Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry is one of spring’s most anticipated albums, and as the tracklist confirms, the veteran rapper enlisted a wide array of collaborators from Jay-Z to unexpected names like Don Toliver and Uzi Vert. But the lineup on one particular song surprised fans—especially the GOOD Music faithful—the most: track 7, “Rock N Roll,” features both Kanye West and Kid Cudi (over a killer Beyoncé sample from Kanye), despite the two being in the midst of yet another very public falling out.
After much internet speculation, Cudi acknowledged the track on Twitter Tuesday morning and explained why he agreed to let it be released in its current form.
“Hey! So I know some of you heard about the song I got [with] Pusha. I did this song a year ago when I was still cool [with] Kanye,” he wrote. “I am not cool [with] that man. He’s not my friend and I only cleared the song for Pusha cuz that’s my guy. This is the last song [you] will hear me on [with] Kanye.”
There have been many twists and turns in the relationship between Cudi and Kanye, which began when West signed the Cleveland musician to his label in 2007. This latest stretch of tension between them seems to stem from Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson, who is dating Kanye’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. Their relationship prompted West to boast about removing Cudi from DONDA 2, which Cudi addressed online in posts from February 12.
First, he wrote, “We talked weeks ago about this. You’re whack for flipping the script and posting this lie just for a look on the internet. You ain’t no friend.” He later added the more cryptic “God opens the door so the wrong people can exit your life.”
Kanye also posted a picture on Instagram of the pair out with Timothée Chalamet and Davidson, but with the latter’s face crossed out. “I just wanted my friend to have my back, the knife just goes in deeper,” he wrote.
Cudi offered a harsher rebuke in the replies to the West Instagram post announcing he was removed from DONDA 2. “Too bad I don’t wanna be on [your] album [you] fuckin dinosaur,” he wrote. “Everyone knows I’ve been the best thing about [your] albums since I met [you].”
In the late 2000s, Cudi played a key role behind the scenes with West, particularly during the 808s & Heartbreak era where Kanye experimented with auto-tune and moodier soundscapes. He is credited as a co-writer on songs like “Heartless” and “RoboCop,” as well as songs that appeared on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne and The Life of Pablo.
Cudi left G.O.O.D. Music in 2013, but the pair continued to work together, including on the well-received 2018 joint album Kids See Ghosts. Kanye and Cudi last worked together on “Moon” and “Remote Control” from 2021’s *DONDA–*Cudi’s vocal contributions to the latter were added after a rough version of the track debuted at West’s first Atlanta listening party for the album, taken off at the next listening and then later re-added on a deluxe.