# List of unreleased projects by Kanye West

The following is a list of unreleased Kanye West projects in rough chronological order. During his career, American rapper and record producer Kanye West has developed on several projects which never progressed beyond ranging from pre-production to its unreleased state. Some of the projects were officially canceled, scrapped, or fell into development hell.

## Music projects
### World Record Holders

In 1996, West alongside GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar formed a Chicago rap group called the Go Getters. The group recorded a number of songs and made local radio appearances, but their debut album, World Record Holders, was never officially released.

### 1997 beat tape

A set of eight tracks, allegedly from an unreleased beat tape West produced in 1997, was uploaded to SoundCloud in May 2016. XXL found it to be plausible that the tape was authentic, and identified one of the beats as an early version of Infamous Syndicate's "What You Do to Me".

### The College Dropout alternate version

West's original version of The College Dropout was leaked online months before release, and in response he made several changes to the album's instrumentation and mixing. The removed tracks include a song called "My Way", as well as early versions of the eventual Late Registration tracks "Hey Mama" and "Gold Digger". Featured appearances by Ol' Dirty Bastard and Consequence were also removed.

### Good Ass Job

West initially intended to release his first four albums as a college-themed series, with Good Ass Job being the final album. Good Ass Job was foreshadowed in some of West's earlier songs; for instance, the track "Graduation Day" on The College Dropout alluded to the title with the lyric "She wants me to get a good ass job just like everybody." West also revealed this intention to MTV News in 2003, before The College Dropout's release. West adhered to this plan with Late Registration and Graduation, but after the death of his mother Donda West and his breakup with fiancée Alexis Phifer, he pivoted to an electropop project titled 808s & Heartbreak for his fourth album in 2008.
In a January 2009 interview with French magazine Elle, West changed the upcoming album's title to Winter-Spring-Summer-Fall, featuring 12 songs, with three songs for each season. That September, West received worldwide controversy and criticism for interrupting Taylor Swift during her acceptance of the award for Best Female Video during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, referring to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" as being "one of the best videos of all time." The incident was a turning point in Good Ass Job, prompting West's decision to exile himself to Oahu, Hawaii.
Via Rap Radar on February 2010, incoming GOOD Music rapper Big Sean confirmed that the project was still under the title Good Ass Job; Billboard also corroborated the title that July. However, on October 5, 2010, West announced the title's change to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, claiming it was always the title during the production. The same month, he confirmed to MTV News about why he changed it:
   [I] changed it because I didn't want to do the Good Ass Job thing and have to stick to the skits and everything that went with that. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and my album cover are just... those things are just awesome. It's really proper, decadent, soulful, lavishness, and it's exactly what I wanna say.
On September 17, 2018, West made a surprise appearance at Chance the Rapper's Open Mike event, revealing that he and Chance were working on an album titled Good Ass Job. After the announcement, no further updates took place, and by the following year it was assumed that the album had been abandoned. Despite the scrapped idea, West has stated that his recording sessions with Chance helped West reconnect with his roots and faith in Christianity.

### "RoboCop" music video

On March 11, 2009, Clash reported that West was shooting a music video for the song with his then-girlfriend Amber Rose. It was recorded in Los Angeles after West had to persuade Rose to fly there for the shooting. Speaking to MTV News four months later, Rose said that she plays a robot throughout the video and appears alone for 95 percent of it. During an on-set interview, West expressed that the visual was inspired by his love for video games, characterizing making a video look equally good to a game as "the holy grail". He explained that rather than utilizing computer-generated imagery, the "intensity" should come off the screen.
The music video was directed by Hype Williams. Although the video did not experience an official release, Shihan Barbee shared a 13-second stop-motion clip from it to Instagram on August 8, 2014. Accompanying the clip, Barbee posted: "Wish he had released this video. Super dope." The clip has a pink technicolor backdrop, which West stands in front while wearing a tuxedo that accompanies his faux hawk and tucking his hands in his pockets. West stands face-to-face with a nude robot that has Rose's head digitally inserted onto it with the addition of sunglasses; she makes robotic movements simultaneously with him rapping. At certain points, West makes exaggerated faces to the camera.
The alleged, full version of the music video got leaked in October 2024.

### Watch the Throne 2

In December 2011, Jay-Z stated in an interview with MTV News that a sequel to Watch the Throne would be released after solo projects from Jay-Z and West. In May 2012, Watch the Throne co-producer Mike Dean stated in an interview that Watch the Throne 2 was being planned. Jay-Z reiterated in an August 2013 interview with Power 106 that a sequel to Watch the Throne was being planned.
On April 5, 2016, Drake released "Pop Style", featuring West and Jay-Z, as a single for Views. However, when the album released, West and Jay-Z's features were removed. West blamed the removed verses on exclusivity deals by Apple Music and Tidal. While performing in Seattle during the Saint Pablo Tour, West said that Watch the Throne 2 would not be released, blaming Jay-Z for removing West's verse from the song.
In September 8, 2018, West tweeted that Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon." At the time, it was not clear if West and Jay-Z were in contact as West stated in a May 2018 interview that he had not been in contact with Jay-Z since the Saint Pablo Tour speech. It was reported in October 2018 that Jay-Z had severed ties with West over West's political rants in support of Donald Trump. In November 2018, Meek Mill released Championships, which features a Jay-Z guest appearance on "What's Free". Jay-Z references West on the song, rapping "No red hat, don’t Michael and Prince me and Ye." Soon after the release, Jay-Z clarified on Twitter that the line was not a diss against West; West responded suggesting a Watch the Throne sequel.
In July 2021, West previewed the song "Jail", which featured Jay-Z, at a Donda listening party in Atlanta. The song sparked speculation that a Watch the Throne sequel was in development, with Jay-Z rapping: "This might be the return of The Throne." The following month, West affiliate Justin Laboy stated that Watch the Throne 2 was to release later that year.
In an October 2022 Drink Champs interview, West again stated that Watch the Throne 2 was "coming soon."

### Cruel Winter

In September 2012, American rapper Q-Tip was questioned about his lack of involvement on Cruel Summer and stated, "I know, I know, I'm sorry about that but I have to let the cat out of the bag. Kanye's probably gonna get ... if there's a Cruel Summer then there's got to be a Cruel Winter, right?" He confirmed the project to be in the works the following month, with Pusha T referring to it as a "Q-Tip/Kanye thing". Big Sean also confirmed Cruel Winter to be coming soon, and Malik Yusef, a songwriter and artist signed to the GOOD Music label, posted a photo of him and West on Instagram in the studio. Despite others confirming the project, fellow rapper Common said it was nothing more than a "rumor".
In July 2013, Travis Scott stated that West may release Cruel Winter "out of nowhere"; conversely, Pusha T declared that it would not release due to the number of projects West was working on.
In October 2015, after more than two years without updates on Cruel Winter, a rumored tracklist was posted by AllHipHop. The project's ongoing development was confirmed in February 2016 by Cyhi the Prynce, who stated "there was a lot of work done for Cruel Winter." On June 3, 2016, a single titled "Champions" was released by GOOD Music as the lead single for Cruel Winter; the track includes appearances from West, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo, and Desiigner. It initially aired on Big Boy's 92.3, as a yet-untitled single, before being officially released via digital download and streaming services on June 12, 2016. West also teased a 12–15 minute version of the song with the GOOD Music roster, though the idea was later abandoned.
In September 2016, Scott announced his role as executive producer for Cruel Winter, and told Hot 97.3 that the album would be released next year. In March 2017, when Cyhi was asked about Cruel Winter, he said West was in "good spirits" and teased a song on the album with him and Sean he called "crazy." By November 2017, Cyhi said the album would come out right after his album. However, no updates on Cruel Winter have been announced since then, and the album is presumed to have been officially scrapped.

### Yeezus 2

Under the working title Yeezus 2, West initially planned to release a sequel to Yeezus either with new material or leftovers from the previous album. It was confirmed on December 2013 when he announced a minimalist eight-track album, saying it was done mid-way. He planned to release it by "next summer" and reportedly worked with Q-Tip and Rick Rubin as producers. Also, it was speculated that American singer Miley Cyrus missed her post-VMA party to record with West, including a remix for "Black Skinhead" with Travis Scott, a track from Yeezus. Afterward, the album was scrapped as West's seventh album evolved into So Help Me God, then The Life of Pablo.
In 2017, one of Cyhi the Prynce's Spotify playlists titled ypm was revealed by Genius to feature six tracks that were possibly meant for Yeezus 2, unavailable to the public. The tracks' titles are acronyms of the songs: "333", "MM", "WISI", "W", "OO", and "AY", sparking speculation from fans, such as "W" standing for "Wolves" and "OO" standing for "Only One".

### So Help Me God

After the abandonment of the Yeezus 2 concept, West began planning to succeed Yeezus with an album titled So Help Me God. In a February 2015 appearance on The Breakfast Club, West stated that he had an album that was "80 percent done" that he intended for an eventual surprise release. On March 1, West announced So Help Me God as his planned title for the album. Alongside the announcement, he posted an image—speculated to be the planned album cover—of a diamond shape with lowercase "m" shapes at each vertex. The image was identified as a 13th-century monastic symbol that represented the Virgin Mary.
Prior to the announcement, West had held a listening party in September 2014 at which the album was played. He also released several singles for So Help Me God in 2014 and 2015, including "Only One", "FourFiveSeconds", and "All Day". Each of these singles featured contributions from Paul McCartney, who also collaborated with West on an unreleased track titled "Piss on Your Grave" that leaked in August 2014. A version of "Piss on Your Grave" was eventually released on Travis Scott's album Rodeo. Based on its singles, music writers predicted that So Help Me God would be a "mellow" pop album focused on family and maturity.
West has described the planned sound of So Help Me God as "cookout music that just feels good", and compared its themes to "Amazing Grace". He additionally contrasted it against Yeezus, stating that while Yeezus was "a protest of music", So Help Me God would be "embracing the music [and] embracing joy". Theophilus London, who wrote a song planned for the album, reported in March 2015 that West was continually revising the album.
In May 2015, West announced that he was changing the title of his next album to Swish. West changed the album's title again in January and February 2016, briefly titling the album Waves before ultimately releasing it as The Life of Pablo. He did not disclose why he changed the album's title, but DJBooth has speculated that the poor chart performance of "All Day" was what led West to scrap his original plans for So Help Me God.

### Rihanna's eighth studio album

At the 2015 Grammy Awards, West announced that he would be the executive producer of Rihanna's next album. West went on to produce Rihanna's 2015 singles "FourFiveSeconds", "American Oxygen", and "Bitch Better Have My Money", but stepped down as executive producer of the full album in January 2016, reportedly to finish recording his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo. When Rihanna released Anti later in 2016, the track listing did not include any of the three singles written and produced by West, nor did any of the songs featured on the album include any contributions from him.

### Chiraq

In 2020, designer Joe Perez revealed on Instagram that West had once commissioned him for art connected to a project titled Chiraq. Little is known about the nature of the project, but Grant Rindner of GQ has noted that the timing would have coincided with Spike Lee's film Chi-Raq. West was not involved in the final version of Lee's Chi-Raq, though Pitchfork reported that he had been considered as a possible contributor to its soundtrack.

### Turbo Grafx 16

Only ten days after the initial release of The Life of Pablo, West announced his eighth studio album under the name, Turbo Grafx 16, named after the video game console of the same name. The same month, West associate Ibn Jasper posted a photo on Instagram showing West with longtime collaborators Mike Dean, Plain Pat, and Kid Cudi in a recording studio working on the album. During the production of the album, West worked with emerging artists Lil Yachty, Vic Mensa, Offset, and Quavo, as well as Big Sean and Tyler, the Creator. However, Turbo Grafx 16 did not release in its intended time, with West taking off on the Saint Pablo Tour during the fall of 2016. By November 2016, after West's rant on the final show and his hospitalization, the album was scrapped. In 2017, the album evolved into Love Everyone, then was reworked in the following year, finally released under the title, Ye. The highly praised song Can U Be, which raised money for a $25,000 group buy, was rumored to be originally on this album, but then later released on the Digital Deluxe version of Vultures 2.
Early versions of seven Turbo Grafx 16 songs were leaked online, including collaborations with artists such as Young Thug and A$AP Rocky. Jem Aswad of Variety has described the sound of the leaked tracks as "West's take on trap".

### Love Everyone

In April 2018, West posted a screenshot of a text message conversation to Twitter. In the screenshot, he asked a friend for title suggestions for his upcoming album, and the friend suggested Love Everyone. In the same conversation, West expressed his intention for the album's cover to feature an image of Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on West's mother Donda shortly before her death. West explained his thinking by stating that he "want[ed] to forgive and stop hating". Adams responded to the post with an open letter, requesting that his image not be used on the album.
In May, West played Love Everyone at an interview with TMZ. Little material from the album has been heard publicly, but it is thought to have featured artists such as Bon Iver, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, The-Dream, and Ant Clemons. In an interview with Charlamagne tha God, West stated that Love Everyone would be a "therapeutic" album and described it as comparable to his track "Real Friends".
At his TMZ interview, West made controversial comments about slavery. Multiple outlets have speculated that the backlash to West's remarks led him to abandon his original plans for Love Everyone and adapt the album into Ye.

### Yandhi

On September 17, 2018, West announced his ninth studio album Yandhi, revealing the cover art and initial release date of September 29, 2018. The tracklist included tracks such as "We Got Love" with Teyana Taylor and American singer Lauryn Hill (originally intended for K.T.S.E.), "New Body", featuring Nicki Minaj, "The Storm", "Bye Bye Baby", "Hurricane", "Alien / SpaceX", "Last Name", "Sky City", "Garden", and "Chakras".
While Yandhi did not release in its initial date, West was the musical guest for the season 44 premiere of Saturday Night Live. The following day, Universal Music Publishing Group accidentally leaked that the initial version of the album was to be eight tracks long. After missing its initial date, it was rescheduled to November 23, 2018, announced by Kardashian on October 1. That same day of the announcement, West visited the TMZ offices for an interview, admitting that the album was not finished yet and that he would be going to Africa in two weeks to continue recording for Yandhi. West talked about recording in Chicago and how he "felt the roots" but wanted to go further his energy by touching African soil and recording in nature.
On October 12, 2018, West arrived in Uganda and restarted work on the album in a dome-shaped studio set up in the Chobe Safari Lodge at the Murchison Falls National Park. West arrived with around 50 people and recorded for five days. He played new music, including a studio recording of the "We Got Love" remix, for a group of about 100 Ugandan school children during a charity event. In an October 21, 2018, interview, American rapper Quavo stated that his trio Migos had recorded for the album. In November 2018, following a Kids See Ghosts performance with Kid Cudi at American rapper Tyler, the Creator's Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, West tweeted that he felt Yandhi was not finished, and that he would "announce the release date once it's done," delaying the album indefinitely.
By 2019, West went through a dramatic conversion towards born-again evangelical Christianity, including the formation of the Sunday Service Choir and a performance at Coachella on Easter Sunday, influencing the evolution of Yandhi to what was eventually released on October 19th as his ninth studio album, Jesus Is King.

### Carti better ye hang it up you washed

In 2019, Kid Cudi teased Kids See Ghosts 2, the sequel to Kids See Ghosts, multiple times. According to an interview with Complex, Kid Cudi assured fans that more material from him and West are coming:
   There will be more Kids See Ghosts albums. Kanye already told me he wants to start working on the second one. ... With the first album, I didn't know how serious he was about making a collab album with me. He had mentioned it, but I thought it was just a good idea he had in the moment. But then he kept bringing it up and kept having me come to his house, listen to music, and work on beats, so I was like, "Wow, he's really into this." We had a discussion where he said he wanted to make a spiritual album and I told him, "Great. That's what I do. I would love to do that, something I can sink my teeth into." So there will definitely be more.
However, Kids See Ghosts 2 never came to fruition, as West and Kid Cudi began feuding in February 2022. That April, Kid Cudi announced that Pusha T's song "Rock n Roll", on which both Cudi and West were featured, would be the two artists' final collaboration. However, Cudi and West eventually reconciled during a December 2023 listening session, and Cudi subsequently appeared on the Vultures 2 track "Gun to My Head".

### Jesus is King: The Dr. Dre Version

On November 18, 2019, West announced a remix of Jesus is King with American producer-rapper Dr. Dre. On January 16, 2020, a Dr. Dre-produced song "Up from the Ashes" (later appearing on Donda), leaked onto YouTube, but was later taken down due to copyright claims. Another track titled "LA Monster", also leaked two months later.
In June 2020, American rapper Snoop Dogg posted a video of Dr. Dre and West working on Jesus is King: The Dr. Dre Version. Later that year, West thanked American rapper Eminem for rapping on Dr. Dre's remix of "Use This Gospel", which was officially released two years later on DJ Khaled's studio album, God Did.
However, West and Dr. Dre parted their ways and have not made updates on the remix album, with West focusing on Donda, his 2020 presidential campaign, Donda Academy, and Yeezy merch, while Dr. Dre had a turbulent following year, with a near-fatal brain aneurysm, his home being burglarized, and eventual divorce.

## Other ventures
### Pastelle clothing line

Prior to launching Yeezy with Adidas in 2013, West attempted to enter into the fashion world with his original clothing line, Pastelle, as early as 2007. Daniel Beckerman, co-founder of Italian sunglass brand Retrosuperfuture, received an email from West's talent agency, informing him that West wanted to collaborate with him. Shortly after, West assembled a team of 30 designers, consultants and collaborators, to advance the fashion brand Pastelle. GOOD Music-signed musician and designer Taz Arnold praised the brand, and later joined the crew as a consultant the following year.
Kaws, who designed the album cover for 808s & Heartbreaks, was hired to help craft the brand's logo, along with Kim Jones, who was Louis Vuitton’s men’s artistic director at the time. Pastelle was meant to appear to both men and women with a range of color palettes, including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and footwear. However, by the fall of 2009, many contributors to the Pastelle brand learned it was brought to a stop through online sources, losing direct contact with West and others, as the brand was later scrapped.

### A Little Inappropriate

In 2007, West pitched A Little Inappropriate, a comedy-drama TV series, to HBO, influenced by other HBO TV series such as Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. However, the pilot was rejected by HBO, and eventually leaked in full via YouTube on June 2023.

### Alligator Boots

In 2007, West envisioned the puppet-based sketch comedy TV series, Alligator Boots, which he co-created with Rhymefest. It was meant as a dirty, irreverent spoof of The Muppet Show, hosted by West. According to video director and animator Konee Rok, Kanye met with Jimmy Kimmel, who was working on Crank Yankers and a co-founder of Jackhole Productions, and suggested to Kimmel that they collaborate to create Alligator Boots. It was later pitched to Comedy Central, with a $1 million budget and shot in under five days on the Jim Henson Company Lot. During the production of Alligator Boots, West was the only human star, but came with an idea about a love interest, and decided to bring Kim Kardashian into his show, which was the first time they met. On October 16, 2024, the full pilot for Alligator Boots was leaked on YouTube.

### Fame Kills

In June 2009, Kanye West announced on The View he would be touring with Lady Gaga. The tour would have supported West's fourth album 808s & Heartbreak and Gaga's The Fame Monster EP. It was scheduled to run from November 2009 to January 2010, but was canceled after public controversy regarding West's interruption of Taylor Swift's Best Female Video speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

### Yeezus concert film

In February 2014, West uploaded a trailer for a concert film based on The Yeezus Tour to his website. It featured speedy shots of the tour, showing horses running in snow and West wearing his masks. Author Bret Easton Ellis revealed around the same time of the trailer that he was working with the rapper on a project, after having re-imagined a scene from American Psycho (2000) for a promotional clip of the tour. Ellis was reluctant to write for the film until he listened to an advance copy of Yeezus in the summer of 2013; he then crafted a script in "Kanye land". The film was set to be shot by director Hype Williams, who previously directed music videos for West's singles like "Gold Digger", "Stronger", and "Heartless".
In October 2023, Williams explained to Complex how after he shot the film with West in Chicago and Toronto, the two engaged in a dress rehearsal with attention to detail so intense that they lost its original meaning. West was working on The Life of Pablo at this time, therefore he and Williams instead decided to shoot videos for the album. The director and Scooter Braun spent six months negotiating with IMAX for the film's release, although it was discarded due to West's personal issues after his then-wife Kim Kardashian was robbed in Paris. Williams revealed that nobody, not even West himself, has viewed the film and it was filmed in 2014; he compared its significance to an unreleased recording from the likes of the Rolling Stones or the Beatles.

### Only One video game

In February 2015, West announced a video game based on his mother, Donda West, was in the works. The game is revealed to be titled Only One, after the song of the same name, along with it being released as an iPhone app, created by Los Angeles-based film and animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura. The first trailer was revealed during the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show and The Life of Pablo release party on February 11, 2016. The game's concept is that the players plays Donda West as she ascends to the highest levels of heaven, avoiding obstacles along the way. However, by November 2016, the game was scrapped.

### Kids See Ghosts (computer-animated series)

On June 26, 2020, a computer-animated series directed by artist Takashi Murakami was announced via social media, with Kid Cudi stating that it was "coming soon." The series chronicles the adventures of Kanye Bear, the character portrayed on West's first three album covers, and Kid Fox, a character created exclusively for the show, both acting as their cartoon personas for the artists. However, no scheduled release date was announced, and it was likely scrapped due to the group's initial split.