Kanye West Relies On Some Friends From Roc Days For New LP

Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West's untitled solo album is still coming together with help from production crew the Heatmakerz, who Yeezy came up with during his pre-fame days.

According to Heatmakerz producer Rsonist, fans can expect some classic, soulful Ye on the upcoming project.

"I got a record on Kanye's new project that I guess he's been working on for a minute now," Heatmakerz producer Rsonist told MTV News. "Anybody that's familiar with Heatmakerz, it's old-school, epic Heatmakerz, like soul music at its best. Kanye reached out to us because he wanted that old Heatmakerz sound." The Heatmakerz, a successful New York production outfit, were also making similar styled beats producing for Cam'ron's Diplomats ("I'm Ready," "Dipset Anthem") and Lil Wayne ("Receipt"). (MTV)

While not spilling too many details, the New York hitmaker promised old-school soul for the LP.

There is no telling where Kanye's audio will go on his upcoming sixth solo LP, but according to Rsonist, for at least one track, we'll get a glimpse of the old 'Ye. "We all came up together during the whole Jay-Z Roc-A-Fella era and all that so yeah, it's typical Heatmakerz," he described. "Old-school soul music. It's dope." (MTV)

G.O.O.D Music affiliate Malik Yusef recently added some details to what Kany! e will deliver on his long-awaited follow-up to 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

He's not the only act to firm up recording plans with West to reporters at the Awards. Longtime collaborator Malik Yusef was also on hand, and he ended up describing his efforts with West akin to "work camps," saying recording can be "tortuous." "He is a perfectionist, obviously. It's harsh," he said, noting that whether they're in Paris or Hawaii, it's a labor. "[West] says no to a hundred things." As to the specifics of sound and scope, Yusef said "I can't talk too much about it. Just remember black music, the black experience. It's a throwback to that era," he said, but "a distillation of what's happening in the modern world." What it won't have is a lot of West singing, or at least not as much singing as he did on 2008's "808s & Heartbreak." "I don't know if we'd ever revisit that amount of singing," Yusef said. (HitFix)

Atlanta singer/producer The-Dream revealed his involvement on the LP last month.

"I've been told to zip it," he said. However, he did reveal Kanye West is working on his next album -- and he'll be joining the hip-hop star in Paris to work on it in the coming weeks. And as for his much-talked-about hats? "[Jay-Z] was just digging on me, we do that," he said, defending his on-stage headwear choice. "B had just said, she wanted both of these hats." (Billboard)