Kanye West Enlists Sia, Vic Mensa for Melancholic New Song ‘Wolves’

Hours before his First Annual Roc City Classic concert with Kevin Durant, Kanye West debuted his new song “Wolves” featuring Sia and Chicago rapper Vic Mensa. The song premiered during an event for West’s new sneaker, the Yeezy Boost and will be the first track off his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled album. The full fashion show can be seen above, with “Wolves” starting at the 8:15 mark.

On Thursday, West premiered his Yeezy 750 Boost, his collaboration with Adidas. The event was broadcast in 40 locations worldwide and during the showcase, a message appeared stating “This is track #1 on Kanye West’s New Album.” Fans watching the event live were the first to hear the new song.

The melancholic song is reminiscent to West’s work on 2008’s 808s & Heartbreaks, as a slower beat and heavily Auto-Tuned West highlight the track. “I’m just bad,” West sings. “Bad for you.”

Both Sia and West performed, separately, at the 57th Grammy Awards last Sunday. While Sia performed her single “Chandelier,” West debuted live performances of his two Paul McCartney collaborations, “Only One” and “FourFiveSeconds” (the latter featuring Rihanna).

Mensa, a 21-year-old rapper from Chicago, is the latest burgeoning talent from West’s hometown that the more seasoned artist has collaborated with. Mensa is a part of the SAVEMONEY rap collective with Chance the Rapper and performed at 2014’s Lollapalooza music festival. His last release was 2013’s INNANETAPE.

Following the Grammys, West found himself in a bit of trouble over comments he made about Beck winning Album of the Year over Beyonce. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, West explained that he respects Beck as a musician and just wanted to make a joke, “like the Grammys themselves.” In the same interview, he noted that he would be entering the studio with another person whose past win over Beyonce he had some issues with: Taylor Swift.