"I Love Kanye" (originally "I Miss the Old Kanye") 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 seventh studio album, ''

The Life of Pablo ''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in I ...

'' (2016). The song was solely produced by West, who wrote it alongside

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, writer, composer, producer and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Early life He was raised in Chicago's South Side neighborho ...

. A

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

track, it has no instrumental. Lyrically, West shows self-awareness by making fun of his changing public image while referencing the internet meme that he loves himself. The song received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who were often complimentary towards West's lyrics. They mostly praised his self-awareness, while a few critics highlighted West's arrogance. In 2018, '' Billboard'' named "I Love Kanye" as the 11th greatest interlude of all time. The song peaked at numbers 14 and 48 on the US '' Billboard''

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and US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts, respectively. It was certified

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in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In February 2016, West used the song against

Kyle Mooney Kyle James Kozub Mooney (born September 4, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, who was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2013 until 2022. Mooney co-wrote and starred in the film '' Brigsby Bear'', in addition to co-crea ...

during their rap battle on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

(SNL)''.

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

used an Instagram post to reference the song in May 2018. Numerous remixes of the song were released from February to March 2016, including respective ones by

Key Wane Dwane Marshall Weir II (born July 12, 1990) is an American hip hop/R&B producer and songwriter, professionally known as Key Wane. Wane has produced for artists such as Big Sean, Jazmine Sullivan, Beyoncé, Drake, Jhene Aiko, Wale, Lil Wayne, ...

and

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

Background and recording

Prior to "I Love Kanye", there had been internet memes about how much West loves himself, which he capitalized on with the song. Many critics and fans have claimed that West was better earlier in his career with his music and political views, with him using the song to show awareness of such criticism. The song was produced by West, standing alongside "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission" as one of the two tracks on ''The Life of Pablo'' that he solely produced. West co-wrote the song with

. "I Love Kanye" was originally titled "I Miss the Old Kanye". A day before the album's release, West debuted the track on ''

(SNL)'' by using it in a freestyle rap battle against American comedian

. On February 14, 2016, "I Love Kanye" was included on ''The Life of Pablo''. The following month, West took to

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and sent out lyrics from the track in separate tweets for each line. When West was at

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in June 2016, a young child asked him how he wrote the track. West replied by grinning and saying, "I just thought about what I loved."

Composition and lyrics

Musically, "I Love Kanye" is a

track. The song has no instrumental, with West rapping a cappella throughout. According to a number of

music journalists Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, he raps in a humorous manner. West ends the song with a laugh. In the lyrics of the song, West demonstrates self-awareness while mocking his changing public image. West acknowledges the viral memes that reference how much he loves himself, rapping "I love you like Kanye loves Kanye" at one point. He also addresses criticism that his music was better in the past, particularly when he released his first two studio albums ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received pr ...

'' (2004) and ''

Late Registration ''Late Registration'' is the second studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions ...

'' (2005). West refers to different versions of himself, such as the "old Kanye", "new Kanye", and "sweet Kanye". In total, West mentions his forename 25 times in the lyrics.

Release and reception

On February 14, 2016, "I Love Kanye" was released as the ninth track on West's seventh studio album ''The Life of Pablo'', which was a

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 ...

exclusive album at the time. The song was later made available on the streaming services

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and

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on March 30, 2016, and West tweeted out a link to the website ilovekanyesong.com that featured direct links to the song on the streaming services alongside their logos. "I Love Kanye" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, with them mostly praising West's lyrics. Ryan Patrick of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' highlighted the self-awareness demonstrated by West on the song for showing him "heralding his own singularity as an artist". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...

also noticed West's self-awareness, referring to the song as "a rhyme and hubris exercise" that is "also a rant that's also a barometer of public opinion that's also a wink".

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Ble ...

from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' admitted West sounding as if he "is actually mourning the long-running love affair between Kanye and Kanye" is why the song "stings, especially the punch line 'I love you like Kanye loves Kanye'" because West has awareness that he consistently "fucks over the one he loves", even himself, who Sheffield asserted West "loves most". Expressing a similar sentiment, Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' pointed to the line as an example of "self-awareness occasionally suggested by ''TLOP''s lyrics". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' critic Jayson Greene noted mirrors are seen by West "everywhere he looks" after he has "changed the genre's DNA with every album", reaching the point at which every album has provided inspiration for "a generation of direct offspring" and the song's message is clearly that West is done with "creating new Kanyes, at least for now". Greene continued by opining that West is fine "to just stand among them, both those of his own creation and their various devotees" while branding his rapping on the song as "wryly". Reviewing in his ''

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Expert Witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

column, Robert Christgau described the song as a "pseudo-freestyle meta-wink" and called it a narcissist's version of ''The College Dropout'' track "We Don't Care" that is "almost as funny". Christgau elaborated, writing: "The sour-grapes self-examination morphs into a pseudo-outlet track." In a somewhat mixed review for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'',

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Nee ...

wrote "I love you like Kanye loves Kanye" is West's apparent "idea of an ultimate compliment" and noticed the line is likely his attempt "to make a joke about perceptions of his egomania" while deriding how "underlying it is an actual egomania that blinds West to just how narrow his self-obsession really is". In ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Gavin Haynes dismissed the song's "postmodern

LOL LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud and a popular element of Internet slang. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to ...

s" as one of the "unwelcome guests" on the album. In 2018, '' Billboard'' ranked "I Love Kanye" as the 11th greatest interlude of all time, and the magazine's Xander Zellner admitted that West "proved to the world that he sees your tweets, he reads the headlines, and he's in on the joke" with the song. Zellner elaborated, observing that the track is "barely a song" and registers "just as much a self-aware personal statement -- closing with the ever-definitive 'I love you like Kanye loves Kanye.'"

Commercial performance

Following the release of ''The Life of Pablo'', the song debuted at number 14 on the US ''Billboard''

chart. That same week, it entered the US

chart at number 48, and received 3.9 million streams. On February 24, 2020, "I Love Kanye" was certified

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 500,000 certified units in the United States. Elsewhere, the song reached number 123 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It peaked at number 35 on the

UK R&B Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...

Live performances and appearances in media

During a sketch for ''SNL'' entitled "Kyle vs. Kanye" on February 13, 2016, West engaged in a freestyle rap battle with Mooney. The rap battle started with Mooney freestyling against West, which he replied to by using "I Love Kanye" as a freestyle. The song was performed live by West as part of the Saint Pablo Tour's kickoff show at

Bankers Life Fieldhouse A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

in Indianapolis on August 25, 2016. On November 1, 2016, West performed the song for the tour's fourth concert at The Forum in Inglewood. Following the release of ''The Life of Pablo'', the song became a popular topic with West's fans across Twitter. The song's line "I miss the old Kanye" was the inspiration for a Stillwater Artisanal beer of the same name, which was in tribute to the line. The label of the beer was inspired by the album's artwork. After West seemingly ranted against him in October 2016, fellow rapper Jay-Z referenced "I Love Kanye" as he admitted to "miss the old Kanye". In May 2018, rapper

paid reference to the song by posting an image to his Instagram showing a mock memorial of West that was designed by American art collective SuperPoorKids, with the image being surrounded by the words "RIP Old Kanye".

Remixes

On February 15, 2016, a remix of the track was shared by American producer Stefan Ponce. The remix re-imagines the song with a sample of

the Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs " In the Rain" and "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits, as well as their late ...

' "I Dedicate My Life To You" (1973). A remix of the song by producer

was released on February 21, 2016, titled "Kanye". On the remix, a soulful backdrop is added and some of the lyrics are flipped. On February 25, 2016,

released his remix of the song. West and the DJ had previously collaborated on a remix of the single " Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" in 2007 and of the "I Love Kanye" remix, DJ Premier said: "I'm a street DJ and when a good acappella is naked, you put some clothes on it." The remix adds elements of piano, slow-knocking

kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

and

snare SNARE proteins – " SNAP REceptor" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts, more than 60 members in mammalian cells, and some numbers in plants. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate vesicle f ...

, a bassline, and percussion. It also features scratches from DJ Premier and vocal samples of ''Late Registration'' track "Wake Up Mr. West". The same day as the release of the DJ's remix, rapper

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

shared his "Pro Remix" of the song. The remix heavily features

chops CHOPS is the stage name of Scott Jung, also known as Scott Chops Jung, an Asian American hip hop producer, rapper and former member of the Asian American Hip-Hop group, the Mountain Brothers. Jung grew up in Philadelphia and has Chinese ancestry ...

and combines the original with a sample of Jocelyn Brown's " Somebody Else's Guy" (1984). A remix of the song under the title of "Old Kanye" by American production team J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and producer 8 Bars was released on February 28, 2016. Discussing the remix, the team explained that they "wanted to take Kanye's verse and make it into a full-blown song". "Old Kanye" has a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

instrumental and heavily features synths, while also adding cascading

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

and soundbites of newscasts. The remix includes a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

that is performed by Stige, during which

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

is used on his vocals. Stige raps a second verse, which lyrically echoes the sentiment expressed by West on the original. American producer

TM88 Bryan Lamar Simmons (born April 4, 1987), professionally known as TM88 (also known as TrackMan 88), is an American record producer and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of the Atlanta-based record production and songwriting team 808 Mafi ...

shared a remix of the song entitled "TrapYeezy88" on March 3, 2016. Prior to the remix, TM88 had worked with West on the rapper's 2011 collaborative studio album ''

Watch the Throne ''Watch the Throne'' is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, collectively known as The Throne. It was released on August 8, 2011, through Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Prior to the r ...

'' with Jay-Z. A

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

remix, "TrapYeezy88" runs for two minutes and adds

hi-hats A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

as well as synths, while West's vocals are chopped up and distorted.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from West's official website. Recording *Mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, CA Personnel *

songwriter, production *

songwriter * Noah Goldstein engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career ...

mixer * Chris Galland assistant mixer * Ike Schultz assistant mixer * Jeff Jackson assistant mixer

Charts

Certifications

Notes

References

{{authority control 2016 songs A cappella songs Internet memes introduced in 2016 Kanye West songs Song recordings produced by Kanye West Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Malik Yusef Spoken word