Kanye West's "Power" Jacked From Rhymefest, Says Producer

The producer behind Kanye West's new "Power" record has come forward to say it was initially made for fellow Chi-town rapper Rhymefest.

According to Symbolyc One, Yeezy gave the track a musical face lift.

"The 'Power' joint that we did, it was actually a track that I already made and gave to Rhymefest, and he just so happened to play it for Kanye in the studio and he loved it. So when I got out to Hawaii, Kanye had already recorded to it." A month later, S1 returned to Hawaii and heard "Power" again, this time with more "polish" added by 'Ye, who co-produced the song. However, S1 picked the sample that drives the record: a snippet of British progressive rock band King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." Initially, he didn't think West would be interested in the beat, because a drum break resembles a sound the rapper already visited on "Crack Music," a song from one of his previous albums.

The track exploded onto the Internet Friday (May 29) morning.

On "Power," the first single to leak from the sessions, it's soul man Dwele (last seen working with Yeezy on "Flashing Lights") throwing down while Kanye's "tripping on all the power," later on all the "powder," and later "drinkin' and drivin,'" and rhyming "power" with "Austin Powers," and obamanation with "Obama's nation." Granted those rhymes are more The Grade School Drop Out than post-Graduation, but as always the production's the pull -- a slightly sped-up group-vocal sample with handclaps to match -- and this might be after Hearbreak, but shit is still dark in Kanye's world. The song ends with Dwele's crooning "Jumpin' out the window, letting everything go..." and West's punctuation: "Yeah this would be a beautiful death." Someone keep an eye on Ye, yeah?

The song has also been taken notice by rap artists like Wale.

"new music from kanye??? #whynot welcome back mr west"

"tip new tape..ross new tap drake n hov song leaked. kanye got a new joint...how could i not sleep in the studio for a while"

Last weekend, reports claimed Ye was playing new records in New York City.

He's back! After a long hiatus from the nightlife scene, Kanye West made an appearance at LES hotspot CV on Saturday night. And fans of the "College Dropout" got more than just a sighting. We hear he gave the deejay four tracks from his upcoming album to play for the crowd. "Josh Hartnett and Kid Cudi were both there, and they immediately got up and started dancing," said one spy. "Kanye stayed with his own entourage in a corner booth, but looked pretty pleased."

Listen to a rough copy of "Power" down below: