The song that convinced Michael Jackson that Kanye West could sing
Kanye West’s progression as an artist has featured plenty of surprises.
Ye started out as a producer, without people realising he could rap. He then proved himself to be one of the best rappers of his generation. But nobody really thought of him as a singer for the first few years of his rap career—and then he changed perceptions once again.
Kanye’s fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak, was released in 2008, and it marked a departure from his previous three albums. While they had mainly been straight-up rap records, this one saw Kanye singing—albeit with a lot of autotune. In his own way, Kanye revealed himself to be something of a crooner.
Ye had sung on some of his songs before 808s & Heartbreak, of course, notably on the track ‘Good Life’ from third album Graduation. As a matter of fact, it was this track that led directly into 808s & Heartbreak. A very famous vocalist had heard his singing on ‘Good Life,’ and they loved it. This gave Ye the confidence to keep doing on it.
That artist was Michael Jackson, a huge source of inspiration to Kanye and so many other Black musicians through the years. “I sat with Michael Jackson,” Ye recounted of a time he spent time with him, speaking on Juan Ep Is Life. “I met him over at [record executive] Lyor Cohen’s house. And I just vibed out with him.”
It was Jackson, Ye claimed, who convinced him to embrace singing for his next album. As he put it, “I think Michael [was] the one that put that battery in my back to do 808s.”
“I played ‘Good Life,’” Ye explained, “and he’s like, ‘Who’s that singing right there? I like that voice.’ It was my voice!”
Kanye’s glee in telling this story was entirely evident. “He gas me up,” he said, smiling and breaking into song, performing his singing part of the 808s track ‘Heartless.’ “Next thing y’all have me, ‘In the night I hear ’em talk.’ I was like, Michael Jackson told me I can sing. Fuck all y’all!”
Gaining Jackson’s approval clearly meant a lot to Kanye, which entirely makes sense. Having one of pop music’s greatest ever singers say that he thinks you’ve got a good voice is probably the best praise it’s conceivable to ever receive.