"Keep My Spirit Alive" is a song by American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

from his tenth studio album, ''

Donda ''Donda'' is the tenth studio album by American rapper Kanye West, released through GOOD Music on August 29, 2021, with distribution handled by Def Jam Recordings, his last release with the label. West recorded much of the material at multiple ...

'' (2021). The song features vocals from fellow American rappers

Conway the Machine Demond Price (born February 16, 1982), known professionally as Conway the Machine (or simply Conway), is an American rapper. Alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn and cousin Benny the Butcher, Conway was a member of Griselda Record ...

and

Westside Gunn Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, is an American rapper. He is a co-founder of independent hip-hop label Griselda Records. He is the brother of rapper Conway The Machine and cousin of rapper Benny the ...

and originally featured additional vocals from

KayCyy Mark Makora Mbogo (born September 23, 1997), known professionally as KayCyy or KayCyy Pluto, is a Kenyan-American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Kenya, Mbogo moved with his family to St. Paul, Minnesota at an early age. Throughout his ...

Background and recording

Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher toured as Griselda in USA in early 2020. The day after the tour finished, Griselda went to West's

Sunday Service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sa ...

and were invited to go Wyoming and record with West. On March 12, 2020,

and

were spotted in Wyoming recording for West's album. Westside Gunn would later confirm the collaboration in an interview with Elliot Wilson on

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. Conway the Machine confirmed in an August 2020 interview that he had songwriting credits on ''Donda'', as well as a record with Westside Gunn and West. Though Westside Gunn went to Wyoming in early 2020, his verse on "Keep My Spirit Alive" was not recorded until the end of the recording sessions for his album ''

Who Made the Sunshine ''Who Made the Sunshine'' (stylised in all caps) is the fourth studio album by American rapper Westside Gunn. When it was originally scheduled to be released on August 28, 2020, it was postponed following the death of Griselda Records collaborator ...

''. Westside Gunn said the following in an interview with Complex about the collaboration:

Release and promotion

The song was officially first previewed during a private listening party for Donda in Las Vegas on July 19, 2021. The song was absent from the album's first public listening party on July 22, 2021, which took place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. The subsequent second listening party at the same stadium on August 5, 2021, featured the song. An alternate version of the song played at the third and final public listening party in

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on August 26, 2021; this alternate version featured West singing the chorus instead of the album version's KayCyy chorus. The song that originally released on August 29 had KayCyy singing the chorus. On September 28, 2021, a new version of "Keep My Spirit Alive" was uploaded onto streaming platforms that replaced the original version where West performed the chorus instead of KayCyy. The version with KayCyy on the chorus was later included in the deluxe track listing for Donda, released November 14, 2021, and was renamed "Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2" to differentiate it from the version with West on the chorus.

Personnel

* Master and mix engineering – Maurizio "Irko" Sera * Record engineering – Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn, Josh Berg, Kalam Ali Muttalib, Mikalai Skrobat and Rashade Benani Bevel * Vocal editing –

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, ...

and Patrick Hundley * Drums – Darius Woodley and Rico Nichols * Vocals –

and

* Additional vocals –

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Kanye West songs 2021 songs Kanye West songs Songs written by Kanye West Song recordings produced by Kanye West