Only One

Track list

Disc 1

1. Only One

   Written by Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein, Donda West

   4:43 • Studio version • A

   Paul McCartney : Organ, Producer Kanye West : Producer, Vocals Mike Dean : Additional production Noah Goldstein : Additional production Ty Dolla Sign : Backing vocals

   Session Recording: Early 2014 • Studio Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles, USA

   Session Recording: September 2014 • Studio Mexico

   

For any of you guys who were wondering what I was doing with Kanye… Here it is: ‘Only One’

Happy rocking new year!

Paul McCartney, January 1, 2015 – From paulmccartney.com, January 1st, 2015

From the press release:

NEW YORK, Jan. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Today – New Years Day, 2015 – one of the most powerful and unexpected music collaborations in modern history has been released exclusively on the iTunes music store: “Only One.” The single features the undeniable talent of two musical and cultural icons: Kanye West and Paul McCartney.

It will be the first publicly available recording from what has become a prolific musical collaboration between these two legendary artists.

In early 2014, Paul McCartney and Kanye West first began working together in a small bungalow in Los Angeles. The process that would result in “Only One” began with a simple brainstorming session between the two: With McCartney improvising on the keyboards and Kanye vocally sketching and shaping ideas in a stream-of-consciousness riff.

When they played back the recording afterward, something remarkable happened. Kanye sat there with his family, holding his daughter North on his lap, and listened to his vocals, singing, “Hello, my only one …” And in that moment, not only could he not recall having sung those words, but he realized that perhaps the words had never really come from him.

The process of artistic creation is one that does not involve thinking, but often channeling. And he understood in that moment that his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who was also his mentor, confidante, and best friend, had spoken through him that day.

“My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter,” he said, astonished.

The small group in the room kept listening: “Hello my Only One…just like the morning sun…you’ll keep on rising till the sky knows your name.”

To some, Kanye’s insight didn’t immediately register. But then he explained: The name Kanye, which his mother had chosen, means “only one.”

And then it dawned on everyone there: Something powerful and undeniable had occurred through the power of music and of letting go. A message had been passed down through generations.

And so it is that there was only one song that could be released first from this groundbreaking collaboration: “Only One,” an anthem of positive reflection, hopefulness and joyous celebration to usher in a New Year. […]

From RollingStone, January 1, 2015:

[…] Written from the perspective of Kanye’s late mother Donda, who died in 2007 from surgery complications, “Only One” sounds like a bittersweet bonus track from Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak. “Remember how I’d say one day/You’ll be the man you always knew you would be,” West’s Auto-Tuned voice sings. “And if you knew how proud I was/You’d never shed a tear/Have a fear/No you wouldn’t do that.” McCartney, for his part, eschew any histrionics in favor of a simple and plaintive style befitting the emotional lyrics. “My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter,” West said in a statement, also noting that the name “Kanye” means “Only one.“

The surprise track appears to be more jumping-off point for the two icons than random one-off. According to a spokesperson for West, “Only One” is the first “publicly available recording from what has become a prolific musical collaboration between these two legendary artists.“

McCartney and West began work on the track earlier last year in Los Angeles, starting with, as the statement notes, “a simple brainstorming session between the two, with McCartney improvising on the keyboards and Kanye vocally sketching and shaping ideas in a stream-of-consciousness riff“.

“Kanye sat there with his family, holding his daughter North on his lap, and listened to his vocals, singing, ‘Hello, my only one…,’” the statement said. “And in that moment, not only could he not recall having sung those words, but he realized that perhaps the words had never really come from him. The process of artistic creation is one that does not involve thinking, but often channeling. And he understood in that moment that his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who was also his mentor, confidante, and best friend, had spoken through him that day.“