''In a Perfect World'' is the upcoming thirteenth studio album by American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. Media personality

DJ Akademiks Livingston George Allen, known professionally as DJ Akademiks (or simply Akademiks, or by his stage name Lil AK), is a Jamaican-American podcaster, YouTuber and live streamer who specializes in music industry music journalism, journalism. Afte ...

announced the album under the title ''WW3'' during a live stream on April 2, 2025, a week after the track of the same name was released as a single on March 26. The album would soon be renamed to ''Cuck'', with the stylization ''CUKKK'' being considered during production''.'' Amid the surprise release of demos for his preceding visual album ''

Bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggressively dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perc ...

'' the month prior, West caused controversy by making

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

statements, supporting

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, and posting offensive remarks—as well as revealing childhood

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

involving his cousin on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account. The latter remark tied into the album's second single, "

Cousins A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

", released on April 21. The third single, "

Heil Hitler The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

", was released on May 8. American rapper

Dave Blunts Davion Blessing (born July 1, 2001), known professionally as Dave Blunts, is an American rapper and singer. He gained popularity in December 2024 after videos of him performing while using an oxygen tank went Viral video, viral and yielded public ...

, who first met West in February 2025, has been cited as the album's sole songwriter by multiple sources, including West himself. Blunts makes several uncredited guest appearances on the album, and contributes vocals on the song "Bianca". Quadwoofer and Sheffmade, two producers who have heavily collaborated with Blunts, are the album's primary producers.

Che Pope Che Pope (born May 3, 1970) is an American record executive and record producer from Boston, Massachusetts. Best known for his work with American rappers Kanye West and Lauryn Hill, Pope served as co-executive producer on the former's album ''Y ...

Digital Nas Nasir Pemberton (born December 5, 1998), known professionally as Digital Nas or DN, is an American hip-hop producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He first gained recognition for his production work for Lil Yachty, and later for his work with Kanye West ...

, and Templecitygrounds also helped in producing the album, alongside West himself. An unfinished version of the album was leaked on May 18, 2025, following a charity group buy; the proceeds of the leak were donated to the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

. Blunts has also published multiple reference tracks that he created for the album online. On June 22, West posted to

that he may be changing the album name from ''Cuck'' to ''In a Perfect World''. He later posted "In a Perfect World", implying it was the new title for the album.

Background

February: West meets Dave Blunts

In February 2025, West met

and they started working on an album together. According to West, he and Blunts would spend hours talking to each other, and Blunts would write three songs a day based off their conversations. Regarding the creation of album track "

", Blunts recalled:

"Cousins" was one of y songsthat got picked. I really liked that song, because he had told me about the situation with him and his cousin, and I could tell that the song was very freeing for him when I made it. I believe that he chose me to write songs because I have a blunt approach to it, and that's the way that this song needed to be. I mean, it happened exactly like I said in the song, no double entendres. Just, like, "I gave him head."

On a June 2025 episode of the ''Dope As Usual'' podcast, Blunts would give several more insights into his work on the album. According to him, West asked him to write the entirety of ''Cuck'' only a day after they met, a meeting arranged by West's agent. Blunts stated that he usually spent 20-30 minutes on each reference track, but once rewrote a track upwards of twenty times at West's request. He based his lyrics off of phone calls he'd have with West (which he described as being "sporadic" in frequency), as well as tweets that West was making at the time. Blunts has repeatedly denied that the lyrical content of ''In a Perfect World'' is antisemitic, describing the album as being "about one man going between hurt, betrayal and pain and he's putting that shit down..."

Promotion

March–May: Album rollout and singles

On March 6, West stated that his upcoming music would feature an "antisemitic sound". On March 16, he posted images of a Nazi swastika and the

sig runes SS runes () is a generic name given to a collection of pseudo-runes used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (''SS''), from the 1920s to 1945, for Nazi occultism-purposes; featured on flags, uniforms and other items as symbols of various aspects of Nazi i ...

of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'', claiming them to be his "new album cover" and "new

Sunday Service "Sunday Service" is a song by American rapper Latto from her third studio album, ''Sugar Honey Iced Tea'' (2024). It was released on February 9, 2024, through Streamcut and RCA Records as the album's second single. Produced by Go Grizzly, Pooh B ...

logo", respectively. West first teased the song " WW3" on March 15 on his

account. Prior to its release, Blunts and streamer

Adin Ross Adin David Ross (born October 11, 2000) is an American Influencer, internet personality and online streamer. He is known for his collaborations with celebrities and livestreams of the ''NBA 2K'' and ''Grand Theft Auto V'' video games. He pre ...

had reacted to the song; the latter initially expressed negative feelings, but would later seem to enjoy the song when reacting to it on stream with rapper

Kodak Black Bill Kahan Kapri (born Dieuson Octave; June 11, 1997), known professionally as Kodak Black, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He gained initial recognition following the release of his 2014 songs " No Flockin" and " Skrt", both of ...

. West released "WW3" as a single on March 26. On March 30, DJ Akademiks held an interview in which West wore a black

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

-inspired outfit and made further controversial remarks, including stating that he regrets having children with his ex-wife

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the celebrity sex tape ...

. He made negative remarks about various other celebrities, including

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, and the late

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. A trained architect, Abloh founded his own line of luxury streetwear clothing under the moniker Pyrex Vision in 2012, which he transfor ...

. The following day, West released the music video to "WW3" on

. The video contains a repurposed scene from the American

television miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'' alongside graphic sexual imagery featuring

interracial sex Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describing ...

and footage of a KKK gathering. On April 2, DJ Akademiks announced that the album, initially titled ''WW3'', would be released the next day, and shared the track listing. Akademiks also previewed the track "Bianca"; the lyrics of the track concern West's separation from his wife

Bianca Censori Bianca Censori (born 5 January 1995) is an Australian woman known for her relationship with American rapper and fashion designer Kanye West, whom she married in a private ceremony in December 2022. Early life and education Bianca Censori was ...

, pleading with her to "come back". When the album failed to drop on April 3, West revealed the album cover, which depicts a male and female Klan member wearing white and red KKK-inspired outfits, respectively, posing in front of a stack of hay bales. The album cover is an edited version of the 2015 photo ''The wedding of two members of the KKK in a barn in rural America'' by Peter van Agtmael. On April 21, West announced that he was changing the title of the album to ''Cuck'' (in popular culture, short for

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife (or partner for unmarried companions); the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not geneti ...

), which he said represented " iswhole style". He released the music video for the second single called "

" the same day in a tweet, with part of the text reading "This song is called COUSINS about my cousin that's locked in jail for life for killing a pregnant lady a few years after I told him we wouldn't 'look at dirty magazines together' anymore." The track contains lyrics discussing West's experience having an

uous relationship with a male cousin as a child and his recreational use of

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

. The music video consists of low quality footage drawn from home media, TV commercials, and pornography. On May 7, West stated on Twitter that he was uploading the third single called "

". On May 8, he released the music video for the single, featuring people draped in animal skins singing the chorus and a sample from a speech by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. West would subsequently release the song on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

and Scrybe. West then stated on May 9 that the song was "banned by all digital streaming platforms". An instrumental version titled "The Heil Symphony" was uploaded in its place on May 14.

Leak

On May 18, 2025, the album was leaked in its entirety after a $999 charity group buy for the

via the messaging site

Discord Discord is an instant messaging and Voice over IP, VoIP social platform which allows communication through Voice over IP, voice calls, Videotelephony, video calls, text messaging, and digital media, media. Communication can be private or take ...

. The leaked album files contained derogatory messaging towards West in its media and

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

as a form of

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

, including listing Blunts as the song artist instead of West, listing " AI" and "

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

" as its genre and date respectively, and replacing the cover with a 1994 picture of West wearing an

antifascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

shirt with the title "Fuck Nazis" and a subtitle—"50 year old loser promoting fascism and hate speech"—overlaid onto it. West acknowledged the leak on Twitter, clarifying that the song "Uncle" was no longer part of the album, and its lyrics were not related to his wife Censori. He would also state the following regarding its leak:

"''Somebody got a drive and threw it on YouTube and said this is CUCK'' ''What I love about getting blocked on DSPs and having songs leaked and shows cancelled is...'' ''It proves everything I'm saying and why I'm saying''"'

May–June: Post-antisemitism

On May 20, "WW3" was removed from all streaming services, followed by West tweeting that he was "done with antisemitism" following a

FaceTime FaceTime is a proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS device with a forward-facin ...

call with his children on May 22. He asked God to "forgive me for the pain I've caused" and said that he forgave those who caused him pain. He later re-uploaded the song, with new black cover art and censoring of the words "Nazi", "

Swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

s", "Hitler", "Antisemitic" and "

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

". "The Heil Symphony" was also taken down, then re-uploaded with black cover art and the updated name "Hit Symphony". On May 31, a song titled "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...

" was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

before being added to streaming services. The song itself, which is an edited version of "Heil Hitler", censored the phrase "Heil Hitler" and replaced it with "Hallelujah", with "all my niggas Nazi's" being changed to "all my niggas got me". The only other censored word is "Nazi" during the line "So I became a Nazi yeah, bitch I'm the villain". On June 22, West posted to X that he was thinking about changing the album's name from "CUKKK" to "IN A PERFECT WORLD", implying that "CUKKK" was another title for the album. He later posted "IN A PERFECT WORLD", implying it as the new title for the album. Blunts would also update the caption of an image of him and West on Instagram, changing it from "CUCKS" to "IN A PERFECT WORLD" to reflect the name change. The song "Diddy Free" would be reworked and released on ''Never Stop'' (2025), a collaborative album between West and Sean Combs' son, Christian "King" Combs.

Track listing

All songs are reportedly written by

. The following refers to the May 18, 2025 leak; it is unclear if this will be the final track listing for the album. Notes * All track names are stylized in

uppercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''#Majuscule, majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally ''#Minuscule, minuscule'') in the written representation of certain langua ...

Sample credits

* "WW3" contains a sample of "I Get High (On Your Memory)" by

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

. * "Cosby" contains a sample of "Run the Track" by Jamtech Foundation. * "Bianca" contains a sample of "You're an Angel" by The Essence of Life. * "Heil Hitler" contains a sample of a 1935 speech by

. * "Jared" contains a sample of an

Instagram live Instagram is an American photo and short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. * "Nitrous" contains a sample of "100% of Disin' You" by

Armando Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

Credits and personnel

* Ye – vocals (all tracks), production (1, 7) * Chuki Beats – production (7) *

– songwriting (all tracks), vocals (6) *

– production (7) *

The Hooligans Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...

– vocals (11) * Quadwoofer – production (1, 11) * Sheffmade – production (1, 11) * Templecitygrounds (G06 Beatz, Theevoni, Fvbii) – production (1)

References

External links

Video by Chuki Beats about "Cousins"
{Kanye West 2025 albums 2025 controversies in the United States African American–Jewish relations Albums produced by Kanye West Antisemitic works Articles containing video clips Internet leaks Neo-Nazi music Neo-Nazism in the United States Kanye West albums Ku Klux Klan in popular culture United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Upcoming albums Self-released albums