“Believe What I Say” by Kanye West, featuring the vocals of Buju Banton, has surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify. This marks Banton’s first song to reach this milestone.
The track, which is the tenth song on Kanye West’s tenth studio album Donda (released August 29, 2021), also features a clever sample of Lauryn Hill. It is the fifth highest streaming song from the album and “Believe What I Say” peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It is Banton’s first Hot 100 charting feature However, despite his significant contribution, Kanye did not credit Banton as a featured artist on the album.
Buju’s vocals on “Believe What I Say” is a love note where the reggae/dancehall star plays the role of a relationship guru during the time when West and his then wife, Kim Kardashian, were reportedly separating while attempting reconciliation. Kardashian appeared at his Chicago listening party dressed in a wedding gown.
The song was never released as a single despite its seeming popularity on Spotify. On the track, Kanye sings the hook, “Don’t let the lifestyle drag you down,” then raps about a relationship soured by an overly needy partner. “Celebrity drama that only Brad will know / Too many family secrets somebody passing notes / Things I cried about I find laughable.”
In Buju’s verse, he addresses a distrusting lover: “You were so easily fooled and easily deceived / By some dude who is more into greed / Played by your emotions you were swamped by your needs… You said that I lie, how did I? I told you everything, didn’t I? / But you just could not believe.”
West has frequently drawn inspiration from dancehall and reggae music for his hits, including using “Dust A Sound Boy” by Super Beagle and Reggie Stepper’s “Cu Unuh” with vocals from the late Fuzzy Jones for his Grammy-nominated hit “Mercy.”
Last year the Yeezy founder collaborated with the Buju Banton Foundation to donate computers and chairs to the Sunbeam Children’s Home and the Mount Olivet Boys’ Home in Jamaica.
Buju expressed gratitude to Ye (formerly Kanye West) for his support of the Foundation while accepting the Humanitarian Award virtually at the Caribbean Music Awards. In his video remarks, Buju highlighted the foundation’s mission to empower marginalized youth and thanked Kanye West and AudioMack for their contributions.
Kanye dedicated an unreleased dancehall-hip hop track to Buju, recorded during the “Donda 2” era in Miami. The track, which leaked on social media, features Kanye discussing his contracts and brand partnerships.
Donda was Kanye’s most collaborative album, with 53% of the vocals coming from featured artists. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart despite being released three days after the start of MRC Data’s music cycle.
