--- ---  # Paul McCartney Draws the Line at the Word 'Genius' With Kanye West  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 10, 2016 9:14 PM UTC  Paul McCartney and Kanye West attend the Stella McCartney show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 on March 9, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Paul McCartney and Kanye West attend the Stella McCartney show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 on March 9, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)Pascal Le Segretain—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 10, 2016 9:14 PM UTC When [Sir Paul McCartney collaborated with Kanye West](http://time.com/4346122/why-kanye-west-is-a-monster-according-to-paul-mccartney/) in 2015, the partnership surprised fans of both artists but ultimately produced three songs that were undeniable hits, “[All Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FABk7TmjnVk),” “[FourFiveSeconds,](http://time.com/3681571/rihanna-kanye-west-paul-mccartney-fourfiveseconds/)” and “[Only One](http://time.com/3651636/kanye-west-mccartney-only/).” In an interview with [_Rolling Stone_](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/paul-mccartney-looks-back-the-rolling-stone-interview-w433437), the [legendary artist](http://time.com/4382198/taylor-swift-dave-grohl-paul-mccartney/) elaborated on what it was really like to work with the mercurial rapper, even going so far as to compare Yeezy to the king of pop art, Andy Warhol. “I didn’t know his system. I’d heard things like, ‘He’s got a room full of guys working on riffs, and he walks around going, “I like that one,”‘ McCartney said. “It reminded me of Andy Warhol, these artists who use students to paint their backgrounds and things. It’s a well-used technique. I thought, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to fit into that, but let’s see. Here goes nothing.'” McCartney also recounted the remarkable ways that the songs came to be; during one of the earliest working sessions, McCartney whistled a piece of music he composed back in 1969, which Kanye’s engineer recorded. The whistle later resurfaced in “All Day”. Despite their excellent collaboration, don’t expect Sir Paul to endorse Kanye for [his self-proclaimed “greatest artist of all time” claim](http://time.com/4196396/kanye-west-wiz-khalifa-twitter-spree/). When asked, “do you think Kanye is a genius,” he said, “I don’t throw that word around \[laughs\]. I think he’s a great artist.” McCartney is becoming somewhat of a hip hop head now, listening to everyone from ‘Ye to Drizzy. “I listen to it for, you could call it, education,” he said. “I hear a lot of it and go to concerts occasionally. I went to see Jay Z and Kanye when they toured. I’ve seen Drake live. It’s the music of now.” Paul McCartney: Compares Kanye West To Andy Wahol ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4447076/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4447076/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol-interview/"},"headline":"Paul McCartney Draws the Line at the Word 'Genius' With Kanye West","datePublished":"2016-08-10T21:14:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:20.289Z","description":"The iconic musical artist also compares West to Andy Warhol","url":"https://time.com/4447076/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol-interview/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Music","Paul McCartney","Kanye West"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd83c8fa390f1c4e1/6988a1e52dce01de5c9ea438/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd83c8fa390f1c4e1/6988a1e52dce01de5c9ea438/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stella McCartney : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016","caption":"Stella McCartney : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016","creditText":"Pascal Le Segretain—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4447076/paul-mccartney-kanye-west-andy-warhol-interview/","name":"Paul McCartney Draws the Line at the Word 'Genius' With Kanye West"}}]}] ```