Wiki
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Length
2:30
On “Remote Control,” Kanye enlists his “Highlights” collaborator Young Thug for a reflection on his faith in God.
While early demos of the track saw Kanye poking fun at how futuristic society has become in 2021 – referencing hover crafts and iPhones as “remote controls” – this version explores God’s omnipresent nature, remotely controlling the world from Heaven.
Following the "Donda" release, Soulja Boy revealed that Kanye had asked Soulja to record a verse for the track, however, Soulja’s verse was omitted from the final version of the song.
During the first live performance of the album, Kanye performed a solo version of the song with mumbled lyrics and an open beat where Young Thug’s verse would later go.
During the second live performance of the album, Kanye premiered a version of the song still with the mumbled lyrics, but this time, with verses from Young Thug and Kid Cudi as well. The lyrics to that version can be found here. A version of the song with about half of Cudi’s verse and the full Globglogabgalab outro was later released via the stem players, presumed to be for the deluxe version of the album.
During the third live performance, Kanye premiered a version of the song nearly identical to the final version on the album, except with the Sunday Service Choir contributing background vocals to the chorus and an extended version of the sample at the end.
Also, shortly after the release of Donda, Soulja Boy took to Twitter to answer a fan’s question about his thoughts on Donda, claiming he was upset Kanye didn’t release the verse Soulja Boy had recorded for “Remote Control.” He then posted his text messages with Kanye before releasing a recording of his scrapped verse on his social media accounts.
“Remote Control” debuted at #16 on the Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songs Chart during the week ending September 2, 2021.
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