Kanye West almost produced a Paul McCartney album

'I kind of knew what direction I wanted to go in. And I knew that would be very different from where Kanye would go with it'

(Getty Images)

Paul McCartney has revealed that Kanye West once offered to produce his new album Egypt Station.

The rapper's interest was sparked back in 2014, when the duo collaborated in 2014 on the tracks "All Day", "Only One", and "FourFiveSeconds".

“[Kanye West] did very kindly offer to produce this album,” McCartney told GQ. “And then I thought, no, I kind of knew what direction I wanted to go in. And I knew that would be very different from where Kanye would go with it.”

McCartney confessed he was surprised by the request, adding: "No, I said, ‘That’s great, wow.' I’m just amazed that he said it. And then we never talked about it again. It was just a thought that was thrown away."

"I certainly thought about it and got very excited and thought, ‘That’s something, there’s no denying that … but is it something I want to do?’ There’s the thing. And I thought, ‘Maybe not.'"

West and McCartney met for two or three writing sessions in LA, in which the duo mainly talked, while the latter would occasionally play something on the acoustic guitar or piano.

"I had my bass ready in case we were going to get more serious," he said. "I thought we might actually sit down and write a song in the way I was used to writing a song—actually craft something there and then. It turned out we were creating an 'ingredient pool,' which is how he does it."

Damon Albarn had previously claimed West and McCartney's collaboration was "abusive". He told a French publication: "Kanye West thinks only of Kanye West, using a name to make headlines, saying ‘McCartney is in my song.’ In addition, he puts McCartney in the video of the song, but not in the song itself.”

McCartney responded to the accusations, saying: "I love the respect someone like Damon is attributing to me, but I'm not that fussed. If I want to go somewhere else from where I normally go or where I'm expected to go, I'll go. And if I enjoy it, that's enough for me."

"The great thing is, all sorts of hysterical things come out of it. I mean, there's a lot of people think Kanye discovered me. And that's not a joke."

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