As has likely been glaringly apparent for some time now, penning Ye-related news hits has become a multi-pronged task as of late thanks to the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s return to public statements about Nazism. This month alone, Ye has gone from “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” to “After further reflection I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a Nazi.” Along the way, there was the convoluted suggestion, seemingly at least, that Ye was taking a bit of inspiration from Joaquin Phoenix’s performance art-driven I’m Still Here with this current facet of his public persona.
At any rate, the latest from Ye to receive headlines attention thankfully has nothing to do with flippantly treating the death of millions of people as mere fodder, though many are still left scratching their heads. Ye is taking the reins as a producer on The Game’s new album, The Documentary 3, and a recent tease of their work together incorporates everything from a banana emoji allegedly sent to Tina Knowles to what very much sounds like a sample of a classic Tina Turner song.
First, in the wee hours of Tuesday, Ye shared an Instagram update centered on a half-peeled banana emoji, albeit without context. This was followed by a photo of an iPhone showing a DM sent to Knowles with this exact emoji, with Ye captioning the pic, “This Game’s phone.” Not long after, Ye shared another update, this time showing Knowles’ Jennifer Hudson Show walkout, captioning the clip with “Game finna slide for the guys.”
Studio footage of Game laying down vocals followed, after which Ye shared an impromptu, Blair Witch-esque video for the track, which does indeed appear to sample both Knowles’ Hudson moment and Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” In the song, Game tucks in a Destiny’s Child mention and is joined on the mic by Ye himself, marking a continuation of the two’s past collaborations including the Pete Davidson-mocking “Eazy” in 2022.
At the end of the video, an unknown individual is prompted to explain what, exactly, has transpired, leading to a somewhat scripted-sounding breakdown beginning with “it started off as a joke” and landing at a tease of Game’s new album.
“Then the music video turned into the basis of his whole album, and then before we knew it, The Documentary 3,” the individual tells the camera.
As of this writing, Knowles, notably the mother to both Beyoncé and Solange, has not addressed any of this. The song itself, meanwhile, has not yet shown up on streaming services. The Documentary 3, if it arrives at some point in 2025, will come roughly a decade after The Documentary 2, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
