Kanye West and Playboi Carti released separate versions of the same song, “Alive,” which features NBA YoungBoy; however, the songs have decidedly different vibes and intentions. The surprise twin drop on Tuesday, May 21, not only raised some eyebrows but also poured gasoline on an already smoldering beef between the two rap titans.
Here’s what happened: Kanye West went on Instagram to upload his version of “Alive,” which borrows the DJ Swamp Izzo vocal mix from when the song previously appeared in Carti’s “Crank” from his 2025 album I AM MUSIC. But Kanye’s cover never came out on streaming services, so it feels like a sort of semi-private flex or a low-key jab, maybe.
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Playboi Carti followed up with his own “Alive” version not long after this time, accompanied by a music video. The cart held nothing back, identifying Kanye in a caption on Instagram that read, “DIS MY SONG LIL BRA @/ YE.” The message he received was clear: Carti was not at all pleased with Kanye’s use of his material and felt it was not authorized. The casual but pointed “lil bra” throwdown was a spicy, almost playful gloss on the severe tension underneath.
This back-and-forth with “Alive” is the latest twist in a fraught saga between Kanye and Carti. Former close collaborator Kanye served as executive producer on Carti’s 2020 album “Whole Lotta Red” and even appeared on the track “Go2DaMoon.” The two men are no longer working together. Things hit a rough patch in 2025 when Carti released I AM MUSIC without featuring Kanye on the tracklist, despite Kanye co-producing “BACKD00R,” a song that features Kendrick Lamar and Jhene Aiko.
The drama was amplified even further when Kanye lashed out publicly on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), accusing Carti of excluding him and taking particular umbrage with the fact that Carti had sampled vocals from his daughter, North West, without his consent. The charges sparked a flurry of reactions on social media as fans and observers staked their allegiances, shared memes, and argued about what a clash like this one means for the hip-hop landscape.
The confusion over the two “Alive” tracks, both featuring NBA YoungBoy but with different production and delivery, sparked abject disbelief among many fans. And while some got a laugh out of Carti’s off-the-cuff but well-placed “lil bruh” diss, others speculated whether this public tussling would yield new music or just more headlines.
However, what is clear is that the collaboration between Kanye West and Playboi Carti has not yet ended, and their musical hit, “Alive,” only added fuel to the fire. Whether those double detonations were a calculated power play or a bizarre miscommunication, they’ve certainly gotten everyone’s attention and served as a reminder that the biggest stars in hip-hop are still capable of surprises, be it a beat or a beef.
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