"Showtime" is an unreleased song by Kanye West, James Blake, and No I.D. that was made during the WAR sessions.
Background[]
Kanye West first premiered "Showtime" at a party in London on September 26, 2022. The song appeared in an IG live by Naomi Campbell, which led to James Blake to confirm that he produced the song. He also produced two other songs played at the party, titled "What I Would Have Said At Virgil’s Funeral" and (unofficially) "Never Coming Back".[1][2]
The song sounds introspective or uplifting in nature, making use of backing vocals and a building instrumental. Based on leaks, the song's chorus can be interpreted as "yo' time" or "show time," hence the song title.[3] On July 21, 2024, James confirmed that "Showtime" was indeed the title of the song.[4] Despite this, trusted leaker Luit stated it was not named "Showtime", leaving the real name of the song unclear. It was also confirmed to have been brought back into reconsideration for YEBU under the name "Rolling".[5]
It would be confirmed that the song was brought back into reconsideration for Kanye's next solo studio album BULLY on January 23rd, 2025 with new guitar production and a Don Toliver feature that was likely recorded in October when Don Toliver was in Japan with Kanye.[6] The snippets were presented after another groupbuy for an earlier version of the song was cancelled after the seller unreasonably asked for 5 figures for the unfinished song.[7]
References[]
- ↑ "Kanye West previews new songs made with James Blake in London" by Alex Gallagher. NME. September 27, 2022.
- ↑ "As with the other two" by @jamesblake on Twitter. September 26, 2022.
- ↑ "Showtime" by Kanye West on Genius. Retrieved on September 27, 2022.
- ↑ https://x.com/yeunrlsd/status/1815014033495331152
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/1grp90g/showtime_is_actually_titled_rolling/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/1fxjpqk/baby_keem_and_don_toliver_together_in_a_club_in/
- ↑ https://krakenfiles.com/view/rLxj4t68My/file.html