Kanye West Was Supposed to Be on a Hit Jennifer Lopez Song, but He Used His Verse for His Own Song Instead
Jennifer Lopez rose to prominence in the late 1990s following her breakout role in Selena and her transition into a hit-making music career. J. Lo’s success continued into the 2000s, which saw the rise of another massive artist, Kanye West. At one point, Kanye was set to be a featured guest on one of J. Lo’s biggest songs. But at the last minute, the “Power” rapper decided to use his verse for his own music.
Jennifer Lopez rose to fame in the early 1990s
Jennifer Lopez was first introduced into American households in 1991 as a Fly Girl dancer on the hit sketch comedy show In Living Color. She launched a career as an actor in the mid-1990s, and with Selena in 1997, she became the most bankable Latina star at the time: she was the first Latina actor to be paid $1 million for a movie. Shortly after the success of Selena, J. Lo switched careers again, diving headfirst into the music industry. Her debut album On the 6 was released in 1999. She followed it up with her early 2000s albums J. Lo and This Is Me… Then.
At the same time, Kanye West was an up-and-coming producer from Chicago working for Roc-a-Fella Records and producing for artists including Janet Jackson, Ludacris, and Alicia Keys. He found success as a rapper with his debut album The College Dropout, released in 2004, and subsequent albums Late Registration, Graduation, 808s & Heartbreak, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Kanye West was supposed to be a featured guest on Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Get Right’ but used his verse for his own album
In 2005, following her breakup from her now-husband Ben Affleck, J. Lo released her fourth studio album, aptly titled Rebirth. “Get Right” was released as the lead single for the album, with a remix with Fabolous later being released. But before Fabolous hopped on the remix, Kanye West was slated to appear on the song. Ultimately, however, West ended up using the verse he’d written for “Get Right” for “Gone” from his sophomore album Late Registration.
Consequence, who was featured on “Gone” alongside fellow rapper Cam’ron, revealed details about how the song came to be in a 2023 interview with HipHopDX.
“The first verse for ‘Gone’ was originally supposed to be on J.Lo’s ‘Get Right,'” Consequence said. He explained that J. Lo’s camp just wanted Kanye on the song, leading Kanye to stand up for his friend.
“They didn’t want me to be on it,” Consequence said. “At the time they were just like, ‘We just wanna have Kanye on it.’ And Kanye was like, ‘Yo, if Cons don’t do it, I’m not doing it.’ Fact.” Kanye’s verse went on to be used on “Gone.”
Jennifer Lopez once judged Kanye West on ‘American Idol’
Though J. Lo and Kanye never got to release a song together, Lopez had the chance to “judge” Kanye when she was a judge on American Idol. West made a surprise appearance on American Idol‘s 15th season in 2015 (with wife Kim Kardashian in tow) — not as a billed musical performer, but as a regular person auditioning for their shot at stardom just like everyone else who passed through that audition room.
