Kanye/McCartney/Dirty Projectors/Ezra Koenig Song Recorded, Dave Longstreth Says

Back in early 2015, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney teamed up to record “FourFiveSeconds,” whose bridge was written by Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth. Turns out that wasn’t the only product of Longstreth’s writing sessions for Ye. During one sit-down, Ye played Longstreth and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig an improvised track composed of McCartney’s Wurlitzer noodling and some improvised, nonsensical Kanye lyrics, Longstreth reveals in a New York Times interview published today. Amid the gibberish, Longstreth heard the phrase “Memories can get you into trouble” and went off with Koenig to turn it into a song. “Maybe you’re with your girlfriend but thinking of your ex,” Longstreth said of its possible use. “Kanye didn’t wind up using it,” he added, “but it was good—maybe something will come of it down the line.”

Read Pitchfork’s new interview with Longstreth.

Watch Vampire Weekend perform “Horchata” for Pitchfork.tv:

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