Believe What I Say
"Believe What I Say" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his tenth studio album, Donda (2021). The song features additional vocals from Buju Banton, Dem Jointz and Stalone; and samples "Doo Wop (That Thing)" by Lauryn Hill. It was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio as the album's third single on November 30, 2021 (second promoted to radio formats).
"Believe What I Say"
November 30, 2021[1]
September 2020 – August 2021
4:02
- Kanye West
- Anthony Markeith Reid
- Mark Myrie
- Cristi Gallo
- Dwayne Abernathy
- Michael Mulé
- Isaac De Boni
- Mark Williams
- Raul Cubina
- Jahmal Gwin
- Anthony Reid
- Kanye West
- Dem Jointz
- FnZ
- Ojivolta
- BoogzDaBeast
- Antman Wonder
The song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, and also reached the top 40 in Australia and Canada.
Background[edit]
On September 15, 2020, West posted a series of tweets about his relationship with Universal Music Group.[5] In the tweets, the rapper expressed desire to buy back his master recordings. He went on to leak his full recording contract documents between himself and Universal. He also stated that he is "not putting no more music out until I'm done with my contract with Sony and Universal.".[6] The next day, on September 16, West flew out to Jamaica and recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn, the former of which features on the track.[7] On September 26, West shared a snippet of "Believe What I Say" on his Twitter account.[5][8] The track samples Lauryn Hill's 1998 song "Doo Wop (That Thing)".
The track was officially previewed on August 26, 2021 at the Donda listening event at Soldier Field. On September 9, composer Antman Wonder, who was initially left off the credits, posted the original version of the track; claiming that West had not properly credited his, as well as several other artists' contributions to Donda.[9][10] The credits were later updated to include his contribution.