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"Life of the Party" is a song by American rappers Kanye West and André 3000. It was intended for West's tenth studio album Donda (2021), but was left off the album due to André 3000 not agreeing to his verse being edited to a clean version. The song was later leaked by Canadian rapper Drake on Sound 42 radio amidst a feud with West. It was initially released as an exclusive to the Donda Stem Player in October 2021. The song was released fully in November 2021 on the deluxe version of Donda, and an explicit version as a single. The song ends with audio of a clip of DMX and his daughter on an amusement park ride.

Background

The song was originally recorded on April 5, 2019 during sessions for Yandhi, but was ultimately excluded from the final tracklist when the album was reworked into Jesus Is King.

The song was later worked on in 2020 during sessions for God’s Country and Donda, and was seen on numerous tracklists for the album during the year. An earlier music video was filmed in December 2020 for a solo version of the song, but this video was not officially released due to changes regarding the vision of the album. The video was later leaked in its entirety on September 20, 2023.

On July 16, 2021, rapper Consequence posted a video to Instagram of West in the studio with Tyler, the Creator, with a snippet of "Life of the Party" being played. On July 18, the original version of the song recorded earlier that year (which did not include any vocals from André 3000) was previewed at a private listening event in Las Vegas. West played the song for German news outlet Bild in Berlin on September 2, stating that a video shoot was planned and that he wanted to release it soon.

Leak

In the lead up to Donda releasing, West had taken shots aimed at Drake, even posting his home address to his Instagram. On September 4, a day after Canadian rapper Drake released his album Certified Lover Boy, Drake leaked "Life of the Party" on his Sound 42 radio show on Sirius XM amidst a feud with West. This version leaked by Drake seemed to have a different verse from West with disses aimed at Drake, as well as a guest verse from André 3000. André 3000 made a statement about the leak saying that West had reached out to him a few weeks prior to the song leaking to be part of Donda and was inspired to make a musical tribute to his mom. The song ended up being omitted from the album due to West's stance on profanity and André 3000 not agreeing to his verse being edited to be clean without having the raw original available. Moreover, the original version of the song André 3000 wrote to, did not have the diss verse aimed at Drake. André 3000 lamented that the song leaked with the diss verse, stating "It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth".

Release

A new version of the track, containing the original verse from West and a censored verse from André 3000, was released on the Donda Stem Player on October 27, 2021. The track was released along with two other previously unreleased tracks titled "Never Abandon Your Family" and "Up from the Ashes", as well as the original version of "Remote Control", containing a verse from Kid Cudi. The song was released as part of the deluxe version of Donda, and as a single for the explicit version on November 14, 2021.

Reception

Andre 3000's verse was named best rap verse of the year by both Complex and HipHopDX.

Music video

A music video of the song was uploaded to West's official channel on May 8, 2022. It showcases photos of West (mostly in his childhood) with the faces animated to sync with the song's lyrics. All photos are edited to change Kanye's apparel to clothing from the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga drop. The music video doesn't feature any of André 3000's vocals, possibly due to the controversy of the song being released without consent of his verses being censored. The video ends with a short video of Kanye rapping when he was a kid.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

Music

• Dem Jointz – additional production
• Federico Vindver – additional production
• Fonzworth Bentley – additional production, vocal production
• Ojivolta – additional production
• BoogzDaBeast – co-production
• The Twilite Tone – co-production

Technical

• Maurizio "Irko" Sera – master engineering, mix engineering, remixing
• Rashade Benani Bevel - mix assistance
• Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawson – record engineering
• Andrew Drucker – record engineering
• Josh Berg – record engineering
• Kalam Ali Muttalib – record engineering

Charts

References

1. Helman, Peter (17 July 2021). "Tyler, The Creator Reportedly Hits The Studio With Kanye West". Stereogum. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
2. Rowley, Glenn (19 July 2021). "Music Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator Spotted in the Studio, Possibly Working Together on Donda". Consequence. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
3. ^ Lynch, Joe (4 September 2021). "Drake Fans Feud Flames By Leaking Kanye West/André 3000 Collab 'Life of the Party'". Billboard. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
4. Fitzgerald, Trent (2 September 2021). "Kanye West breaks silence in new interview, previews new song with Andre 3000". XXL. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
5. Bustard, Andy (2 September 2021). "Kanye West previews André 3000 collaboration + reveals new music plans in 1st Donda interview". HipHopDX. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
6. Bild (2 September 2021). "Kanye West spielt uns unveröffentlichten Song vor (nicht auf Donda-Album)". YouTube. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
7. ^ Helman, Peter (4 September 2021). "Drake Leaks Unreleased Kanye West Song "Life Of The Party" Dissing Drake". Stereogum. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
8. Okon, Wongo (4 September 2021). "Andre 3000 Issues A Statement About Appearing On Kanye West's 'Life Of The Party' After Drake Leaked It". Uproxx. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
9. Helman, Peter (4 September 2021). "André 3000 Releases Statement About Kanye's Leaked Drake Diss Track". Stereogum. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
10. Hussey, Allison (4 September 2021). "André 3000 Releases Statement on Kanye West's Leaked Drake Diss "Life of the Party"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
11. Kearns, Sarah (27 October 2021). ""Kanye West's 'DONDA' Stem Player Rolls Out With Three New Songs"". HypeBeast. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
12. Jones, Damian. "Kanye West's 'DONDA' stem player has finally been unveiled and comes with three extra songs". NME. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
13. "The Best Rap Verses of 2021". Complex. 29 December 2021.
14. "Best Rap Verses of 2021". HipHopDX. 9 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022.
15. Kanye West - Life Of The Party, retrieved 2022-11-20
16. "Credits / Life Of The Party". Tidal. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
17. "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
18. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
19. "Local & International Streaming Chart Top 100: Week 46". The Official South African Charts. Recording Industry of South Africa. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
20. "Kanye West Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
21. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Christian Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
22. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Gospel Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
23. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 14, 2021.

• Kanye West songs
• André 3000 songs
• 2021 songs
• 2021 singles
• Song recordings produced by Kanye West
• Songs written by Kanye West
• Songs written by André 3000
• Songs written by Pusha T
• Songs written by Dem Jointz
• Songs written by Malik Yusef
• Songs written by Fonzworth Bentley