Pure Souls
{{Infobox song
| name = Pure Souls
| type = song
| artist = Kanye West featuring Roddy Ricch and Shenseea
| album = Donda
| cover =
| released = {{start date|2021|08|29}}
| recorded = May 25 – August 2021
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 5:59
| label = * GOOD
| writer = * Kanye West
- Rodrick Wayne Moore, Jr.
- Chinsea Lee
- Bastian Völkel
- Christoph Bauss
- Cydel Charles Young
- Dexter Mills
- Donny Flores
- Jahmal Gwin
- Leonard Harris
- Malik Yusef
- Mark Williams
- Mike Dean
- Orlando Wilder
- Raphael Saadiq
- Raul Cubina
- Simon David Plummer
- Tim Friedrich
- Tyshane Thompson
- Warren Trotter
| producer = * Kanye West
- BoogzDaBeast
}}
"Pure Souls" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his tenth studio album, Donda (2021). The song features uncredited vocals from fellow American rapper Roddy Ricch and Jamaican singer Shenseea.
The song peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in the United States.{{Cite web |last=Mallick |first=Dani |date=2023-08-16 |title=Shenseea Earns Her First Gold Certification In The US |url=https://www.dancehallmag.com/2023/08/16/news/shenseea-earns-her-first-gold-certification-in-the-us.html |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=DancehallMag |language=en-US}}
Background
In September 2020, West had a rant on his Twitter account where amongst posting his full recording contract with Universal, he posted a video of him urinating on one of his Grammy awards; captioning the post with "Trust me... I won't stop".{{cite web |title=Kanye West Whizzing On His Own Grammy... Gets Twitter Time-out |url=https://www.tmz.com/2020/09/16/kanye-west-black-ownership-music-masters-universal-twitter-rant/ |website=TMZ |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=16 September 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Cordero |first1=Rosy |title=Kanye West tweets pages from record contracts, video of Grammy in toilet |url=https://ew.com/music/kanye-west-tweets-record-contracts-grammy-toilet/ |website=EW |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=16 September 2020}} Roddy Ricch, who is featured on the track, was nominated for six entries at the 2020 Grammy awards, but left the show empty handed. Roddy Ricch called out West in March 2021, believing that he disrespected the Grammys, saying "How do you think that makes the world look at my accomplishment?".{{cite web |last1=Saponara |first1=Michael |title=Roddy Ricch Calls Out Kanye West For Pissing On His Grammy Award After Winless 2021 Showing |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.61107/title.roddy-ricch-calls-out-kanye-west-for-pissing-on-his-grammy-award-after-winless-2021-showing# |website=HipHopDX |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=16 March 2021}} In an interview with Big Boy in June 2021, he stated that he had met up with West and recorded music together and that there was no disrespect towards him.{{cite web |last1=Eilbert |first1=Mark |title=Roddy Ricch Clears Up Grammy Rant Directed At Kanye West |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.62610/title.roddy-ricch-clears-up-grammy-rant-directed-at-kanye-west |website=HipHopDX |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=10 June 2021}} Roddy Ricch references the incident on the song, singing "They said I was mad at the Grammys, but I'm looking at my Grammy right now/Pulled up on Ye and said they don't understand me, I just want my dog to pipe down".{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Joshua |title=Roddy Ricch's Feature On "DONDA" Addresses His Past Frustrations With Kanye West |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/roddy-ricchs-feature-on-donda-addresses-his-past-frustrations-with-kanye-west-news.136246.html |website=HotNewHipHop |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=23 July 2021}}
The song was first previewed during a listening party at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021. At the August 5 listening party, West changed part of his verse, removing lines that alluded to his relationship with Barack Obama such as "44 telling me I'm still not folks".{{cite web |last1=Rindner |first1=Grant |title=11 Ways Kanye West’s Donda Album Has Already Changed |url=https://www.gq.com/story/kanye-west-donda-edits |website=GQ |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=9 August 2021}} At the August 26 listening party at Soldier Field, West added Jamaican singer Shenseea to the track. The collaboration came about after he had watched her freestyle at Hot 97 with Funkmaster Flex, which was uploaded on July 28, 2021.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Sasha |title=Five Takeaways From Shenseea’s New Kanye West Features |url=https://www.dancehallmag.com/2021/09/02/features/five-takeaways-from-shenseeas-new-kanye-west-features.html |website=Dancehall Mag |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=2 September 2021}} At the listening event, Shenseea joined West on the stairs of his remade childhood home along with artists such as Travis Scott, Marilyn Manson and DaBaby.{{cite web |last1=Watkis |first1=Donovan |title=Shenseea Joins Kanye West At Chicago ‘Donda’ Livestream Event |url=https://www.dancehallmag.com/2021/08/27/news/shenseea-joins-kanye-west-at-chicago-donda-livestream-event.html |website=Dancehall Mag |access-date=30 November 2021 |date=27 August 2021}}
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.{{cite web |title=Donda Deluxe credits |url=https://listen.tidal.com/album/205177628/credits |website=Tidal |access-date=30 November 2021}}
- Co-production - Bastian Völkel, Mike Dean, Ojivolta, Shuko, Sucuki
- Additional production - Fya Man
- Mixing and mastering - Irko
- Record engineering - Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn, Chris Connors, Josh Berg, Mikalai Skrobat, Patrick Hundley, Roark Bailey, Will Chason
- Vocal editing - Chris Connors, Louis Bell
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+2021 year-end chart performance for "Pure Souls" !scope="col"|Chart (2021) !scope="col"|Position |
| scope="row"| US Christian Songs (Billboard){{cite web|title=Hot Christian Songs – Year-End 2021|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2021/hot-christian-songs|work=Billboard|access-date=December 20, 2021}}
| 47 |
|---|
| scope="row"| US Gospel Songs (Billboard){{cite web|title=Hot Gospel Songs – Year-End 2021|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2021/hot-gospel-songs|work=Billboard|access-date=December 20, 2021}}
| 14 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Pure Souls}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|refname="gold"|award=Gold|certyear=2023|title=Pure Souls|artist=Kanye West|type=single|access-date=August 16, 2023|relyear=2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}
References
{{reflist|35em}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Kanye West
Category:Songs written by Kanye West
{{Kanye West songs}}
{{Roddy Ricch}}
Category:Songs written by Roddy Ricch
Category:Songs written by Shenseea
Category:Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer)