"CAN U BE" (previously known as "Pressure") is a song by ¥$ (Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign) that was released as the seventeenth and final track from the DIGITAL DELUXE 5 edition of their second studio album, VULTURES 2. The song was once crowned as Kanye's biggest grail and one of the artist's most popular leaks. The track is most commonly associated with the SWISH era, though for a long time, was incorrectly believed to be from Turbo Grafx 16. The song has been previewed multiple times since 2015.
An unrelated song, "Forever," was also believed to be a "WAVES Outro" and part of the song, though this was also eventually proven to be false when "Forever" leaked online in 2023.[1] "Pressure" would remain un-leaked in full up until May 26, 2024. According to an insider, Kanye was aware of the hype surrounding the song but didn't like it personally.
Production[]
This song's sample contains a chop of the phrase "Don't be afraid." in the song "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" by Diana Ross.
Two more samples were discovered by the community in 2023, a vocal sample from Keith Hudson's "National Anthem", used in a background vocal which was believed to sound like "Get off me..", as well as a synth sample from the song "Haunted" by ROB from the soundtrack to Maniac.
Background[]
"Never Let Me Go"[]
The origins of "Can U Be" can be traced back to an early Yeezus 2 era demo called "Never Let Me Go", of which two solo Kanye versions are leaked. The first was characterized by a rough and stripped-down production, with Ye primarily vocally riffing without fully developed lyrics. The song can also clearly be heard in a lower quality, sounding like a voice memo recording. The second demo still had a rough quality, with Kanye mumble singing over basic musical elements. The demo was also called "Get Off Me" due to its sample.
The song "Never Let Me Go" was eventually reworked into the song known as "Can U Be". From this point forward, all known versions of the song have a completely different instrumental and production from NLMG, though notably, the aforementioned samples are still used.
Reference tracks[]
Two reference tracks from artist Kirby Lauryen exist for the track, apparently meant to be used by Rihanna. These leaked on October 2, 2022, and December 18, 2023, respectively.
Glastonbury[]
In 2015, Kanye performed at Glastonbury, and three SWISH songs were played during stage setup. Along with "I Feel Like That" and "2 Rihannas", a version of "Pressure" was played.
Ye backstage at Glastonbury
A very short snippet of an early version was posted on Instagram in June 2015, to a video of Kanye dancing backstage at Glastonbury (not a studio.) There also exists a low-quality recording in which all 3 aforementioned tracks can be faintly heard. The version played was almost certainly cut down from its original length to about 1 minute and 55 seconds.
Although not played in full, this is the only version of "Pressure" in which a snippet was longer than a minute, albeit at a very low quality. The "Get off me" sample is still used here, which means it was likely still used in later "Can U Be" versions.
The song was believed to have a feature of either Drake or Kid Cudi, though upon further listening, many have asserted that they sound like rough Kanye vocals. However, in 2023, Mez (or King Mez) confirmed that he sang the bridge for "Can U Be", though these vocals were intended to be a reference for Ye and were later recorded over.
There also exist three short snippets of the track which were recorded at a higher volume, from a private listening party and posted on KTT (Kanye To The).[2] The snippet from "Forever" was recorded at the same party, which ultimately led to "Forever" being mistaken for an outro to the song.[1]
Travis Scott version[]
On Wednesday, October 21, 2020, Che Pope played a version of "Can U Be" on an Instagram live stream. An unknown user had screen recorded a short clip of this. A Shazam icon can be seen on the screen, implying the user was attempting to find the song's name. In the snippet, the following Travis Scott lyrics can be heard on the bridge (which was previously sang by Mez):
"Stone-hearted, my love is cold, minus, Before we go, I got one question"
Naturally, many fans believed that Che Pope would end up playing the full song at some point, however he refused to do so ever again.[3]
On May 25, 2024, someone claiming to have had the song had proposed a groupbuy for it with the song priced at $30,000. The following day the groupbuy had been hosted at a lower price of $25,000, resulting in several other songs like Field Trip, the Quentin Miller reference for PROBLEMATIC and an alternate Sampha verse version of Saint Pablo leaking. That exact same day, the price had been met, resulting in a solo version of the song and the Travis Scott sessions version both leaking.
This version of the song had been intended to have had a feature from Lil Uzi Vert on it and had been sent to them to record on, but they never had.[4]
Release[]
On August 8, Ye insider Joyboy A.K.A. Saint Leon had confirmed "Can U Be" had been brought back into consideration for the VULTURES 2 deluxe.[5] This is shortly after YouTube's copyright system began identifying the song as "Can U Be" by ¥$ instead of Kanye.[6] The song had also been said to have been updated with new Bon Iver vocals from a YEBU insider, although their credibility should be questioned as they have gotten most of their info on the album wrong and lied about producing for VULTURES 1.[7]
The song released shortly after the release of "BELIEVER", "DRUNK", and "GUN TO MY HEAD" on August 8th.[8] Once again, like "530", it was not an updated version of the song and was a YouTube rip.
Leak History[]
Main article: Can U Be/History
The history of "Can U Be" has a long and complicated history within the Kanye West community and specifically, has been a subject of controversy in terms of leaks. The general consensus seems to be of the following:
Infamous leak group MusicMafia are generally believed to be the sole owners of the song. They would put up a version of the song up for sale for 2 BTC in June 2017. Around this time, 1 Bitcoin was worth about $2500-$2900 USD, meaning to groupbuy the song would have cost in the range of $5000-$5800. The song did not end up getting funded, despite there appearing to be hype for the song at the time. The lyrics of the verse audible in the snippet are as follows:
I caught a wave
Caught more air than Super Dave
Call Aaliyah, I'm super paid
Jet-laggin', tryna recuperate
Just got off the flight from Budapest
Don't need Khaled to say "you the best!"
You the type of n**** to shop at Uniqlo
Just found out my father-in-law unisex
Running out of money, running into debt
Running from bill collectors, I ain't paid them yet
Shit you deal with no matter how rich you get
And even more, depending on the bitch you get
I be getting worried for my n**** getting married, seriously
This version has a high quality snippet, being 37 seconds long and having most of a verse audible. The full song was said to be 3:14 long. It has production by Havoc, (specifically, the drums) which was incorrectly misattributed to Hudson Mohawke for some reason. However, the group would eventually shut down, leading many to believe that no one else had a copy. However, rumors exist that multiple other individuals are in possession of "Can U Be", but unwilling to sell or release it to the public, lest a very high price be paid (estimated to be upwards of $20,000 USD). In addition, due to how the leaked music community operates, any efforts to sell or release the song would likely be shut down by the other owners.[9][10] Therefore, the song had not leaked in full for years and was considered to be "vaulted" by leakers, meaning they were intentionally keeping it private for personal enjoyment.
An anonymous editor on this wiki who claimed to have been member of the unreleased music community since 2015, provided more information about the song, though should be taken with a grain of salt. Full information can be found in the sub-page linked above.
In November 2023, streamer Adin Ross revealed that he purchased a version of "Can U Be" with AI Travis Scott vocals for $200,000 several years ago and played a snippet of it on a stream.[11] In May 2024, Adin played two snippets of the song and claimed that Ye himself sent him the song.[12] Only 2 days after these snippets were leaked, seller GucciTunes offered to set up a group-buy for the song, which was priced at $100,000. He also promised several bonuses, including a full 40-song freestyle mixtape by Ye, Kendrick Lamar, and Madlib. On May 26, he lowered the price of the group-buy to $25,000, which the community accepted. Two versions of the song were leaked later that day, one with sole Kanye vocals and the other with Travis' vocals.
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
Ch-ch-ch-check this out, we just redid the whole thing
Ow, haha, tremendous, tremendous, isn't it great? Tremendous
Yeah man, I-I'm thinking of redoing it again
Why? Haha
Because I'm making an upgrade
You're unable to do that
Yeah, we're doing alright, man, I can't complain
Isn't the market down though?
It is down hill, but she you know she wants more, so I'm giving her more, man
But the pressure, man, its like
You okay? I'm not okay
Don't tell anybody, listen to me
I feel like I'm getting crushed and, crushed by what? Everything
The family, the baby, the job
The fuckin' dicks at work
And it's like, you know, like, I'm trying to do this, you know, and then I'm, like, suffocating
Holy shit
You can't be happy all the time
Who told you you can't be happy? It's alright
You just do your best, you have no choice
That's not true at all
You just, you just can't
Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie
[Chorus]
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Will you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Will you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Will you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
[Bridge]
I grab that Colt .45 off my lap
If I blow my mind, can't get that back
Stone-hearted, my love is cold, minus
Before we go, I got one question
[Chorus]
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Will you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be), Can you be? (Be)
[Interlude]
Get off me (Ooh), get off me (Ooh), get off me (Ooh), get off me (Ooh)
Get off me (Ooh), get off me (Ooh), get off me (Ooh), get off me
Get- (Ooh)
[Verse]
I caught a wave
Caught more air than Super Dave
Call Aaliyah, I'm super paid
Jet-laggin', tryna recuperate
Just got off the flight from Budapest
Don't need Khaled to say "You the best"
You the type of n*gga shop at Uniqlo
Just found out my father-in-law unisex
Running out of money, running into debt
Running from bill collectors, I ain't paid them yet
Shit you deal with no matter how rich you get
And even more, dependin' on the bitch you get
And I ain't got the free time no more
This dick ain't promotional
They say I'm antisocial, yo
She textin' mad face over and over, yo
I say, "Why you gettin' so damn emoji-onal?", Uh
I ain't gotta talk about how stressed I am
I'm going crazy as Jesus, I'm going Bethle-HAM
N*ggas say somethin' 'bout it, thought so
You can't say nothin' 'bout it, also
This room too fuckin' crowded, caught up
Some when I'm up and out it, although
I can see you crawlin' through the interest
I can see your agendas and your intent
But it ain't really gotta be that intense
Go ahead, meditate, like some incense
I'm up late, 4AM, overseas
In the bed like, "Damn, I done finally reached the end of the Internet"
[Outro]
Be a-be a—
Be a-be a—
Be a-be a—
Be afraid, be afraid
Be a-be a—
Be a-be a—
Be a-be a—
Be afraid, be afraid
[Intro]
Off me, off, get off me
Off, get off me, off, get off me
Off, get off me, off, get off me
Off, get off me, off, get off me
Off, get off me
[Verse 1]
Na, na, don’t talk to me (Yeah)
Turn me up
Na, na, na, runnin' up softly
Go win it or some, well?
Oh, some, someone make love
Make [?] and you know it
I make all the stuff that you know
And I know you
You know it, and I know something, but can’t help
I can't help, [?] know it
And I know, no, no, I know
[Interlude]
Get off me, off, get off me (Yeah), off
Get off me (Ooh), off, get off me, off (Be, b—, be, b—)
Get off me, off, get off me, off
Get off me, off, get off me, off
Get off me, off (Be, b—, be, b—)
[Verse 2]
[?]
Oh, oh, woah
Talk to me
I know you wanna
Let me go, what the?
Don't let me go
[Chorus]
You'll never let me go, You'll never let me go
You'll never let me go, You'll never let me go
You'll never let me go. You'll never let me go
You'll never let me go
[Post-Chorus]
(Be)
You be? (Be) Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be) Can you be (Be)
Can you be? (Be) Will you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be) Can you be?
Oh yeah
[Chorus]
You'll never let me go, you'll never let me go
You'll never let me go, you'll never let me go
You'll never let me go, you'll never let me go
You'll never let me go, you'll never let me go
[Post-Chorus]
Pull up my head, save my money (Be)
Be (Be), can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be) Can you be? (Be)
Can you be? (Be) Can you be? (Be)
Can you— (Be, b—, be, b—)
[Outro]
Let me go
You'll never let me go, you'll never let me go
Stop it
Trivia[]
- "Never Let Me Go" and "Can U Be" share a sample with another Yeezus 2 song, "God Level", being Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye's "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)".
- A fake instrumental claiming to be legitimate was leaked in 2021, and was believed to be so for a period of time.
- This instrumental contained the "Forever" outro, which instantly proves that it's fake, as the two songs are unrelated (this was not known at the time.)
- Ye himself had confirmed that "Can U Be" won't release. This was confirmed by a user on KTT, who was at the Wyoming listening party for ye in May 2018, and met Ye.[13] Despite this, the song released as a single for the VULTURES 2 deluxe on August 8, 2024.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/WestSubEver/comments/ktd1y7/how_can_u_be_accidentally_became_the_biggest/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/WestSubEver/comments/lhyxga/comment/gn0dx53
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/WestSubEver/comments/ji2cb4/chepope_says_no_more_can_u_be/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/liluzivert/comments/1d1gn4q/uzi_was_supposed_to_be_on_can_u_be_kanyes_comm/
- ↑ https://x.com/crzballer/status/1821630217103851710
- ↑ https://x.com/yeunrlsd/status/1821334636133318815
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/ThroughTheWire/comments/1eng7wz/can_u_be_with_travis_and_bon_iver_otw/
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/album/2NNMnFe0vLEkGBpFNiGIlO?si=FdiuZC1BTXWtWhqC97dYRQ
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/YandhiLeaks/comments/ewwfko/actual_information_about_can_u_be_i_have_no_idea/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/YandhiLeaks/comments/evq3lu/does_private_buyer_own_can_u_be_because_since/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/17pfsjq/adin_ross_claims_he_spent_200k_on_an_ai_version/
- ↑ https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/805382-adin-ross-alleged-kanye-west-snippet-hip-hop-news
- ↑ https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/my-wyoming-listening-party-experience.7867161/?post_id=519114009&nested_view=1#post-519114009
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