Kanye West has been one of the few public figures to be outspoken in support of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is awaiting trial on multiple charges related to sexual assault. On Saturday, amid a long string of now-familiar hateful social media posts, he dropped a new song that he claims features Combs, along with his son Christian “King” Combs, West’s 11-year-old daughter North, and singer Jasmine Williams.
The track, titled “Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,” features a characteristic West beat and synthesizer textures, and begins with what is apparently a phone conversation between West and Combs, speaking from prison.
“I wanna just thank you so much for just taking care of my kids, man,” a man who seems to be Combs says. “Ain’t nobody reach out to them, ain’t nobody call them.”
“Absolutely, I love you so much man,” West replies. “You raised me. Even when I ain’t know you, know what I’m saying?”
A singer, presumably Williams, sings the hook, “When you see me shining, then you see the light.” Combs and North West rap on the track.
According to TMZ and screenshots of multiple texts posted by West, Kim Kardashian, West’s ex-wife and mother of North, attempted to block the release of the song via legal channels.
While West reportedly stated that he would not release the song, dropping a track via X (formerly Twitter) is uncommon and, given the confusion around the platform’s protocols since it was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022, the legalities around the song’s “release” may be uncertain.
On a related note, the song features lyrical references to the Lox’s 1998 track “Money Power Respect,” as well as a snippet of rapper Lil’ Kim’s vocal from it. Although West has released songs with uncleared samples several times in recent months, this use may be less legally problematic, since the Lox track was released on Combs’ Bad Boy Records. However, there could be a publishing wrinkle, as Combs reassigned those rights to several former Bad Boy artists in 2023, shortly before the wave of sexual-assault allegations. It is unclear whether the members of the Lox (rappers Jadakiss. Sheek Louch and Styles P) accepted the terms of the reassignment, which former Bad Boy artists said included a legal agreement not to sue Combs.
Reps for Combs and West did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment; TMZ said Kardashian had not responded.