“You can have power when you empower others.”

I suppose it’s been long-known that the magic that permeates through a Kanye West track is alchemy by committee. Take for instance, Ye’s most recent conquer-all single “All Day,” which boasts writing credits from 20-plus others, including Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Vic Mensa and French Montana. And those are just the names that you could readily identify on the liner notes. But a recent interview with another longtime collaborator and songwriting partner, Rhymefest, contends that the two Chicagoan emcees share a whole lot more than just a place of origin.

The Daily Beast sat down with emcee/philanthropist/designer (and recent Kenneth Cole model) to discuss how integral his contributions to Ye’s body of work have been over the years, how ghostwriting used to be a viable source of income and how’s he’s fed up with dishing out gems to ungrateful and exploitative rappers, when he can barely pay his mortgage. It’s not all shade though, he also champions Common as a “true collaborator,” having helped him pen his verses for the Oscar and Grammy winning anthem of protest “Glory,” chalking it up to divinely inspired phone call that pushed out the words in just a few short hours.

Elsewhere in the interview, Rhymefest can be found speaking to the Chief Keep phenomenon and the everlasting swagger that accompanies a life devoted to service, which has been well documented in his work with the Kanye co-founded Donda’s House organization, as well as campaigns to take public office in Chicago in recent years. However, Rhymefest’s altruism doesn’t even end there, as he’s currently readying the documentary In My Father’s House, which tracks his journey to reconnect with his father, whose constant relapses with alcoholism prove to be trying in his attempts to reinvigorate the man’s will to thrive again. Hit the link to get the full script and peep the trailer for the new doc below.

>>>Read Rhymefest’s full interview (via The Daily Beast)