"What I Would Have Said At Virgil’s Funeral" (more commonly referred to as "Always") is an unreleased song by Kanye West, James Blake, and No I.D. that was first played in September 2022, alongside "Showtime" and "Never Coming Back," likely being produced for the unreleased album, WAR.
The song features James Blake singing some repetitive lines before the song breaks into a dance-like groove with Ye repeating "Always." Ye has some verses that are not fully fleshed out and are currently filled with some mumble.[1]
Background[]
A portion of the song was played at a party in London on September 26, 2022, which happened to be James Blake's birthday.[2] That night, Blake confirmed on Twitter that he produced the song (as well as the other two.)[3] A full cut of "Always" was played at Yeezy Season 9, which was held a week later. That version still contained mumble, but revealed more of the track than what was played at the party.[4]
Two versions of the song would leak online in 2023. The first to leak was a version with Vory, removing some of Ye's verses. on September 30. Later, on October 27, the version with Ye's mumble verses would leak, dated April 7, 2022.
References[]
- ↑ "Always" by Kanye West on Genius. Retrieved on September 27, 2022.
- ↑ "Kanye West previews new songs made with James Blake in London" by Alex Gallagher. NME. September 27, 2022.
- ↑ "Doesn’t sample ‘always’. It’s new." by @jamesblake on Twitter. September 26, 2022.
- ↑ "Kanye West Plays James Blake Collaboration, Wears 'White Lives Matter' Shirt at Paris Fashion Week Show" by Matthew Strauss. Pitchfork. October 3, 2022.