The job of writing Ye-related news has become complicated lately due to the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s return to making public statements about Nazism. This month alone, Ye has gone from saying “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” to declaring “After further reflection I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a Nazi.” Along the way, there was the confusing hint that Ye might be taking inspiration from Joaquin Phoenix’s performance art project I’m Still Here for his current public persona.
Anyway, the latest Ye headlines thankfully don’t involve casually treating the deaths of millions as just something to talk about, though many people are still confused. Ye is producing The Game’s new album, The Documentary 3, and a recent preview of their collaboration includes everything from a banana emoji reportedly sent to Tina Knowles to what really sounds like a sample from a classic Tina Turner song.
First, early Tuesday morning, Ye posted an Instagram update showing a half-peeled banana emoji without any explanation. This was followed by a photo of an iPhone displaying a DM sent to Knowles with the exact same emoji, with Ye writing “This Game’s phone” as the caption. Shortly after, Ye shared another post showing Knowles’ entrance on the Jennifer Hudson Show, captioning the clip with “Game finna slide for the guys.”
After that, Ye posted studio footage of Game recording vocals, then shared a spontaneous, Blair Witch-style video for the track, which does seem to sample both Knowles’ Hudson moment and Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” In the song, Game throws in a Destiny’s Child reference and shares the mic with Ye himself, continuing their history of collaborations like the Pete Davidson-targeting “Eazy” from 2022.
At the end of the video, someone off-camera is asked to explain what exactly went down, resulting in a somewhat rehearsed-sounding explanation that begins with “it started off as a joke” and ends with a teaser for Game’s upcoming album.
“Then the music video turned into the basis of his whole album, and then before we knew it, The Documentary 3,” the person tells the camera.
As this article goes to press, Knowles – who happens to be the mom of both Beyoncé and Solange – hasn’t responded to any of this drama. The track itself hasn’t appeared on streaming platforms yet. If The Documentary 3 drops sometime in 2025, it’ll arrive about ten years after The Documentary 2, which climbed to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
