#Andre 3000 Releases Statement on Unreleased Kanye West Song “Life of the Party”

André 3000 has released a statement about his participation in “Life of the Party,” an unreleased Kanye West track and supposed Donda outtake that Drake shared during a September 3 Sirius XM broadcast. In the statement, the rapper claims that his contribution didn’t make the album due to West’s current stance against profanity. Read it in full below.

Andre 3000 commented on his work through a representative, who added that the rapper wrote his “Life of the Party” verse while shooting Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s White Noise in Cleveland, Ohio:

A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the Donda album. I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom. It felt appropriate to me to support the Donda concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013. We both share that loss. I thought it was a beautiful choice to make a clean album but, unfortunately, I didn’t know that was the plan before I wrote and recorded my verse. It was clear to me that an edited ‘clean’ format of the verse would not work without having the raw, original also available. So, sadly, I had to be omitted from the original album release. 

The track I received and wrote to didn’t have the diss verse on it and we were hoping to make a more focused offering for the Donda album but I guess things happen like they are supposed to. It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth. I wanted to be on Certified Lover Boy too. I just want to work with people that inspire me. Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil’ Baby, Tyler and Jay-Z. I respect them all.

Read Pitchfork’s features “Ranking Every Guest Appearance on Kanye West’s Donda From Worst to Best.” and “5 Takeaways From Drake’s Certified Lover Boy.”