Indie folk act Bon Iver, led by songwriter Justin Vernon, has formed an unlikely alliance with US superstar Kanye West, and is now set to appear on the rapper’s forthcoming album, joining the likes of Beyonce and Jay-Z on the new record.
The folksters confirmed they have worked on “at least 10 songs” with West, after Justin Vernon was introduced to him initially with a view to use a sample of their track ‘Woods‘ on the new LP.
Speaking to Pitchfork, Vernon told of how the introduction quickly led to him being invited to sessions at West’s Hawaii-based studio. “I was literally in the back room rolling a spliff with Rick Ross, talking about what to do on the next part of a song,” he said. “It was astonishing.”
Vernon also recalled his initial conversation with West, when the rapper spoke of his love of Bon Iver’s work. “Kanye was like, ‘I like how you sing so fearlessly. You don’t care how your voice sounds. It’d be awesome if you could come out to Hawaii and hear the track, and there’s some other shit I think we could throw down on,'” he remembered. “I was just like, ‘Yeah, cool man!’
It was fucking fun, man. Just a bunch of uber-talented people and everyone was really nice and chill and just working on Kanye’s record.”
Kanye West’s new album is due for release at the end of this year.
