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

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

I like Send It Up but yeah, the first 12 minutes of this album >>>>>> the rest of it.

Nebraska the album and Nebraska the movie also share a poster font and black-and-white photography and Nebraska the state.

Maybe Rick Rubin put the comparison in his head, telling him Nebraska and Born in the USA came from the same sessions.

"Before he even asked me to work on it, I said, 'Maybe you should make it more concise. Maybe this is two albums. Maybe this is just the first half."

He added: "That was one of the first breakthroughs. Kanye was like, 'That's what I came here today to hear! It could be 10 songs!"

In retrospect I'm incredibly grateful to Kanye for not filling Yeezus with songs devoted to disappointing meetings about pants and shoes. I can go with his I Am God brand of obnoxiousness because there's humour in it but his current obsession with listing brands that have snubbed him is so petty and diminishing. I'd hate him to waste a good beat on this crap.

It would be awesome if "Black Skinhead" was his first step toward doing a hard rock album.

I really love the structure of the album. I agree that it goes completely off a cliff during New Slaves, but the next part, Hold My Liquor->Blood On the Leaves is just so intense and abrasive that I'm spellbound. And then the last three tracks really seem like a relief, oddly, since they would be off-putting on any other album but this one.

In an interview to promote his Yeezus tour, Kanye told radio station Power 105 that his daughter “is in a position of a level of royalty like the Prince and Princess in London,” appearing to refer to Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who was pregnant at the same time as Kardashian.

Then, discussing his video for “Bound 2,” which features a naked Kim straddling Kanye on a motorcycle, and sparked a spoof from James Franco and Seth Rogen, Kanye said, “I want to show you that this is ‘The Hunger Games’ . . . And the only difference is a black dude in the middle of it . . . I’m like Marina Abramovic.”

He continued, “This is, like, performance art.” Later in the day he was interviewed on radio station Shade 45 and raved, “I’m standing up, and I’m telling you, I am Warhol. I am the No. 1 most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh.”

Kanye and Gaga should go head to head over rights to Marina Abramovic and the ghost of Andy Warhol.

do what u want with his body

“I’m standing up, and I’m telling you, I am Warhol. I am the No. 1 most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh.” Well, he's sorta right about this, tbh.

Which bit? The middle sentence I can go with.

This guy is so delusional

xpost: I think the three parts go together

Who has he had an impact on? I dont see him spawning imitators or initiating huge structural or formal shifts. He's about as "impactful" as james franco.

Hey, maybe Kanye IS like Shakespeare. Keats: "At once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously - I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason."

He has been responsible for formal shifts Shakey, eg Stronger sparked hip hop's embrace of EDM and 808s gave us Drake-style rich-guy-is-sad rap.

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.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, November 27, 2013 8:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Maybe Rick Rubin put the comparison in his head, telling him Nebraska and Born in the USA came from the same sessions.

― Bailey (Collins) Lover (Eazy), Thursday, November 28, 2013 3:20 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

guys, seriously?

black artists don't listen to rock, SILLY

Especially not a guy who's sampled dozens of classic rock records

all of these interviews pretty much confirm to me that kanye is kind of a dull person

i watched that power 105 interview on youtube and came away feeling sorry for everyone involved

xpost I dunno, it seemed an unexpected reference to me. Kanye, like a lot of people, knows Bruce Springsteen is a superstar. Kanye, like a lot of people, knows "Born in the USA" was a huge record. But not many people outside of critics talk about "BitUSA" in the context of the smaller, quieter, less-commercial album that came before it. I mean, I'm sure "Nebraska" poked over platinum, but it sold a fraction of what monocultural moment "Born" sold, and falls slightly out of the realm of mere classic rock record, imo, so I really respect Kanye for bringing up one of the Ur non-commercial tandem companions to a huge blockbuster, doing more than awkwardly name dropping. I would have been just as pleasantly surprised had he called "Yeezus" his "Almost Blue."

Anyway, I'm on board with the Louis Vuitton boycott. Where do I sign up?

I don't think this Nebraska is worth a damn bunch; it's a bunch of white dudes impressed by Kanye's ka-nowledge.

all of these interviews pretty much confirm to me that kanye is kind of a dull person

otm

i don't find kanye objectionable per se but neither do i find him interesting, either in saying much of note or in being all that ~crazy

feel a bit caught between the racist mainstream media intent on portraying him as the angry ranty black man and his mad stans who look for real political import in everything he does