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"Pure Souls"
Song by Kanye West featuring Roddy Ricch and Shenseea
from the album Donda
Released	August 29, 2021 (2021-08-29)
Recorded	May 25 – August 2021
Length	5:59
Label	GOOD Def Jam
Songwriter(s)	Kanye West Rodrick Wayne Moore, Jr. Chinsea Lee Bastian Völkel Christoph Bauss Cydel Charles Young Dexter Mills Donny Flores Jahmal Gwin Leonard Harris Malik Yusef Mark Williams Mike Dean Orlando Wilder Raphael Saadiq Raul Cubina Simon David Plummer Tim Friedrich Tyshane Thompson Warren Trotter
Producer(s)	Kanye West BoogzDaBeast

"Pure Souls" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his tenth studio album, Donda (2021). The song features uncredited vocals from fellow American rapper Roddy Ricch and Jamaican singer Shenseea.

The song peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in the United States.

Background

In September 2020, West had a rant on his Twitter account where amongst posting his full recording contract with Universal, he posted a video of him urinating on one of his Grammy awards; captioning the post with "Trust me... I won't stop". Roddy Ricch, who is featured on the track, was nominated for six entries at the 2020 Grammy awards, but left the show empty handed. Roddy Ricch called out West in March 2021, believing that he disrespected the Grammys, saying "How do you think that makes the world look at my accomplishment?". In an interview with Big Boy in June 2021, he stated that he had met up with West and recorded music together and that there was no disrespect towards him. Roddy Ricch references the incident on the song, singing "They said I was mad at the Grammys, but I'm looking at my Grammy right now/Pulled up on Ye and said they don't understand me, I just want my dog to pipe down".

The song was first previewed during a listening party at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021. At the August 5 listening party, West changed part of his verse, removing lines that alluded to his relationship with Barack Obama such as "44 telling me I'm still not folks". At the August 26 listening party at Soldier Field, West added Jamaican singer Shenseea to the track. The collaboration came about after he had watched her freestyle at Hot 97 with Funkmaster Flex, which was uploaded on July 28, 2021. At the listening event, Shenseea joined West on the stairs of his remade childhood home along with artists such as Travis Scott, Marilyn Manson and DaBaby.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

• Co-production - Bastian Völkel, Mike Dean, Ojivolta, Shuko, Sucuki
• Additional production - Fya Man
• Mixing and mastering - Irko
• Record engineering - Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn, Chris Connors, Josh Berg, Mikalai Skrobat, Patrick Hundley, Roark Bailey, Will Chason
• Vocal editing - Chris Connors, Louis Bell

Charts

Certifications

References

1. Mallick, Dani (2023-08-16). "Shenseea Earns Her First Gold Certification In The US". DancehallMag. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
2. "Kanye West Whizzing On His Own Grammy... Gets Twitter Time-out". TMZ. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
3. Cordero, Rosy (16 September 2020). "Kanye West tweets pages from record contracts, video of Grammy in toilet". EW. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
4. Saponara, Michael (16 March 2021). "Roddy Ricch Calls Out Kanye West For Pissing On His Grammy Award After Winless 2021 Showing". HipHopDX. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
5. Eilbert, Mark (10 June 2021). "Roddy Ricch Clears Up Grammy Rant Directed At Kanye West". HipHopDX. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
6. ^ Robinson, Joshua (23 July 2021). "Roddy Ricch's Feature On "DONDA" Addresses His Past Frustrations With Kanye West". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
7. Rindner, Grant (9 August 2021). "11 Ways Kanye West's Donda Album Has Already Changed". GQ. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
8. Lee, Sasha (2 September 2021). "Five Takeaways From Shenseea's New Kanye West Features". Dancehall Mag. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
9. Watkis, Donovan (27 August 2021). "Shenseea Joins Kanye West At Chicago 'Donda' Livestream Event". Dancehall Mag. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
10. "Donda Deluxe credits". Tidal. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
11. "Kanye West – Pure Souls". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
12. "Kanye West Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
13. "Kanye West Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
14. "2021 35-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. September 3, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
15. "Kanye West – Pure Souls". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
16. "Local & International Streaming Chart Top 100: 27/08/2021 to 02/09/2021". The Official South African Charts. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
17. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 36". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
18. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
19. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
20. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Christian Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
21. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Gospel Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
22. "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
23. "Hot Christian Songs – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
24. "Hot Gospel Songs – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
25. "American single certifications – Kanye West – Pure Souls". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 16, 2023.

• Kanye West songs
• Roddy Ricch songs
• 2021 songs
• Song recordings produced by Kanye West
• Songs written by Kanye West
• Songs written by Roddy Ricch
• Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer)
• Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce
• Songs written by Malik Yusef