In 2014, Paul McCartney received an unexpected message: Kanye West was interested in writing music with him. McCartney agreed even though he wasn’t sure what to expect.
The couple met for a few afternoons in Los Angeles, and McCartney quickly discovered that his interpretation of a writing session differed from West’s. They spent most of the time talking.
“I had my bass ready in case we needed to get more serious,” McCartney later said. QG. “I thought we could actually sit down and write a song like I used to write a song – basically create something on the spot. It turned out that we were creating a ‘pool. of ingredients, “that’s how he does it.”
This “ingredient pool” eventually included additional voices from another unexpected source: Rihanna. Although West’s style of music-making somewhat baffled McCartney, the resulting track, “FourFiveSeconds,” became his biggest hit in decades. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 54, but within weeks it hit No. 4.
“If I want to go somewhere other than where I normally go or where I’m supposed to go, I’ll go. And if I like it, that’s enough for me,” McCartney said. “What’s great is that all sorts of hysterical things come out of it. I mean, there’s a lot of people who think Kanye found out about me. And that’s no joke.”
You can find out more about this collaboration in the video below from our “Odd Couples” series.
Paul McCartney Albums Ranked
The Beatles have always defined it, but McCartney’s story didn’t end there.
