but it would be tomorrow night as that's the next time I'm in town. If you go tonight could you report back and let me know if it's any good / worth it? It would be slightly out of my way on the way back from The Postal Service in Brixton.
I think it's a great fucking track. It feels blistering for almost all of it, tho the point where - and this will be the VERY ONLY TIME I WILL SAY THIS, SO TAKE NOTES - it almost feels like Frank Ocean is unnecessary.
like two halves of a head ripping away from each other. I think the head on the left looks feminine, the one on the right a man, some symbolism there I guess? Also, I hope they all end up using actual tape to close the thing, great touch.
who very much lives a lavish, opulent lifestyle and dates someone from one of the most materialistic, do anything for fame families. maybe hes going to burn everything and live like a monk. the production on both songs sounds great though
and is the frustration of holding opposing views at the same time or living a life that differs from your views. It's Kanye's main inspiration as an artist and why I identify with him so much. Whether it's his wealth, political views, his place in the world, fame, equality, taste, his self worth; he's a torn fella. Best summed up in the lyrics to Runaway.
Incidentally, I said to my girlfriend the other day 'don't you think it's weird that Kanye is hooked up with Kim K' and she said 'you're joking right, she's gorgeous beyond belief'. I wasn't going to agree right then... but I think he looks at her and thinks the same as any red-blooded hetero man. And then gets all angsty in private about the other stuff.
If that's what motivates the music I'm not going to complain...
i guess she's a good representation of blunt force excess/materialism/vanity, which kinda makes sense, but nothing about her even whispers 'great catch.' she's done well in turning herself into a plasticine mess and removing any trace of humanity, so maybe he's using her as a point of observation or something.
everything she does on TV and in public is part of the 'brand' that she's a part of, and is actually a real person behind closed doors. you'd have to be a bit naive to think that what you see is what you get with the whole Kardashian thing.
what percentage of their lives is actually private? between the reality shows and photo opportunities, most of their time is spent saturating the media with their presence. i understand totally that the kardashian family is a brand and they leverage everything they can, dubious or not, to keep themselves relevant. remember when kim was just some daughter of an o.j. lawyer who was banging ray j? 'i hit it first.' ha. now kanye is a part of that brand, so his clothes will be available at sears soon as well. but seriously: how can anyone seriously support, ironically or not, such a mediocre, parasitic brand?
But honestly we don't really know these people outside of their personas. We can take educated guesses, but does it really matter?
Personally speaking, I find life much more pleasant when I'm not deeply concerned with what celebs are doing/saying.
"I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny
And what I do, act more stupidly
Bought more jewelry, more Louis V
My Momma couldn't get through to me"
-"Can't Tell Me Nothing"
One of the things that makes Kanye West interesting is the shocking self-awareness. Since becoming massive, he's frequently made references to his own excesses as ways to point out how ridiculous it all is, and he did it CONSTANTLY on Graduation:
"I don't see why I need a stylist, when I shop so much I can speak Italian"
-"Champion"
"I'm like a fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary."
-"Good Morning"
He's frequently over-the-top and excessive, but for every mention he makes of this, he generally cancels it out with stark self-awareness (see: the obvious example of "Runaway", the somewhat-forgotten example of "Everything I Am"). It's easy to call him a self-centered dickhead, but to say that is to completely miss a lot of the things he says in OTHER songs that AREN'T singles. It's also easy to take what he says at face value, but it doesn't give his writing enough credit.
But, really, it all comes down to one sick lyric:
"Any pessimists, I ain't talk to them
Plus I ain't got not phone in my apart-a-ment."
and maybe we need more popular musicians with a conscience but I don't think any amount of self-awareness cancels out any unsavory traits/acts. if my overly rich asshole uncle put together the perfect prose to describe his struggles with assholeness, it'd be nice to read but at the end of the day he's still an overly rich asshole. i guess what i'm trying to say in a terrible way is that kanye may show glimmers of transparency, but he makes it realllllllly hard to support him with my money
I feel like "He's a tit" has become the official reason people don't like Kanye, but you know what? How many really truly nice-person superstars can you think of? The biggest, best musicians throughout rock history have been, more or less, shitheads for a LOT of the time.
I mean, even the Beatles were a bunch of cocks to each other.
i make a choice to not support them financially, even if i like their music. i'm more apt to give my money to smaller groups/musicians who might be giant assholes but at least they aren't taking my money and then bragging about all the stupid shit they bought with it. well maybe some are. i see the hypocrisy in this but it's what i'm happy with
I expect the new album will be full of loud, expensive-sounding production that'll fool half of you into thinking the music's good, and him saying absolutely fuck all over the top of it.
this bold artistic decision was partly informed by keeping production costs down, given that nobody's gonna buy it on cd anyway?
Though I'm sure cd production and distribution cost is negligible when putting out a kanye album, even if each cd came with a faberge egg.
Kanye might be the Dragonforce of the rap world - it's all technically very impressive, but he could do with a few more rough edges to make the music seem more human (I think he was going in this direction with 808s, which I think is his most compelling record). A lot of the hooks on his big hits are samples, and like I said upthread, he's never got anything particularly interesting to say, which I think separates good rap music from great. He's notable, for sure, but I have trouble believing he's 'important' for his genre.
seriously though i do hope it pisses off loads of people. this album is practically screaming PLEASE GET ANGRY ABOUT ME (artwork, snl, music video/promo)
I like this.
Pretty much what I'd hoped Hudson Mohawke producing Kanye would sound like. (Assuming, of course, that this is one of the tracks he produced...)
thats definitely mohawke
He went to my secondary school.
Fun fact, there.
He's 5 days older than me.
I bet he wishes he has my life, got the last laugh there.
A good friend of mine has some tracks HudMo made on Music 2000
still saved on an old PS1 memory card. I've not heard them, but apparently they're quite good.
Anyone going to any of the projections in London?
http://www.kanyewest.com/wp-content/themes/kanyewest/1/london.html
I think I'll check out the ones at Shoreditch Station and Brick Lane. Might even dig out the old Kanye t-shirt.
I'm thinking about it...
but it would be tomorrow night as that's the next time I'm in town. If you go tonight could you report back and let me know if it's any good / worth it? It would be slightly out of my way on the way back from The Postal Service in Brixton.
It was cool
Though you're not really missing anything if you don't go, except the chance to get your photo taken/end up in some video of the whole event.
Couldn't help but think of those OBEY images while watching it though.
http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2006/01/04/329121/ObeyIconhighrescopy.jpg
The best part was probably the anticipation; the crowd slowly growing for something when we're not sure how it's going to happen.
Zs collaboration?
He will be the music guest of SNL. Tonight.
I hope he does a new track on it.
He's got to hasn't he? Something to look forward to waking up tomorrow for.
I'D RATHER BE A DICK THAN A SWALLOWER
I think it's a great fucking track. It feels blistering for almost all of it, tho the point where - and this will be the VERY ONLY TIME I WILL SAY THIS, SO TAKE NOTES - it almost feels like Frank Ocean is unnecessary.
Only intensifies
My hate for anything Frank Ocean
have you no soul?
He's just so dull
He's anything but dull.
Oh wait, read this thread backwards and thought you
were talking about Ye. FO is kinda dull in comparison, but he falls on the good side of dull. That slow burn side.
Love the Frank Ocean bit
YEEZUS
Might be the worst album name I've ever heard.
it's not actually been confirmed
it's a term of endearment used by fans for about seven years.
My fingers are crossed so tightly that one of my nails has just fallen off.
Worst since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I'll give you that.
It's such a perfect name,
Arrogant and funny. What more do you want?
Intensified hatred of Frank Ocean
His bit is so shit
that hook is so bad
Here it is guys...
http://pitchfork.com/news/50795-watch-kanye-west-debuts-black-skinhead-on-saturday-night-live/
Anyone else hear some obvious Death Grips influence in these new songs?
couldn't POSSIBLY have came from anywhere else
that kanye, up to it again, guys !!!!!!!!!
well someone's testy ...
'black skinhead'
http://pitchfork.com/news/50795-watch-kanye-west-debuts-black-skinhead-on-saturday-night-live/
These two tracks are incredible.
black skinhead samples marilyn manson
apparently - it sounds awesome either way
Found it quite boring tbh
Quite a brave direction I guess, but if this is 'dark' Kanye then I definitely preferred it when he was being relatively less serious
black skinhead is pretty rad
that performance of new slaves though was really awkward and bad.
nice Gary Glitter sample in Black Skinhead :)
Operation YeTree
#yeezyworldpeace #DONDA #2013 #pyrex #been #trill #beentrill# #yeezyseason
i'm american
fuck kanye
The album art looks ace
like two halves of a head ripping away from each other. I think the head on the left looks feminine, the one on the right a man, some symbolism there I guess? Also, I hope they all end up using actual tape to close the thing, great touch.
http://pitchfork.com/news/50807-heres-the-alleged-cover-of-kanye-wests-yeezus/
kinda fits with that reference to the Romans in that song too. the faces look very Roman art kinda thing
i can't tell if the cover is supposed to actually be that picture
or if that's a picture of what the CD will look like
I think this is a picture of what the CD will look like
Kim K. posted a different picture of this case on the floor
Finally an album that makes Jewel Casing seem okay
Worship & Tribute called...
http://www.banquetrecords.com/item.jpg?wb482862
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Glassjaw-Worship-and-Tribute-CD-12-Tracks-Glass-Jaw-Mint-New-Fast-Post-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqZ,!lwE+FF2YD8GBP9-pMQiog~~60_35.JPG
that looks great
I am psyched
So to open the album you'll have to... cut the red tape.
Do you see.
Also lonely Kanye is lonely at 1:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ELXm3yV8P5A
interesting to see someone rage against materialism and luxury goods
who very much lives a lavish, opulent lifestyle and dates someone from one of the most materialistic, do anything for fame families. maybe hes going to burn everything and live like a monk. the production on both songs sounds great though
it's a subject he's sung about before
on 'All Falls Down' for starters
Kanye being contradictory / hypocritical?
Whatever next?
definitely not unlike him
but I love how mad he is at his own lifestyle and the world he created. Maybe he's genuinely angry but I don't see him leaving that life behind. Maybe he looks at kim kardashian and thinks
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/011/767/35nksf.jpg
It's called Cognitive Dissonance
and is the frustration of holding opposing views at the same time or living a life that differs from your views. It's Kanye's main inspiration as an artist and why I identify with him so much. Whether it's his wealth, political views, his place in the world, fame, equality, taste, his self worth; he's a torn fella. Best summed up in the lyrics to Runaway.
Incidentally, I said to my girlfriend the other day 'don't you think it's weird that Kanye is hooked up with Kim K' and she said 'you're joking right, she's gorgeous beyond belief'. I wasn't going to agree right then... but I think he looks at her and thinks the same as any red-blooded hetero man. And then gets all angsty in private about the other stuff.
If that's what motivates the music I'm not going to complain...
well i still don't get the kim k love
i guess she's a good representation of blunt force excess/materialism/vanity, which kinda makes sense, but nothing about her even whispers 'great catch.' she's done well in turning herself into a plasticine mess and removing any trace of humanity, so maybe he's using her as a point of observation or something.
yeah, or maybe,
everything she does on TV and in public is part of the 'brand' that she's a part of, and is actually a real person behind closed doors. you'd have to be a bit naive to think that what you see is what you get with the whole Kardashian thing.
oh come off it
what percentage of their lives is actually private? between the reality shows and photo opportunities, most of their time is spent saturating the media with their presence. i understand totally that the kardashian family is a brand and they leverage everything they can, dubious or not, to keep themselves relevant. remember when kim was just some daughter of an o.j. lawyer who was banging ray j? 'i hit it first.' ha. now kanye is a part of that brand, so his clothes will be available at sears soon as well. but seriously: how can anyone seriously support, ironically or not, such a mediocre, parasitic brand?
I'm not gonna tell you the level of care you should or shouldn't invest in any of this.
But honestly we don't really know these people outside of their personas. We can take educated guesses, but does it really matter?
Personally speaking, I find life much more pleasant when I'm not deeply concerned with what celebs are doing/saying.
"I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny
And what I do, act more stupidly
Bought more jewelry, more Louis V
My Momma couldn't get through to me"
-"Can't Tell Me Nothing"
One of the things that makes Kanye West interesting is the shocking self-awareness. Since becoming massive, he's frequently made references to his own excesses as ways to point out how ridiculous it all is, and he did it CONSTANTLY on Graduation:
"I don't see why I need a stylist, when I shop so much I can speak Italian"
-"Champion"
"I'm like a fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary."
-"Good Morning"
He's frequently over-the-top and excessive, but for every mention he makes of this, he generally cancels it out with stark self-awareness (see: the obvious example of "Runaway", the somewhat-forgotten example of "Everything I Am"). It's easy to call him a self-centered dickhead, but to say that is to completely miss a lot of the things he says in OTHER songs that AREN'T singles. It's also easy to take what he says at face value, but it doesn't give his writing enough credit.
But, really, it all comes down to one sick lyric:
"Any pessimists, I ain't talk to them
Plus I ain't got not phone in my apart-a-ment."
that's good and all
and maybe we need more popular musicians with a conscience but I don't think any amount of self-awareness cancels out any unsavory traits/acts. if my overly rich asshole uncle put together the perfect prose to describe his struggles with assholeness, it'd be nice to read but at the end of the day he's still an overly rich asshole. i guess what i'm trying to say in a terrible way is that kanye may show glimmers of transparency, but he makes it realllllllly hard to support him with my money
You can still enjoy his music without paying for it.
absolutely!
kanye is what illegal downloading was invented for
To be honest
I feel like "He's a tit" has become the official reason people don't like Kanye, but you know what? How many really truly nice-person superstars can you think of? The biggest, best musicians throughout rock history have been, more or less, shitheads for a LOT of the time.
I mean, even the Beatles were a bunch of cocks to each other.
no, most musicians with that amount of money and fame are insufferable
i make a choice to not support them financially, even if i like their music. i'm more apt to give my money to smaller groups/musicians who might be giant assholes but at least they aren't taking my money and then bragging about all the stupid shit they bought with it. well maybe some are. i see the hypocrisy in this but it's what i'm happy with
there are about a million contradictions re:the strong anti-corporate vibe vs a baby Kardashian on the way and while I prefer a lot of his earlier material,
it's hard to deny that the performance of Black Skinhead was really fucking thrilling and intense
Black Skinhead
might be the song that lets me enjoy his music
Do you think Kim Kardashian is getting paid
to do his social media?
This being Kanye
I expect the new album will be full of loud, expensive-sounding production that'll fool half of you into thinking the music's good, and him saying absolutely fuck all over the top of it.
hahaha
Well, egg:face interface
Probably his rawest album yet, and I very much like about half of it. Much prefer this and 808s Kanye to self-indulgent production god Kanye.
Kanye sounds like an angry Will.I.Am on 'New Slaves'
'Black Skinhead' sounds like Atlas
OH MY GOD DOESN'T IT JUST
I can't stop listening to this
freaking great song. if the live version sounds this good, i can't wait to hear the production on the studio version
Some pounding drums combined with slightly harsh vocals?
Why don't you stop ripping off Death Grips, Yeez, you lazy bollocks? We all know they invented that shit.
On a serious note, if a lot of the album sounds like "Black Skinhead", I will be over the moon.
He must be one of the least cool people in the entirety of the music biz
He doesn't care.
Never heard a single self-aggrandising word out of his mouth.
that's impossible...
he's Kanye West
*Yeezus
good read
http://3lc3lc3lc.tumblr.com/post/51064842008/who-will-survive-in-america-who-will-survive-in
official cover
http://pitchfork.com/news/50973-is-this-the-real-art-for-kanye-wests-yeezus/
PLEASE ADD GRAFFITI
No cover, booklet, just a sticker on the reverse of the package with the track list.
Is it cynical of me to think that
this bold artistic decision was partly informed by keeping production costs down, given that nobody's gonna buy it on cd anyway?
Though I'm sure cd production and distribution cost is negligible when putting out a kanye album, even if each cd came with a faberge egg.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Hard-fi_-_Once_Upon_a_Time_in_the_West.PNG
Kanye just doesn't do anything for me.
The definitive example of style over substance.
I don't know why people wouldn't just listen to Brother Ali instead.
this is a real lazy account huh
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NQCArroTyvs/TvBCfA9e3cI/AAAAAAAAAEI/kCy3vdjAmhA/s1600/50314_288865372137_2985807_n.jpg
explain what you mean by
"style over substance".
surely the reason why any piece of music is good is largely down to the style in which it's played?
if we were to judge every song by its actual substance, surely that would make dragonforce the best band in the world by default?
I don't think technical ability equals substance - in fact, I think it often works against it
Kanye might be the Dragonforce of the rap world - it's all technically very impressive, but he could do with a few more rough edges to make the music seem more human (I think he was going in this direction with 808s, which I think is his most compelling record). A lot of the hooks on his big hits are samples, and like I said upthread, he's never got anything particularly interesting to say, which I think separates good rap music from great. He's notable, for sure, but I have trouble believing he's 'important' for his genre.
On Vevo it states that Black Skinhead was composed by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter
Not what you'd expect from Daft Punk, but cool if it's true.
From what i've heard of this
I really like the angry, noisy direction he's gone in. More of this please.
replied in wrong place. ffs.
Yeezus is available for pre order on amazon...
it is definitely coming out a week today!
10 tracks
NME track-by-track:
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/kanye-west-yeezus-track-by-track-first-listen?recache=1&t=1231313
"Chief Weef" is my favourite typo ever
"Chief Weef" :'D
“West was my slave name. ‘Yeezus’ is my god name.”
yeezy still 100% determined to irk white america.
seriously though i do hope it pisses off loads of people. this album is practically screaming PLEASE GET ANGRY ABOUT ME (artwork, snl, music video/promo)
Why?
Sounds a bit needy to me.
my yeezus cover
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=33lms5j&s=5
Lou Reed has written some things about Yeezus-
http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/lou-reed
pretty good things
"That melody the strings play at the end of "Guilt Trip," it's so beautiful, it makes me so emotional, it brings tears to my eyes."
totally agree with this
although I never had tears in my eyes
So yeah, this is still the best song of the last few years
Spent this morning downloading Kanye bootlegs/early tapes. I'm fully obsessed now.
not even the best song on the album
best song on the first half of the album