“Sensationalism? Why, the sons of guns love it!!” - “Doctor X” (1932)
Kanye West is on the brink. Again.
It should be real apparent to us all by now that anything ‘Ye does
will bear a flair for the dramatic. It’ll have an aura of street-fueled
opulence. Still, he has a knack for beating people in the head when
you least expect it. Like this entire week, for example.
On the eve of last weekend, Kanye debuted his new single, ‘New
Slaves’ on 66 buildings across the world simultaneously. The track
caused an immediate ruckus because of the lyrics that decried
anti-consumerism and label politics along with prison profiteering
off incarcerated Black people. There was a bit of a backlash amid
the praise. ‘This aint 2004, who does ‘Ye think he is?!’ Stuff like
that. The backlash grew with West performing the track on ‘SNL’
along with a new song, ‘Black Skinheads’. More buzz. Even with
‘Ye getting the line from the hook historically wrong (300 Romans),
it still ramped up anticipaion for his new album, modestly entitled
‘Yeezus’ due out on June 18th. So yeah, Mr.West is grabbing all
the headlines once again. But there’s an edge to all of it.
It’s easy to dismiss Kanye. In some ways, it’s almost become a
sport to do so. I’ve done it. When I heard about the ‘Yeezus’
album title, I rolled my eyes. A couple of cats I know proclaimed
it as being ‘genius’. But that is the nature of who Kanye West
has become in his 15 year rap career. Highly superficial, but
having a surprisingly introspective side. A contradiciton draped
in Yves Saint Laurent and Cartier. With these new songs though,
you get a sense of a man who’s looking to once again throw
off the floss and be real. Both ‘New Slaves’ and ‘Black Skinheads’
represent that dualism that ‘Ye flaunts. While slightly conscious
(calling his besieged hometown ‘Chiraq’ and speaking to the
Skinhead movement that ruled Britain), ‘Ye still can’t leave
the elitist rap alone. That has left him to be ravaged by many.
Sometimes deservedly so, when you consider the perpetual
saga of his life with Kim Kardashian and their child on the way
along with other dubious decisions like taking Chief Keef to Paris
after he got out on parole from jail and moves with his own
G.O.O.D. Music Label.
What sticks out the most here is, the frustration and simmering
anger. We’ve all known Kanye to throw fits, act out. That has
in some respects dominated his musical output. But this time,
there seems to be something more. Throughout his discography,
you find tracks that stick with you. Even as he got more into
electronic dance music. ‘Ye’s music matters to you more when
he can put aside the overt materialism and keep it simple and
honest. He’s not going to be highly conscious. He’s not going
to be Killer Mike, and that is fine. And shouldn’t surprise anyone.
But as much as some would like to dismiss him outright, note
his lyrics in ‘New Slaves’ again: “They throwin’ hate at me/want
me to stay at ease/f*** you and your corporation/y’all n*****
can’t control me..’ It’s been nothing new for MCs to throw shots
at labels, but here Kanye is cursing at the system he bought
into. Others have done it too, Lauryn Hill and DMX to name a
couple. But where their careers stalled, ‘Ye’s kept rising. Perhaps
the genius here is that ‘Ye is once again turning this contradiction
into another gain for him. (Look at the Jay-Z/Justin Timberlake
pairing brouhaha as an example.) But just because he can do it,
doesn’t mean the average cat on the block could or should do it.
And maybe that’s the lesson to take away from all of this. Even
those Yeezy stans can understand that this is a prime example
of how sensationalism moves units and mountains.
The real questions that need to be asked here is, what will Yeezy
do next to feed that genius? And at what cost?