"Believe What I Say" is a song by American rapper
Kanye West from his tenth
studio album, Donda (2021). The song features additional vocals from
Buju Banton,
Dem Jointz and Stalone; and samples "
Doo Wop (That Thing)" by
Lauryn Hill. It was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio as the album's third single on November 30, 2021 (second promoted to radio formats).
The song peaked at number 28 on the
Billboard Hot 100, and also reached the top 40 in Australia and Canada.
Background
On September 15, 2020, West posted a series of tweets about his relationship with
Universal Music Group.[5] In the tweets, the rapper expressed desire to buy back his
master recordings. He went on to leak his full
recording contract documents between himself and Universal. He also stated that he is "not putting no more music out until I'm done with my contract with Sony and Universal.".[6] The next day, on September 16, West flew out to
Jamaica and recorded music with
Buju Banton and
Saint Jhn, the former of which features on the track.[7] On September 26, West shared a snippet of "Believe What I Say" on his Twitter account.[5][8] The track samples
Lauryn Hill's 1998 song "
Doo Wop (That Thing)".
The track was officially previewed on August 26, 2021 at the Donda listening event at
Soldier Field. On September 9, composer Antman Wonder, who was initially left off the credits, posted the original version of the track; claiming that West had not properly credited his, as well as several other artists' contributions to Donda.[9][10] The credits were later updated to include his contribution.