New Version of Kanye’s ‘I Thought About Killing You’ Uploaded with Altered Lyrics

The cover of Kanye West’s ‘Ye’; Photo: GOOD Music

Kanye West created a media firestorm when he made the asinine comment that slavery was a choice. Shortly after the controversial statement he explained to Big Boy TV that it caused him to start over and rewrite Ye.

“I completely redid the album after TMZ and sat there and really honed in on the words,” he said “Cause also we know now, it’s all headlines. Every bar can be used. It’s even bars that we had about [the slavery being a choice comments], I took them all off the album. It was just too sensitive to talk about that topic and stuff. I was like, ‘Yo, I’ma just chill right now. Let’s just keep making some music.'”

It’s not clear what was changed, but just a few days after the interview a version of “I Thought About Killing You” was uploaded with lyrics that reference slavery. At the 3:40 minute mark, Kanye raps:

If I wasn’t shining so hard, wouldn’t be no shade/Buckwheat ass n**ga, it’s gon’ be okay/Sorry but I chose not to be no slave/Young n**ga, n**ga, we don’t age

In an interview with Power 106, Kim Kardashian West explained how she told Kanye that he needed to remove a line from the album. “On the ride here, I was like ‘no no, you’ve got to take this line out,’” she said. Which line and from what song is unclear, but many speculate it’s the verse in the recently updated version of “I Thought About Killing You.”

When Kanye made the outrageous claim that slavery was a choice it was arguably the biggest blunder of his career. “When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” Kanye said at the time. “Like, you were there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all?” The statement had an explosive effect that altered the creative direction of Ye.

It’s uncertain who uploaded the latest version of “I Thought About Killing You” or when it was written, before or after the interview with TMZ. But what is clear is that Ye was not what it was originally intended to be and as a result the album fell flat. Kanye has yet to comment on the most recent version of Ye‘s opener.