Kanye West’s “Real Friends” Was Inspired by Joey Badass

Is Joey Bada$$ hip-hop's biggest secret creative benefactor? It's hard to say, but just a couple weeks after revealing that he'd written a portion of Post Malone's platinum-selling, 21 Savage-assisted single "Rockstar," the Brooklyn MC has shared that he actually helped inspired Kanye West's "Real Friends," a standout cut from Yeezy's 2016 album, The Life of Pablo.

Joey revealed this tidbit of info during a "wavy" session of Instagram Live last Saturday (Jan. 6). It proved to be an interesting session. “I’ll tell y'all something very real about Kanye,” Joey said before describing the moment he met Yeezy at 2016 Coachella. “So look, I met Kanye for the first time at Coachella in 2016. He was like, ‘You heard 'Real Friends?’”

“I’m looking at this nigga like, ‘Yeah, I heard 'Real Friends.' Who the fuck ain’t heard 'Real Friends?' He was like, ‘You inspired me to make that song, B.’ I honestly couldn’t even believe he was saying that shit," Joey said. "The only thing I was thinking in my head was, ‘Nigga, why the fuck you ain’t put me on that shit? I could use the clout.’”

Joey didn't trip over not being left off the song, though, having a good laugh about the whole situation before explaining why he hadn't revealed this story before.

“I never let this out of the bag because I didn’t really care to,” Joey offered. “But I’m gonna let it out of the bag because I’m a little wavy right now, and a drunk man tells no lies. Shout out to Kanye, man…real nigga. I still don’t believe it to this day.”

Word. Now, the question is, which other hit song did Joey Bada$$ play a role in creating? Maybe he'll let us know soon.

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