Chance The Rapper was an integral part in the creation of Kanye West‘s The Life of Pablo album, and today we gained insight into just how integral he was, thanks to his interview with Beats1’s Zane Lowe.
During a chat that lasted just over an hour, Chance, who just released an album mixtape of his own (Coloring Book), played snippets of two Pablo demos: “Waves” and “Nina Chop,” which evolved into “Famous” on the final version of the LP. On the “Waves” demo (20:45), you can clearly hear Chance rapping the same bars Kanye would rap on the song’s final version, and Chris Brown, who beautifully sings the hook of the official “Waves,” is noticeably absent.
As far as “Nina Chop,” or “Famous,” (22:40) Chance prefaces that demo with an anecdote about not being a fan of the song at all, until Kanye and one of its producers, Swizz Beatz, toyed with it. Rihanna can be heard singing on a different part of the instrumental, and you can make out a significant Chance verse before the demo cuts off.
Though the Chicago native was only credited as a guest on the album’s intro, “Ultralight Beam,” the footprint he left on Kanye’s latest album are becoming wider and wider as time progresses. In turn, Kanye appeared on the intro to Coloring Book, “All We Got,” a song that also featured Kirk Franklin, who appeared on “Ultralight Beam” as well.
You can listen to Chance and Zane’s entire interview below.