Rick Rubin and Q-Tip Are Producing Kanye's 'Yeezus' Follow-Up

Last week, we hoped Rick Rubin would return for another Kanye West album, given the magic he worked on Yeezus. Those prayers have been answered.

Last week (or a decade ago, as far as the Kanye news cycle goes), we speculated hopefully on the Yeezus follow-up that Kanye West, somewhat incredulously, claims he's already working on. Specifically, we hoped producer/Gandalf-lookalike Rick Rubin would return for round two, given the magic he worked on the aforementioned album.

Those prayers have been answered, and then some. In an interview with journalist Elliott Wilson (via Pitchfork), rapper Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest fame, reveals that he and Rubin are both producing the as-yet unnamed album. (No word on whether they'll each take a handful of tracks or work together on the whole thing.) Q-Tip not only took part in sessions for 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but has also been on tour opening for West as part of A Tribe Called Quest. So, if West continues tapping into his tour mates to work on the next LP, start looking suspiciously at Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar now.

In case West is reading this, our other humble requests for the follow-up:

Also on the wishlist: another record as lean and tightly wound as Yeezus, which is scarcely half the length of, say, The College Dropout. (Rubin reportedly chopped it from 16 tracks down to 10, saving those six rejects for this ostensible follow-up.) And more racially-minded social commentary, along the lines of the eerily astute "New Slaves," would be nice, too.

And here's what we don't want, in a nutshell: misogyny, a return to skits, and "I'm In It"—Yeezus's only cringe-worthy weak spot. 

And here's the full interview with Q-Tip: