Kanye West was supposed to drop a new album in the latter part of 2014. Maybe he held off due to the suprise release of D'Angelo's amazing album Black Messiah. So with 2014 coming to a close, Kanye decided to kick off the new year with a new single featuring none other than Paul McCartney. The tune is called "Only One." The song is not what you expect from someone who previously released and album called Yeezus. It feels more like a lullaby, and in all actuality it is a lullaby dedicated to Kanye's mother and daughter. According to Pitchfork, this song is the first in a series of collaborations with McCartney.
You can listen to the song in the player above and grab it from iTunes now. From the press release:
In early 2014, Paul McCartney and Kanye West first began working together in a small bungalow in Los Angeles. The process that would result in "Only One" began with a simple brainstorming session between the two: With McCartney improvising on the keyboards and Kanye vocally sketching and shaping ideas in a stream-of-consciousness riff.
When they played back the recording afterward, something remarkable happened. Kanye sat there with his family, holding his daughter North on his lap, and listened to his vocals, singing, "Hello, my only one . . . " And in that moment, not only could he not recall having sung those words, but he realized that perhaps the words had never really come from him.
The process of artistic creation is one that does not involve thinking, but often channeling. And 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.
"My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter," he said, astonished.
The small group in the room kept listening: “Hello my Only One…just like the morning sun…you’ll keep on rising till the sky knows your name.”
To some, Kanye's insight didn't immediately register. But then he explained: The name Kanye, which his mother had chosen, means "only one."
And then it dawned on everyone there: Something powerful and undeniable had occurred through the power of music and of letting go. A message had been passed down through generations.
You can view the lyrics of the track over Kanye West's website.
