Kanye West has cleared up speculation that he’s working on a new solo album called Y3 after Erick Sermon revealed details about the alleged project.
In an interview with HipHopDX earlier this month, the EPMD legend said he was “summoned” to Italy last year to work on the album and began making more traditional Hip Hop music with Ye.
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He also hinted that the project would mark the return of the “old Kanye” after he encouraged the Chicago native to rap like he did early in his career.
After catching wind of Sermon’s comments, however, Kanye denied such an album being in the works.
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In an Instagram DM to the fan account @yefanatics that has been reviewed by HipHopDX, West wrote: “This is fake news. Ain’t no album called Y3. And ain’t nobody tryna be the ‘old Ye.’ When I made 808s [& Heartbreak] n-ggas was running round talking bought they miss the old Ye.”
Championing his latest album Vultures 1, he added: “We just made King / Back 2 Me / Carnival/Talking just to name a few. We got the number 1 song in the world and number 1 album in the world with top level beats top level bars top level hooks top level features.”
He then signed off with: “I’m the greatest artist in any genre ever. And I’m just getting started.”
While discussing his work on Y3, Erick Sermon said the album took shape before Kanye West began recording Vultures 1 with Ty Dolla $ign.
“When my moms had died, May 30, 2023, I was flying to L.A. to work with Ye,” he said. “Then he was like, ‘Erick, we in Italy.’
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“So I went to Florence, stayed there working on that record. The record I was working on wasn’t what him and Ty Dolla $ign was doing at the time; I was working on Y3, Ye’s solo album.”
He continued: “I had him on Hip Hop. I was like, ‘You gotta rhyme. You have to do the stuff that you used to do ’cause you ill at that.’ And he listened! … I had [the old Kanye back].”
The veteran rapper/producer — who is best known for his work with Redman, Method Man, LL COOL J and more — had also spoken about the album in an interview with Bootleg Kev.
He suggested that Kanye redirected his attention to Vultures 1 while making Y3 and said he hoped they would reconvene to finish the album.
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In the meantime, Ye’s collaborative relationship with Ty Dolla $ign is set to keep him busy over the next few months as the pair have announced plans to release two sequels.
Vultures 2 is scheduled to arrive on March 8, followed by Vultures 3 on April 5.
