Nicki Minaj has shut down Kanye West‘s dreams of putting their “New Body” collaboration on his new album.
The two rap icons recorded the song in 2018 for Kanye’s Yandhi album, which was never released, but now he’s trying to include it on Vultures, his upcoming joint project with Ty Dolla $ign.
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Ye took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday (December 14) to share a screenshot of a text message he sent to Nicki asking for her permission to use the track.
“Hi it’s ye, may I call you about clearing new body on the new album,” he wrote, while tagging the Pink Friday 2 rapper in his post.
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Shortly after, Nicki Minaj went on Instagram Live to reject his request, citing the song’s age.
“Now, regarding Kanye, that train has left the station, okay?” she said. “No disrespect in any way. I just put out a brand new album. Why would I put out a song that’s been out for three years? Come on, guys.”
Speaking to The Shade Room in October 2019, Nicki Minaj revealed that she was asked to re-record her “New Body” verse to fit Kanye West’s gospel album Jesus Is King, but she wasn’t “seeing eye to eye” with the Yeezy mogul.
“What’s funny is that I did a song with Kanye, that he now wants to transform into a gospel song,” she said. “I done wrote three different verses chile, and I don’t know. We ain’t seeing eye to eye on it. I don’t know, but of course, I love and respect Kanye, and Kim, we’ll see what happens with that.”
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Nicki later elaborated on the status of “New Body” during an interview with Hot 106 in February 2022.
“I respect everybody and where they are in life, where they are spiritually,” she said. “The public adored ‘New Body.’ Like, ‘New Body’ is the biggest hit record that never came out.
“So what I thought was interesting was that Kanye made me write my ‘New Body’ verse four times over in order to fit into where he was creatively and spiritually in his life, right, only to then, I go on the internet a few months later to see him on Drink Champs.”
She continued: “I missed it by a year, I guess. Had ‘New Body’ been out when he was not in his gospel era, then it would’ve seen the light of day. But, it didn’t, so it wasn’t meant to be.
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“Everybody knows that’s the hit that got away … I think the ship has sailed for ‘New Body,’ everybody has come to love the original way they heard it.”
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign played an updated version of “New Body” during their Vultures listening event in Miami earlier this week.
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The album was scheduled to be released at midnight on Friday (December 15), but has yet to appear on streaming services. It’s unclear if Nicki Minaj refusing to clear “New Body” is the sole reason for the delay.
