Ye is a Gleaming Smoke Screen for Kanye's Mind

Kanye West / amped illustration

Oh my God! Kanye is so full of himself. That's what I said to myself while listening to a song off his 8th album, ye. I probably also said it while listening to his earlier 7 albums, he's known to be a narcissist and if there's anyone in the world whose narcissism is probably justified, it is Kanye West. I often think to myself that his conceitedness is what the world has to put up with to co-exist with the genius West is. In spite of his obvious ingenuity, unlike earlier releases I went into listening to this album with little excitement, measured eagerness and underlying anger. I was overly critical, ready to trash talk if the music wasn't great. To be clear, I felt this way because of his eyebrow-raising, disturbing and plain stupid "slavery was a choice" comment. That made it tough for me to be objective about this album initially, but I had to be because the music is greater than any agenda I might have against the man. 

When he says "I don't take advice from people that's less successful than me", on No Mistakes he relates an idea that conforms to perceived Kanye disposition to life. Considering his narcissism, it’s not surprising that he won’t take advice from people not as successful as he is. The line is such a Kanye thing to say. Right after, he says "ain't no love lost but the gloves off" a line that may be alluding his fallout with Jay-Z, or the more recent beef between the GOOD Music camp and Drake. Both Drake and Jay-Z will definitely be in the discussion of successful rappers than West. Interestingly the chorus to Yikes was written by Drake, it's packed with aggression as West portrays his issues with mental health as a superpower when he ends the record with "That's my bipolar shit… That's my superpower ni**a, ain't no disability," and quickly adds "I'm a superhero" which he reiterates before ending the song with a wild scream. The mood of preceding track, album opener, "I Thought About Killing You" is sombre. It's simply Kanye thinking out loud. He's honest, but it's the kind of honesty many will find difficult to bear. He starts the track off with a spoken poetry "Today I seriously thought about killing you, I contemplated it, premeditated murder, and i think about killing myself and I love myself way more than i love you". He could possibly be hinting an issue with suicidal thoughts or an attempt at pushing creativity beyond what many observers will find comfortable. It starts of dark and gloomy but grows into something more palatable and exciting.

Silly wittiness and humor has been a part of his music and when he says “let's have a threesome me you and a blunt I love your titties cos they prove i can focus on two things at once“ on All Mine one might smirk. It gets better though, he begins second verse with "let me hit it raw like fuck the outcome, none of us will be here without cum". Oh thank you Kanye, for reminding us we came from cum. It's just what we needed to hear on your album.

Credit: Tenor

On Violent Crimes he shows he's still very in touch with his human side. An ode to his daughter, North, as he raps about how men stop being players after they have daughters. He's reflective when he says "Father forgive me, I'm scared of the karma/'Cause now I see women as something to nurture, not something to conquer." It's one of the more powerful and memorable lyrics in the 24 minutes LP. 

Credit: Pitchfork

ye is chaotic, controversial and compelling. Its production is the magic wand that casts a spell to draw you to the music. Asides melancholy, it doesn't offer anything new, it only tells us something we've known for well over a decade: Kanye is a soundgod. It doesn't carry the pioneering poise of a Yeezus, the soulful dose of a College Dropout, or the grandiose facade of a My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I wonder if some of his subject matter are honest, or just attempts to roar attention; we'll never know, but Kanye's capriciousness will leave you scrambling on how the dots connect. Dots that may even be non-existent. Amidst the controversies, and his infamous misconceived rant on TMZ, his production and large ears for music cannot be denied. You can't hate on that if we are being fair, but he remains cancelled. For all his talk of a spiritual reawakening, and for old times sake allow me say wake up, Mr West, for real.