Tracing the musicians who may have travelled to Wyoming to work with Kanye

It’s been two years since Kanye West released his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, but rumours have been circulating recently that the rapper is working on a new full-length in distant Wyoming. In May last year, TMZ reported that the rapper had disappeared to a mountaintop retreat to work on new music, and now it appears that he’s returned to his cabin to finish the job. (In March, E! News quoted a source saying that “Kanye has been recording in Jackson Hole for the last week.”) While he’s been there, rappers, singers, and producers have been posting from Wyoming on social media, while Kim Kardashian-West has also been sharing images taken from their stay at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

It’s not the first time that West has gone to a remote place to work. His fifth studio album My Dark Twisted Fantasy was famously created in a similar way, with artists like Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, and John Legend all heading for the tropical climates of the Aloha state to work on the record. Kanye always gathers a group of people to work towards a larger creative goal, though not everyone who works with him ends up on the finished product – so don’t expect all of these names to turn up on the final release.

With hopes of new music on the horizon, here are just a few of the artists who’ve been spotted (or rumoured to be spotted) in Jackson so far.

TRAVI$ SCOTT

Scott first worked with Kanye on his 2013 album Yeezus, on which he co-produced tracks like “New Slaves” and “Guilt Trip”. Since then they’ve collaborated on “To the World” and “Sin City”, so it’s not a surprise that they’re linking up again.

KING LOUIE

Chicago rapper King Louie came up alongside artists like Chief Keef, and collaborated with Kanye on Yeezus’s “Send It Up”. Earlier this week he shared a photo from Jackson Hole airport alongside The-Dream.

THE-DREAM

Terius Nash is the R&B singer-songwriter and super-producer behind hits like “Umbrella” and “Single Ladies”. He worked with Kanye on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch The Throne, and also featured Kanye on his own album, Rodeo, way back in 2009.

KID CUDI

Kanye and Cudi’s relationship has been strained, most notably when the the G.O.O.D music artist shared his discontent with the music industry in September 2016 and described West as a ‘hater’. Since then, however, the pair have reunited, having been spotted in Japan together, where rumours began to circulate of new music between them. Cudi’s worked on every Kanye album since 808s and Heartbreak, and last month appeared as part of an Adidas NBA All Star weekend event with Kanye.

NAS

Nas and Kanye have worked together before, and speculation of their new collaboration started when a video emerged of the hip hop legend in Jackson Hole airport with Kid Cudi.

WHEEZY

Atlanta producer Wheezy is partly responsible for shaping the sound of rap right now, having worked extensively with Young Thug, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, T.I, Quavo, and many others. He shared a photo from the snowy mountains last Wednesday.

P’IERRE BOURNE

The mind behind Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia” has also worked with some of the biggest names in current rap, including Lil Uzi Vert and 21 Savage. He’s been sharing photos from the mountains and in the studio.

MIKE DEAN

Producer and engineer Mike Dean has worked with Kanye since The College Dropout and is one of his most trusted collaborators, and he seems to have brought his studio on the road with him.

WONDAGURL

WondaGurl is the 21-year-old Canadian producer who was making beats for JAY-Z when she was just 16. She was last credited alongside Kanye on Rihanna's 2015 single "Bitch Better Have My Money". @TeamKanyeDaily noticed that the beatmaker was posting from Wyoming on her Instagram Stories. 

FRANK OCEAN 

Memo Guzman – close friend/rumoured boyfriend of Frank Ocean – posted a photograph of himself in a cabin on Instagram this weekend (March 18) with the caption "cabin fever". Fans in the comments immediately began asking if this meant that the elusive singer-songwriter could be in Wyoming. 

DRAKE

And finally, one of hip hop’s biggest names turned up in the mountains last week. Drake's personal photographer/videographer, Theo Skudra, posted snowy scenes from Wyoming on his Instagram Stories in recent days. While inexplicably Twitch streaming himself playing the video game Fortnite last week, the rapper was heard mentioning he needed to pack for a flight. Fans were quick to make a link to Wyoming, with some screencapped Instagram Stories seemingly confirming the news.