Rapper Kanye West is making headlines again, this time for teaming up with the controversial Sean “Diddy” Combs on a new track. Despite Diddy facing multiple charges related to sexual assault, Kanye has remained one of his most vocal supporters.

On Saturday, Kanye surprised fans by dropping a new song, 'Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine,' on social media. The track reportedly features Diddy, his son Christian ‘King’ Combs, Kanye’s 11-year-old daughter North, and singer Jasmine Williams.

The song kicks off with what sounds like a phone conversation between Kanye and Diddy, who appears to be speaking from prison.

“I wanna just thank you so much for just taking care of my kids, man,” Diddy says. “Ain’t nobody reach out to them, ain’t nobody call them.”

Kanye replies, “Absolutely, I love you so much man. You raised me. Even when I ain’t know you, know what I’m saying?”

Singer Jasmine Williams then delivers the hook: “When you see me shining, then you see the light.”

Kim Kardashian tries to block the release?

Diddy and North West both rap on the track, but its release has already stirred up legal drama. According to TMZ and text message screenshots posted by Kanye, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian tried to block the song from being released.

While Kanye initially claimed he wouldn’t release the track, he ended up posting it on X. Since Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, there’s been uncertainty about how music released there is legally classified.

Copyright issues loom

The song includes lyrical references to the Lox’s 1998 hit 'Money Power Respect' and a snippet of Lil' Kim’s vocal from it. Kanye has a history of using uncleared samples in his recent releases, but this case might be different since the Lox track was originally released under Diddy’s Bad Boy Records.

However, there could still be legal trouble. Diddy reassigned the rights to several former Bad Boy artists in 2023, just before the wave of allegations against him surfaced. If the rights no longer belong to him, Kanye might be facing more than just controversy with this track.

IANS