In the buildup to the release of Kanye West's sixth solo album Yeezus, we asked a handful of rappers and producers what their favorite tracks were in the Kanye discography. It's not an easy question, and can sometimes lead to deeper thoughts on which iteration of the Yeezy lexicon is more preferable than the others—the earnest, soul-sample-heavy early years of College Dropout and Late Registration, the dip into synth-pop during the Graduation era, the auto-tuned, emotion-wracked 808s and Heartbreaks, or the lushly-produced, massive sound of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

So whether it's Jay Electronica telling us about the inspiration behind one of the strongest tracks on MBDTF or Mike Dean clue-ing us in on a bit of the background behind one of Kanye's newest releases, we've got their answers. Of course, many people might wind up giving an answer similar to the one given to us by Trinidad James regarding his favorite track—"[I] don't have one. He makes great bodies of music."—Dan Rys (@danrys)

Jay Electronica—"Gorgeous" feat. Raekwon and Kid Cudi

"My favorite Kanye song to date is 'Gorgeous' because of the social commentary alone. I feel that he is peaking lyrically on this record. Style, content, technique, delivery etc... and to top it all off, he told me only just recently that the song was inspired by me. That meant a lot. But it was my fav before I knew.

"My runner up is 'Devil in a New Dress.'"

Mike Dean—"Stronger"

"Straight ‘80s. Techno keyboards, you know? Stuff I used to be into a lot. [I like] the whole thing. The lyrics. The success of the song. It’s one of the biggest songs that I have ever [done]. One of the first songs that I produced with him on. Before that, I was just mixing and mastering. I started doing the extended outros, like on a lot of the stuff that we do now."

Mike Dean—"Can't Hold My Liquor" feat. Chief Keef and Bon Iver

"This was one of the first songs I started that made it on any of his albums. I started the song with Bon Iver, and Kanye did production on it. Very good song. You can’t have too many guitar solos at the end. It allows him to express himself for a couple of minutes. Pretty cool."

Casey Veggies—"Heard 'Em Say" feat. Adam Levine

"It would have to be 'Heard 'Em Say.'"

DJ Drama—"Through The Wire"

"'Through The Wire.' Or 'Everything I Am. Or Stronger.'"

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