Kanye West’s guest verse on ScHoolboy Q’s “THat Part” has become one of the most recognizable rhymes of the chart-climbing track. (You know, the one where ‘Ye opens with about six “OK”s.) But when ScHoolboy Q first heard the verse, he thought he was being played.
In an interview with Hot 97’s Ebro Darden this week, ScHoolboy revealed his initial reaction to the now-infamous guest spot, and it wasn’t good.
“I was like, oh, [Kanye West] served me!” ScHoolboy said, laughing. “My heart just kept breaking with every ‘OK.’”
But after listening through for a second time, he settled on the explanation we seem to be resorting to a lot lately: Kanye was just being Kanye.
“I played it again, I’m like, that’s why he’s Kanye,” ScHoolboy explained. “And when I perform it at the show, that’s the best part. I have to perform Kanye West’s verse just because of the ‘OK.’”
The Los Angeles rapper added that despite their collaboration, he still doesn’t have Yeezy’s phone number. His reason? In the industry pecking order, it’s an unspoken rule for ScHoolboy that emerging rappers shouldn’t ask big-name artists for that kind of thing. “I know Kanye West is fucking bigger than me,” he said, “I’m not about to ask you for your number.”
Still, ScHoolboy may be on his way to becoming a household name himself. Riding on the heels of “THat Part,” “Groovy Tony,” and short films for “By Any Means (Part 1)” and “Tookie Knows II,” ScHoolboy‘s highly-anticipated Blank Face drops July 8.
Cheeky additions like Kanye’s “OK” verse will give the album much-needed comic relief, ScHoolboy said: “Everything can’t be serious, I’ve got a whole album of seriousness. You’ve got to have fun.”
Stream the entire interview above, or jump to the 8:30 mark to hear about the Kanye collab.
