"Pure Souls" is a song by American rapperKanye West from his tenth studio album,Donda (2021). The song features uncredited vocals from fellow American rapperRoddy Ricch and Jamaican singerShenseea.
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".[2][3] 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?".[4] 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.[5] 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".[6]
The song was first previewed during a listening party at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021.[6] 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".[7] 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 atHot 97 withFunkmaster Flex, which was uploaded on July 28, 2021.[8] At the listening event, Shenseea joined West on the stairs of his remade childhood home along with artists such asTravis Scott,Marilyn Manson andDaBaby.[9]
