As we’ve come to expect from Kanye West, new music can arrive at any minute, like when the rapper dropped new track “Only One,” featuring Paul McCartney, on New Year’s Eve. At the iHeartMedia Music Summit in Burbank, California on Thursday, West premiered his rumored duet with Rihanna to an audience filled with music industry figures, Billboard reports.
The rapper was a surprise speaker at the conference and treated the audience to a 45-minute, stream-of-consciousness speech about his “responsibility to innovate.” The rapper also chatted about his recent “Only One” collaboration with McCartney and his love of the Beatles’ “Come Together.” Amazingly, West revealed that he asked Macca, “What was pussy like in the Sixties?” before performing an a cappella rendition of “Only One.”
At the 2013 Governors Ball festival in New York, the rapper made controversial statements about how he didn’t care if his abrasive Yeezus tracks were played on the radio. “When I listen to radio, that ain’t what I want to be anymore,” West said during his headlining set. West backtracked from those comments Thursday, telling the IHeartMedia crowd “I was joking!” He then admitted he wished “Black Skinhead” was a bigger hit than it was and sang a portion of the Yeezus cut.
However, West saved the best for last when he unveiled the Rihanna collaboration that Ty Dolla $ign hinted at earlier this month (Ty Dolla $ign also said that he and McCartney were featured on the track). West played the as-yet-untitled song straight off his computer and, according to Billboard, the song “featured acoustic guitar and a big, soaring chorus and melody with a massive hook.” Before West could announce when the track would be made available to radio, the rapper slammed his laptop shut and walked offstage.
