In an in-depth piece penned by Dan Hyman for The Guardian, Chance The Rapper reveals that Kanye West was slated to narrate Surf, and his vocals were even recorded for the project. In the end, it didn’t work out, but it’s cool to know Kanye was the first person to actually hear the project completed. Not that Surf needed any extra garnish, but it’s fantastic to see that these two are now working together in some capacity. I have a feeling this is only the beginning.
“The kid in me wanted a certain type of approval [from Kanye],” says Chance, who admits he once wanted “Kanye to be my dad”, still beaming at the memory. He and West have recently been working together in the studio on an undisclosed future collaboration, and as Chance reveals for the first time to the Guardian that West, who heard Surf “before anyone else”, was originally slated to appear on the entirety of the album. “Yah, he was going to narrate it at one point,” Chance says. “In the final weeks of getting ready to put it out we had vocal chops that we were using from ’Ye talking about some of the themes of the project. Through just thinking about it, it didn’t end up happening that way. Not to say it wouldn’t have been dope as shit!”