Fresh off the Met Gala red carpet, Kanye West made a surprise call into Steve Harvey’s radio show this morning (May 3). Throughout the 20-minute conversation, Ye chopped it up with Harvey about the making of The Life of Pablo, more specifically the angelic opener “Ultralight Beam,” and even hinted at the much-speculated tour. “We gonna go out in September, I believe,” he shared. “We’re just working on some of the ideas right now. I’m trying to literally inspire these kids.”
As for the album opener, Kanye said the building blocks for “Ultralight Beam” manifested “four Christmases ago” at Kirk Franklin’s home. “Me and my dad went to go visit Kirk at his house four Christmases ago. That was the beginning of our relationship… We were just blessed to be in the room at that time when the ultralight beam came through us,” he recalled. From there, things came into place. “I can’t explain that song in notes, rhythm, drum beats. I can only explain that feeling. There was a young lady in the studio that pulled up an Instagram with the little girl on it saying, “We don’t want no devils in the house!” Literally, this is all coming together a week and a half before the album, to the point where we had to make it the first song on the album.”
When the convo steered on critics of his new album, Ye disregarded the all the analyses, stating: “I ain’t read one review.”
“The only review is somebody waking up in the morning and listening to “Ultralight Beam.”
Check out the full conversation below.