take the summer back/ So any of the cap, won’t take none of that/ Where my muthafuckin’ red hat?”
It’s the latest turn in Drake and Kanye West’s ongoing feud that was reignited prior to the release of their respective new albums: Certified Lover Boy and Donda. Drake dissed Kanye on both Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal” and his CLB track “7am on Bridle Path.” Kanye returned fire by posting a Joker meme aimed at Drake and leaking his address on social media.
For his part, André 3000 choses to stay above the fray and instead uses his verse to rap about his late mother, Sharon Benjamin Hodo. Addressing Kanye’s own late mother, Donda West, the OutKast rapper asks her to deliver a message to his mom.
“Miss Donda, if you see my mama, tell her I’m lost/ You see, she’d always light a cigarette, we talk, I would cough/ Exaggeratin’ a little bit so she get the point/ Tryna get her to stop smokin’, I would leave and fire up a joint/ Till I quit, started back up again, twenty years later.”
Update: André 3000 has released a statement addressing the song’s leak.
“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.
“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. 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.”
Take a listen to “Life of the Party” below.
