Paul McCartney helped to form The Beatles back in 1960 alongside John Lennon and George Harrison, and of course, the group became the most influential of all time. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is an inspiration for musicians to this day and certainly the past six decades of the music business wouldn’t have been the same without the Fab Four. One of the most praised artists of all time, McCartney had the chance to see the evolution of music up-close and he keeps interested in hearing modern music.
He curiously revealed in an interview with Jarvis Cocker in 2018 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) three unexpected modern musicians that he likes.
3 unexpected musicians that Paul McCartney likes
Kanye West
“Not so modern (music, I like Kanye’s (West) ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy’, that’s why I ended up working with him, because I liked that,” Paul McCartney said.
Six years ago, when McCartney mentioned Kanye, the American rapper wasn’t so controversial like he has become during the past years. West was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977 and started his musical career in 1996.
“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, an album mentioned by Paul, was the rapper’s fifth studio record and was released in 2010. Paul collaborated with Kanye on two songs released by him. One called “All Day” (2015) and the other “Only One” (2014). Both were released as a single by West. In 2015 a single by Paul, West and Rihanna named “FourFiveSeconds” was released.
In an interview with Billboard in 2019 Paul recalled the interesting writing session he had with West. “I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn’t want it to be at his house or my house, because it could be awkward if one of us wanted to leave.”
“So we met on neutral ground — a cottage at the Beverly Hills Hotel — and I showed up with a guitar and my roadie, and we had a keyboard and a bass,” McCartney recalls, before revealing how West spent some of his time during that session.
He continued:
“I was sitting around, strumming the guitar — that’s normally how I start a song — and Kanye was looking at his iPad, basically scrolling through images of (his wife at the time) Kim (Kardashian). So we were telling stories, and at one point I told him how ‘Let It Be’ came from a dream about my mother, who had died years before, where she said, ‘Don’t worry, just let it be.'”
“He said, ‘I’m going to write a song about my mother,’ so I sat down at this little Wurlitzer keyboard and started playing some chords, and he started singing. I thought, ‘Oh, are we going to finish this?’ but that was that. And it became ‘Only One,'” Paul McCartney said.
Christine and The Queens (Rahim Redcar)
“Other pieces, I don’t know. There is one at the moment that I think is very catchy which is Christine and the Queen’s record. I like that, it’s like totally Michael Jackson rip off. But we don’t mind, because it’s so catchy,” Paul McCartney said.
He was referring to the singer Radhim Redcar, who was previously known as Christine and the Queens. Born in Nantes, France back in 1988, the vocalist and sognwrter started his career in 2010.
Until now, the artist has released five studio albums. The most recent one is “Hopecore” (2024). Some of the biggests hits by Rahim Redcar are “No Genius”, “Deep Holes” and “Rien Dire”.
Kendrick Lamar
Paul mentioned the American rapper Kendrick Lamar as one of the artists he liked and was making a kind of modern music. “Probably Kendrick Lamar (modern kind of song),” Paul McCartney said.
Lamar was born in Compton, California back in 1987 and started his musical career in 2003. His debut album was released in 2011 and since then he put out five more studio records. The most recent one is “GNX” (2024). He has already won 17 Grammy Awards.
Paul curiously co-wrote a song with Lamar but they were not together. He recalled that in an interview with DIY in 2018.
“Just the other day I happened to look at the writing credits (Of West’s ‘All Day’). There’s about 50 people! There were only three of them I knew and one of them’s Kendrick Lamar!”
“I’m thinking, I’ve written a song with Kendrick Lamar?! I wish I’d met him! But that’s just the way they do it these days,” Paul McCartney said.