List of unreleased projects by Kanye West
The following is a list of unreleased Kanye West projects in rough chronological order. During his career, American rapper Kanye West has developed several projects which were never formally published. Some were officially canceled or scrapped, while others fell into development hell. The level of completion of these projects vary widely, with some never leaving pre-production and others being nearly finished.
Music projects
''World Record Holders''
In 1996, West—alongside GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar—formed a Chicago rap group called the Go Getters. The group recorded a number of songs and made local radio appearances, but their debut album, World Record Holders, was never officially released. The album leaked online in 2010.1997 beat tape
A set of eight tracks, allegedly from an unreleased beat tape West produced in 1997, was uploaded to SoundCloud in May 2016. XXL found it to be plausible that the tape was authentic, and identified one of the beats as an early version of Infamous Syndicate's "What You Do to Me".''The College Dropout'' alternate version
West's original version of The College Dropout was leaked online months before release, and in response he made several changes to the album's instrumentation and mixing. The removed tracks include a song called "My Way", as well as early versions of the eventual Late Registration tracks "Hey Mama" and "Gold Digger", the former of which West described in a 2003 MTV News interview before The College Dropout's release, was made in 2000. Featured appearances from rappers Ol' Dirty Bastard and Consequence were also removed.''Good Ass Job''
West initially intended to release his first four albums as a college-themed series, with Good Ass Job being the final album. Good Ass Job was foreshadowed in some of West's earlier songs; for instance, the track "Graduation Day" on The College Dropout alluded to the title with the lyric "She wants me to get a good ass job just like everybody." West also revealed this intention to MTV News in 2003, before The College Dropout release. West adhered to this plan with Late Registration and Graduation, but after the death of his mother Donda West and his breakup with fiancée Alexis Phifer, he pivoted to an electropop project titled 808s & Heartbreak for his fourth album in 2008.In a January 2009 interview with French magazine Elle, West changed the upcoming album's title to Winter-Spring-Summer-Fall, featuring 12 songs, with three songs for each season. That September, West received worldwide controversy and criticism for interrupting Taylor Swift during her acceptance of the award for Best Female Video during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, referring to "Single Ladies " as being "one of the best videos of all time." The incident was a turning point in the development of Good Ass Job, prompting West's decision to exile himself to Oahu, Hawaii.
Via Rap Radar in February 2010, incoming GOOD Music rapper Big Sean confirmed that the project was still under the title Good Ass Job; Billboard also corroborated the title that July. However, on October 5, 2010, West announced the title's change to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, claiming it was always the title during the production. The same month, he confirmed to MTV News about why he changed it:
changed it because I didn't want to do the Good Ass Job thing and have to stick to the skits and everything that went with that. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and my album cover are just... those things are just awesome. It's really proper, decadent, soulful, lavishness, and it's exactly what I wanna say.
On September 17, 2018, West made a surprise appearance at Chance the Rapper's Open Mike event, revealing that he and Chance were working on an album titled Good Ass Job. After the announcement, no further updates took place, and by the following year it was assumed that the album had been abandoned. Despite the scrapped idea, West has stated that his recording sessions with Chance helped West reconnect with his roots and faith in Christianity. The song "Hurricane", which originated from these sessions, is credited as the catalyst for the creation of Yandhi.
"RoboCop" music video
On March 11, 2009, Clash reported that West was shooting a music video for the song with his then-girlfriend Amber Rose. It was recorded in Los Angeles after West had to persuade Rose to fly there for the shooting. Speaking to MTV News four months later, Rose said that she plays a robot throughout the video and appears alone for 95 percent of it. During an on-set interview, West expressed that the visual was inspired by his love for video games, characterizing making a video look equally good to a game as "the holy grail". He explained that rather than utilizing computer-generated imagery, the "intensity" should come off the screen.The music video was directed by Hype Williams. Although the video did not experience an official release, Shihan Barbee shared a 13-second stop-motion clip from it to Instagram on August 8, 2014. Accompanying the clip, Barbee posted: "Wish he had released this video. Super dope." The clip has a pink technicolor backdrop, which West stands in front while wearing a tuxedo that accompanies his faux hawk and tucking his hands in his pockets. West stands face-to-face with a nude robot that has Rose's head digitally inserted onto it with the addition of sunglasses; she makes robotic movements simultaneously with him rapping. At certain points, West makes exaggerated faces to the camera.
The full version of the music video was leaked in October 2024.
''Watch the Throne 2''
In December 2011, Jay-Z stated in an interview with MTV News that a sequel to Watch the Throne would be released after solo projects from Jay-Z and West. In May 2012, Watch the Throne co-producer Mike Dean stated in an interview that Watch the Throne 2 was being planned. Jay-Z reiterated in an August 2013 interview with Power 106 that a sequel to Watch the Throne was being planned. When paparazzi asked West about Watch the Throne 2, he said "Stop talking to me" and then attacked him when he asked again.On April 5, 2016, Drake released "Pop Style", featuring West and Jay-Z, as a single for Views. However, when the album released, West and Jay-Z's features were removed. West blamed the removed verses on exclusivity deals by Apple Music and Tidal. While performing in Seattle during the Saint Pablo Tour, West said that Watch the Throne 2 would not be released, blaming Jay-Z for removing West's verse from the song.
In September 8, 2018, West tweeted that Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon." At the time, it was not clear if West and Jay-Z were in contact as West stated in a May 2018 interview that he had not been in contact with Jay-Z since the Saint Pablo Tour speech. It was reported in October 2018 that Jay-Z had severed ties with West over West's political rants in support of Donald Trump. In November 2018, Meek Mill released Championships, which features a Jay-Z guest appearance on "What's Free". Jay-Z references West on the song, rapping "No red hat, don't Michael and Prince me and Ye." Soon after the release, Jay-Z clarified on Twitter that the line was not a diss against West; West responded suggesting a Watch the Throne sequel.
In July 2021, West previewed the song "Jail", which featured Jay-Z, at a Donda listening party in Atlanta. The song sparked speculation that a Watch the Throne sequel was in development, with Jay-Z rapping: "This might be the return of The Throne." The following month, West affiliate Justin Laboy stated that Watch the Throne 2 was to release later that year.
In an October 2022 Drink Champs interview, West again stated that Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon". Earlier that year, Fivio Foreign revealed that Jay-Z was meant to record for "City of Gods", though this fell through due to West being "too impatient" to wait for Jay-Z to record, despite being adamant that he be featured.
''Cruel Winter''
In September 2012, American rapper Q-Tip was questioned about his lack of involvement on Cruel Summer and stated, "I know, I know, I'm sorry about that but I have to let the cat out of the bag. Kanye's probably gonna get... if there's a Cruel Summer then there's got to be a Cruel Winter, right?" He confirmed the project to be in the works the following month, with Pusha T referring to it as a "Q-Tip/Kanye thing". Big Sean also confirmed Cruel Winter to be coming soon, and Malik Yusef, a songwriter and artist signed to the GOOD Music label, posted a photo of him and West on Instagram in the studio. Despite others confirming the project, fellow rapper Common said it was nothing more than a "rumor".In July 2013, Travis Scott stated that West may release Cruel Winter "out of nowhere"; conversely, Pusha T declared that it would not release due to the number of projects West was working on.
In October 2015, after more than two years without updates on Cruel Winter, a rumored tracklist was posted by AllHipHop. The project's ongoing development was confirmed in February 2016 by Cyhi the Prynce, who stated "there was a lot of work done for Cruel Winter." On June 3, 2016, a single titled "Champions" was released by GOOD Music as the lead single for Cruel Winter; the track includes appearances from West, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo, and Desiigner. It initially aired on Big Boy's 92.3, as a yet-untitled single, before being officially released via digital download and streaming services on June 12, 2016. West also teased a 12–15 minute version of the song with the GOOD Music roster, though the idea was later abandoned.
In September 2016, Scott announced his role as executive producer for Cruel Winter, and told Hot 97.3 that the album would be released next year. In March 2017, when Cyhi was asked about Cruel Winter, he said West was in "good spirits" and teased a song on the album with him and Sean he called "crazy". By November 2017, Cyhi said the album would come out right after his album.