Paul McCartney: Kanye West Was ‘Scrolling Through Images of Kim [Kardashian]’ During Songwriting Session

Paul McCartney and Kanye West were surprise collaborators in the mid-2010s. The two worked on three songs that ended up as hits, giving McCartney his first pop hit in a few decades. During a songwriting session for their first single together, McCartney recalls Kanye West scrolling through images of then-wife Kim Kardashian. 

Paul McCartney and Kanye West worked together on ‘Only One’

In 2014, Kanye West — who now goes by Ye — and Paul McCartney teamed up on the song “Only One.” The song was recorded over a two-day period in Mexico in which McCartney and West, alongside other artists, recorded a total of nine songs. It also includes uncredited vocals from Ty Dolla $ign. 

Following its debut, “Only One” peaked at number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100, earning McCartney his first top 40 hit since 1989. In a press release, West said he was singing the lyrics to “Only One” from the perspective of his mother, Donda West, who died in 2007. 

Paul McCartney says Kanye West was looking at pictures of Kim Kardashian while creating the song

In an interview with Billboard, McCartney discussed working with Kanye West. He says he was surprised to find out modern hits were written by several songwriters, and he met up with the “Gold Digger” singer at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Before the two began, McCartney was strumming his guitar while Kanye West was scrolling through his iPad, looking at photos of Kim Kardashian. 

“I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn’t want it to be at his house or my house, because it could be awkward if one of us wanted to leave. So we met on neutral ground — a cottage at the Beverly Hills Hotel — and I showed up with a guitar and my roadie, and we had a keyboard and a bass. I was sitting around, strumming the guitar — that’s normally how I start a song — and Kanye was looking at his iPad, basically scrolling through images of Kim [Kardashian]. So we were telling stories, and at one point I told him how “Let It Be” came from a dream about my mother, who had died years before, where she said, “Don’t worry, just let it be.” He said, “I’m going to write a song about my mother,” so I sat down at this little Wurlitzer keyboard and started playing some chords, and he started singing. I thought, “Oh, are we going to finish this?” but that was that. And it became “Only One.”

Kim and Kanye were married in 2014, so he must have been in the honeymoon phase and was lovestruck with his wife. The two later got divorced earlier this year. 

McCartney had a unique and enjoyable experience while working with West

In an interview with GQ, McCartney described the unique experience of working with Ye. The former Beatle says these sessions were “puzzling,” but he left with a good impression of West. The writing session consisted mainly of McCartney occasionally playing his guitar and the piano while West recorded everything on his iPhone. 

“I had my bass ready in case we were going to get more serious. I thought we might actually sit down and write a song in the way I was used to writing a song—actually craft something there and then. It turned out we were creating an ‘ingredient pool,’ which is how he does it…I did leave the session liking him and thinking he’s a very interesting guy.”

Following “Only One,” the two collaborated on two more songs: “All Day” and “FourFiveSeconds” with Rihanna.