Quite a curveball Kanye has thrown at us. On December 30, Kanye West released a single titled Only One featuring Paul McCartney- yes, the same McCartney that made up a quarter of the Beatles. The piece was far from West’s best work, but it was undoubtedly one of his deepest, and following his darkest and, what the ‘haters’ might call, his worst and most egotistical work yet in Yeezus, it was a pleasant surprise.

The lyrics are meant to be West’s deceased mother, Donda, singing to him, and through him, to his new daughter North. The cover is a picture of Kanye looking down at his daughter sitting in his lap, which obviously represents him looking over his daughter, but also his mother, who had looked over him as a child.

The song opens with “Hello Mari, how ya’ doing?” and ends with “Tell Nori about me.” It begins with his mother speaking to him (West’s middle name is Omari, hence “Mari”) and finishes with her requesting him to tell her granddaughter about her. It’s largely a cycle.

Yeezus was a mash of sharp, metallic sounds behind an auto tuned West for much of the album and it was almost entirely about himself (look to the song I Am A God for clarification on this) and his (often outrageous) opinions. This is why I find Only One somewhat ironic. He doesn’t hold back on the auto tune, but it’s far less intense and it effectively contributes to the mood and emotion he intends to get across. It works from a spiritual basis and is such a sentimental piece that it’s hard to believe the same guy did that to Taylor and raps about sex and being a god. He doesn’t even curse!

You wouldn’t know Paul McCartney was a part of this if it didn’t say he was featured (Ty Dolla $ign adds background vocals and no one knows it), but he’s actually there for the whole ride, playing the organ subtly behinds West’s raps. With a solid minute left in the song, the tribute halts and McCartney and his organ continue to flutter along with a relatively upbeat tune, which makes for an appropriate way to end the song.

West manages to acknowledge the effect his mother had on him, while making it known that he intends to have a similar role and effect on his daughters life. “Kanye” also means “only one” in Swahili, so everywhere you look there is some deeper meaning. The odd pairing of legends on opposite ends of the musical spectrum, the numerous messages and meanings within the song, and the unexpected sentimentality coming from West make a normally mediocre song a pretty good one.