Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, wants Nicki Minaj to finally clear her "New Body" verse for his new album, but she thinks that ship has already sailed.
In a recent Instagram Live session, Minaj fielded questions from her fans and gave some clarity about where she stands regarding "New Body," which was originally planned for Ye's scrapped 2018 album Yandhi. The song appeared on the rumored tracklist for his new collaborative project with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures, but Minaj has made it clear that it won't be making the final cut, at least with her verse still intact.
"Now regarding Kanye... that train has left the station, okay?" she told fans. "No disrespect in any way. I just put out a brand-new album. Now why would I put out a song that has been out for three years? C'mon guys."
The song has circulated online throughout the years in various forms, and at one point, Minaj said that Ye wanted to turn it into a gospel track for his 2019 album Jesus Is King. When it turned up on the alleged tracklist for Vultures, which has seemingly missed its intended Dec. 15 release date, fans were excited for its final version to see the light of day.
Ye has publicly reached out to the Pink Friday 2 rapper to ask about clearing the song once more. In a screenshot of a (noticeably green) text message sent to Minaj, he wrote, "Hi it's ye. May I call you about clearing new body on the new album." The post marked a rare tweet from Ye, who has been mostly absent from the Elon Musk-owned platform since his account's reinstatement after making a number of anti-Semitic comments.
At one of the listening party events for Vultures, Ye spoke on Minaj's refusal to clear the record. "I made that girl rewrite her verse three times for 'Monster,'" he told the attendees. "I supported her career. You understand what I'm saying? So I don't know what it is."
In an interview on Hot 106 last year, Nicki Minaj commented on what happened to the record:
“Let me tell you something about that…I respect everybody and where they are in life, where they are spiritually," she said. "Had ‘New Body’ been out when he was not in his gospel era, then it would’ve seen the light of day. But, it didn’t, so it wasn’t meant to be. Everybody knows that’s the hit that got away. … I think the ship has sailed for ‘New Body,’ everybody has come to love the original way they heard it.”
Regardless of what's happening with "New Body," Ye has been previewing his new album Vultures at a string of "raves." At the most recent one in Las Vegas, he was seen hugging it out with Kid Cudi, with whom he famously fell out with last year.
