Kanye West once named what he believes is “the best song ever made”. Last year, before West decided to go into self-destruction mode and got de-platformed, he took to Instagram to share his thoughts. Following his onslaught of abuse against the staff of Adidas, the Chicago rapper posted a screenshot highlighting a track he was enjoying. The song was WizKid and Tems’ ‘Essence.’
“Best song in the history of music to date!” the producer captioned underneath the screenshot of him listening to the track on Apple Music. Both Wizkid and Tems were quick to repost West’s praise on their Instagram Stories, while the likes of Naomi Campbell, Tech N9ne and Nas co-signed the producer’s high praise of the track.
Commenting directly under Kanye’s post, Campbell commented, “YES!!!! THANK YOU AT @kanyewest @wizkidayo @tems.” Tech N9ne also commented, adding, “Thank you for this energy! Felt great!” Although Kanye’s post was in 2022, the track was, in fact, released in2020 as the fourth single for WizKid’s fourth studio album, Made In Lagos.
‘Essence’ was a global hit. A melodic afrobeat song, the catchy melody was popular in Africa, the US and Europe, making it a global phenomenon. The Nigerian-born collaboration debuted at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first Nigerian track to ever appear on the Billboard chart. Despite not clinching a Grammy, the track won a multitude of other awards and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA. Keeping the song alive and giving it further mainstream appeal, an official remix featuring Justin Bieber was later released. North Carolina rapper DaBaby even put his own unique spin on the record.
Following another influx of rants, this time aimed at GAP, Kanye also praised DJ Khaled’s ‘GOD DID’. Furthermore, he highlighted ‘WAIT FOR U’ by Atlanta rapper Future. Giving his personal opinion, as West does frequently, the entrepreneur called them the best songs of 2022. “Song of the year next to Wait For You,” West wrote alongside a screenshot of him playing Khaled’s all-star posse cut. ‘GOD DID’ featured verses from Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend and Fridayy, but Jay-Z’s four-minute verse stole the show for fans.
However, although these two songs were in the running it was ultimately ‘Essence’ that Kanye was feeling the most. You can listen to the track in the video below.
