Kanye West, Yeezus, 6/18/13 (TBC because who knows anymore)

I see SFJ mentioned His best ranting moment was tying his own work to that of the inventor Nikola Tesla and the Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky while other NY outlets were quoting his rant about the MTV Music Awards and Bruno Mars winning many awards

i would watch Holy Mountain w/ DVD commentary by Kanye

Kanye connecting himself to tesla is more batshit than to bruno mars imo
jodorowsky i can see a little maybe but i got to squint hard

My wife's reaction to the "Bound 2" video: "Did he do this whole thing so he could secretly laugh at Kim K?"

Bound 2 was the #2 song on Hot 97's hot five the other night. It's interesting to me how this album (and others like it) goes from seeming "out there" to sounding totally mainstream just through repeated exposure. There's also a couple ads running using Yeezus tracks.

(Bound 2 is the most conventional sounding song on the record to be fair)

^the way of the world

I really like the bound 2 video

It worked on the album as a "concession" but I've no interest in hearing it.

who is Jerome anyway

burning lyrical questions

like kanye's use of hyper-real landscapes of the west kind of reminds me of peter saville's record sleeves during the republic era

http://i.imgur.com/vIPHZ9u.png

this sort of very exacting and technically accurate style of photography where the things photographed become realer-than-real

http://i.imgur.com/bpd2Z2R.jpg

hahaha I need to double check my copy / paste

holy shit dayo

epic

lolllll

who is Jerome anyway

― dmr, Friday, November 22, 2013 8:52 AM Bookmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbOn1KM6LnA

https://twitter.com/Lar206/status/402911593840668672

loool thanks. never watched Martin much

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/kanye-west-at-verizon-center-it-was-an-experience-unlike-any-other/2013/11/22/5a960344-52d6-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html

Chris Richards, whose dismissal of Arcade Fire got a lot of attention, posts a glowing, favorable rave review of Kanye's DC show last night

sorry if this is mentioned upthread but i wanted to marvel at how hilarious and smart it is for kanye to sample ponderosa twins plus one on "bound 2" and pitch them downward when his early career was kind of about sped up soul samples

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/133827/Kanye-West-Urges-Fans-To-Boycott-Louis-Vuitton-After-President-Snubs-Meeting

Still not happy about the leather jogging pants knockback.

I was thinking I couldn't be the only person who thinks that "Black Skinhead" sounds *a lot* like "Doctorin' the Tardis'": https://soundcloud.com/djcull/doctorin-the-skinhead-kanye

yes, i wonder what the connection could be

Coupla of Kanye-going-crazy radio rants making the rounds, but I've got to say, I was impressed he made the claim that "Yeezus" was his "Nebraska" and that his next album will be his "Born in the USA." That's a relatively left-field reference for a rapper to make. I get the feeling Kanye has been actually studying the careers of various superstars and trying to almost scientifically emulate them, though the "often caught acting or talking like an asshole" part I admit does not seem to be the safest trajectory.

yeah i mean...aside from the "I got a plan how to sell more records, it's called make better music" declaration just before Yeezus was released, it seems the album was kind of planned out to not be a blockbuster (like 808s was, except that turned out to be a huge seller anyway, more than even Dark Twisted Fantasy or Watch The Throne was). so i'm not surprised that a new album is due a year later that's, presumably, chock full of singles.

still, i wonder if Kanye's idea of what is/isn't accessible about Yeezus isn't a little tonedeaf. he keeps saying that he could've made "Blood On The Leaves" the first track to make the album more popular, and that that's the next single, but even if that's one of the most popular tracks on the album, i dunno, it's 6 minutes and incredibly divisive and not exactly radio-friendly.

yeah i mean nothing off MBDTF was really a smash... "all of the lights" was a pretty big hit i guess but that was about it.

i wonder if he sees this divide between songs that are commercial and songs that are artistic enough for Kanye West's New Album

like, "niggas in paris" & "mercy" & "clique" were all pretty massive hits with long tails but i couldn't image kanye throwing a song like that on one of his solo albums

hold my liquor seems like the most relatable song, lyrically. a lot of people have probably tried to rekindle old romances and instead ignited a powderkeg of old resentments. if i was kanye i would release this as a single, maybe edit out some of the instrumental stuff if it's too long.

i can't tell if you're kidding or not, cheers

i think it's a great song.

x2

The Seth Rogen and James Franco remake is so good that it's actually made me change my mind about Bound 2. Suddenly, it's the best thing ever.

BAOOOW

i'll be impressed when kanye calls his next album "my new jersey"

Wasn't Graduation his New Jersey?

Also, if Yeezus is Kanye's Nebraska, what does that make 808s and Heartbreaks?

"Mercy" is pretty bizarre for a radio hit

808s was Tunnel of Love. The chronology's off.

I get the feeling Kanye has been actually studying the careers of various superstars and trying to almost scientifically emulate them, though the "often caught acting or talking like an asshole" part I admit does not seem to be the safest trajectory.

well the man who made the original nebraska seems to have spent a good deal of his time studying the careers of various superstars and trying almost scientifically to emulate them (woody guthrie) or not emulate them (elvis presley), so if kanye wants to try the same strategy, good for him.

also, is nebraska just kind of in the air these days? a.o. scott spent the first two paragraphs of his review of alexander payne's "nebraska" talking about the springsteen album.

Lots of artists study the careers of other artists so as not to make the same mistakes. To Kanye's credit his mistakes are brand new.

also, is nebraska just kind of in the air these days? a.o. scott spent the first two paragraphs of his review of alexander payne's "nebraska" talking about the springsteen album.

― i play too fast (which is the sign of an amateur) (fact checking cuz), Thursday, November 28, 2013 12:11 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thats probly cuz its called nebraska

um, yeah, sure. i don't recall anyone spending two paragraphs in their review of payne's "the descendants" talking about the band of the same name. but maybe i don't read enough reviews.

wouldnt be at all surprised if he 'scientifically' studies other careers. everyone knows how he studies MJ, who was also a student of his predecessors, so i wouldnt be surprised if kanyes doing the same. nebraska/springsteen seems a weird one w/r/t yeezus lol but i think he knows that kinda thing is catnip for music critics (and also helps show hes not just listening to what people expect he would listen to - makes me think of how in that BEE podcast he was saying 'hey i dont just watch movies with black people!'). i wanted him to do another yeezus personally but im interested to see what his idea of a born in the usa is.

um, yeah, sure. i don't recall anyone spending two paragraphs in their review of payne's "the descendants" talking about the band of the same name. but maybe i don't read enough reviews.

― i play too fast (which is the sign of an amateur) (fact checking cuz), Thursday, November 28, 2013 12:41 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha, funny that you only had to reach for another alexander payne movie for that comparison

a.o. scott spent the first two paragraphs of his review of alexander payne's "nebraska" talking about the springsteen album.

Hahahahahhahaa.

Also: Woody Guthrie, superstar, equally lol.

Also also, "808s" was "Nebraska" and "Tunnel of Love" at the same time.

i tried to listen to the whole album for the first time since it came out and man it's so good until 2:52 into "new slaves" and then it just DROPS OFF A CLIFF and dies

"bound 2" is so harshly-produced and grating, like early kanye on bad coke

actually i like assassin's verse but there's just something so groanworthy about using jamaican artists as signifiers of ~gravitas

also there is literally nothing interesting or indeed attention-holding about the "bound 2" video

do you think the Charlie Wilson bit is misplaced? I can't stand it. I KNOW YOU'RE TIIIRED yes I know you know stfu

it does sound a bit spliced-in randomly but that's in keeping with the album generally - but yeah it doesn't work on "bound 2" at all

idk, the harshness and abrasiveness that makes the opening stretch so incredible is precisely what makes "bound 2" gross-sounding to me