Fat Joe recently gave an insight into what it was like to work with Kanye West on Pride N Joy.

Fat Joe’s Pride N Joy project created a flurry of anticipation. The guest list featured no less than Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Yasiin Bey and DJ Khaled, so fans were surprised when the project finally dropped, revealing that the aforementioned artists were singing, not rapping, on the cut. Speaking to XXL, Joe explained the motivation behind the decision.

Fat Joe confirmed that the cut of the song which appeared last week is the final version, contrary to some fans’ speculation. He explained that it was Kanye West’s idea to create a track on which the MCs were singing rather than spitting, and added that the possibility of a remix featuring some rapping was certainly not out of the question.

“It’s the final version unless there’s something I don’t know about,” he explained. “We did a bunch of shit. Kanye, he mixed that record eight times and he had it in different ways...there’s some other real dope parts of that song that we ain’t put on there. But, you know, he’s Kanye West. He’s a genius. He’s the best. I argued with him a little, but I let him lead the way, so that’s how it is. There’s no way in the world you’re gonna get everyone to sing on beat. Niggas just said, ‘We’re not singers.’ And he was like, ‘That’s the dope shit.’ We off beat. We ain’t no R&B niggas. We singin’ that shit off beat.”

- By Fiona Guest