We’ve been hearing about “Mama’s Boyfriend” ever since last summer, when My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was still supposed to be called Good Ass Job and Kanye was performing it a cappella at Facebook. It generated a ton of interest at the time, so it was surprising that it never turned up on the album (especially considering that “Yeezy reupholstered my pussy” business made the cut). So, we’re glad to see it’s finally made it to the web.
While “Mama’s Boyfriend” isn’t quite up to the level of “Runaway,” “Power,” or “Monster,” there’s still a lot to appreciate. The self-aware lyrics are the high point, telling the story of a young West seeing his beloved mother date a parade of men who are only interested in one thing. The boy in “Superman pajamas” realizes that they “ain’t interested in me, you just tryin’ to fuck my mom.” But now that he’s grown up, he sees himself acting just like them — and, as the ferocious delivery drives home, hates himself for it.
As Nah Right points out, Q-Tip tweeted back in November that “Mama’s Boyfriend” would appear on a re-release of MBDTF, but that he didn’t know whether the album would include his version or Soulja Boy’s. If we had to guess based on the song’s swirly, retro-soul backing, we’d say this was Q-Tip’s. Listen below and let us know what you think.
Stream: Kanye West — “Mama’s Boyfriend”