Diplo & Ezra Koenig Share Old Demo That Inspired Beyonce's 'Hold Up': Listen

Earlier this week, we explained how some Twitter riffing from Ezra Koenig led to a Diplo-crafted take on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” popping up on Beyoncé’s Lemonade. That’s an awful lot to process, and on top of that, you can always become an expert on the complete, star-studded credits of Beyoncé’s latest masterwork. But before you dig into all that, we’ve unearthed the demo from Diplo and the Vampire Weekend frontman that helped inspire the final version of “Hold Up.”

Beyoncé Pays Tribute to Prince, Dedicates 'Halo' to Jay Z as Formation World Tour Kicks Off In Miami

Below, listen to a snippet of the studio tinkering, grabbed from Diplo’s Snapchat via the VW fansite Team Vampire Weekend:

Koenig explained on Twitter that he was toying with the “Maps” line “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you” back in 2011, and replaced the word “wait” with “hold up.” A few years later, he thought of the old tweet while in the studio with Diplo, and what you hear above was the result. In the end, he wound up sending the bit along to Beyoncé, whom he said made it “100% her own.”

For more, read up on how Beyoncé’s Lemonade is set to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week.