Back in 2016, Desiigner took over the world with his #1 hit single “Panda.” The success of that song helped the Brooklynite earn a record deal with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint.
Desiigner is no longer part of the G.O.O.D. Music roster, but he apparently still has a lot of love for the mogul now known simply as Ye. Earlier this week, Desiigner released the “Letter To Ye” music video.
The track features Desiigner reflecting on his former days alongside Kanye West. For the visuals, the 24-year-old rhymer displays old footage of himself performing for Ye in New York City’s world-famous arena.
“Madison Square Garden, it first started. I’m up on the big screen and I’m seventeen. I’m living that life, seems like a movie scene. Standing next to Kanye, next to Pusha-T,” raps Desiigner on “Letter To Ye.”
Many fans and fellow artists have been giving Kanye West his flowers over the last few days, especially for his Drake-assisted “Free Larry Hoover Concert” which streamed on Thursday night. However, Desiigner did not always view Ye in the most positive light.
“I signed to Kanye West, the biggest n#### in the world. Y’all n##### think he’s the genius,” ranted Desiigner in 2019. “But to me, that n####’s crazy. To me, n####, I’ve been doing this s### myself. To me, n####, I brought G.O.O.D. Music back and everybody knows that.”
Besides “Panda” holding the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 for two weeks, Desiigner also scored a Top 40 solo entry in 2016 with “Tiimmy Turner.” 2016’s New English achieved moderate commercial success that same year. Desiigner’s debut mixtape peaked at #22 on the Billboard 200 chart.