In an interview released today by French publication L’obs, Damon Albarn of the Gorillaz joined the conversation surrounding the ethics of Mr. Kanye West, when he criticized the use of West’s sampling, and accused him of “abusing” Paul McCartney in his 2015 single with the British legend and Rihanna, “Four Five Seconds,” in which McCartney’s role took a major backseat. “It’s rude,” continued Albarn, “We’re talking about Paul McCartney, anyway!”
McCartney himself recently admitted that the experience was strange and confusing – with Kanye looking at pictures of his wife, Kim Kardashian, while Paul wrote and wondered when Kanye would join in. Only later did he realize he had been credited as a writer on the song. “He was listening to this riff I was doing and obviously he knew in his mind that he could use that, so he took it, sped it up and then somehow got Rihanna to sing on it,” McCartney told DIY last week. The Beatles icon later politely suggested that Kanye’s songwriting process was… untraditional, to say the least.
It’s usually not a great sign that your life is headed in the right direction when stars like Paul McCartney and Damon Albarn are displeased with your work, but with West’s latest remarks on slavery, lipo, and one particularly tanned commander-in-chief, it doesn’t really seem like he cares much about what people think. More power to you, Ye? Check out the interview here.
If you haven’t heard the song, listen to it below.
Photo credit: Getty Images
