The Clackamas print., February 24, 2016, Image 6

THE LIFE OF YEEZY
THE LIFE OF YEEZY
KANYE WEST’S ANTICS HAVE BEEN INESCAPABLE THIS LAST MONTH:
DOES HIS ALBUM OWN UP TO ALL THE RANCOR HE’S MADE?
BY MATT ROWNING
A being that is everywhere is omnipres­
ent. With omnipotence and omniscience
you have the divine. Kanye West is om ­
nipresent; h e ’ s on the television w ith
his w ife, h e ’ s recording m usic for the
m asses, he’ s in Madison Square Garden
with his fashion shows. In his own eyes
he is the progenitor o f fam e, the forger
o f m odem hip hop and a world visionary
whose ideas serve the masses.
H e’ s a profane god though. He publicly
starts fights with other celebrities, makes
a living off of filthy lyrics and brags about
the hordes of wom en that he’ s had sex
with all while m aintaining his status as
a Christian believer.
W est’ s new album "The Life o f Pablo”
came out Feb 14. As described by W est,
it’ s “ actually a gospel album. ” This gos­
pel album contains such sacred lyrics as:
“ And if I fuck this model '
And she just bleached her asshole
And 1 get bleach on my t-sh irt
I’m ’a feel like an asshole.”
Sacred as fuck.
This juxtaposition o f beauty and pro­
fanity, o f the holy and o f the wicked is
Kanye West’s whole being, and the theme
behind his music.
The exposition o f any album is its title
I Oackamas Print FEBRUARY 24,2016 thedackamaspnn Lcom
and cover art; West’s albums’ expositions
m ix the holy w ith the profane. 2010’ s
“ M y Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” did
it in the title and on the cover. The art­
work o f the album features a character
(presumably West) giving a thumbs up
while having sex with an armless angel.
2013’s “ Yeezus” just did it in the title.
W est’ s nicknames “ Ye” and “ Yeezy” are
silly: a m utation o f the last part o f his
name. Updating his nickname to Yeezus
elevated him to the divine.
“ The Life o f P ab lo” does the sam e
juxtaposition. W hen released, West left
critics scratching their heads as to the
cryptic “ Pablo.” Pitchfork started their
review with comparisons to Pablo Picasso
and Pablo Escobar; The New York Times
ran a story comparing Ye to Picasso. The
day before the release W est explained
on Twitter: “ P a u l... The m ost powerful
messenger of the first century... Now we
stand here 20 centuries later... Because
he was a traveler...”
“ The Life o f Pablo” is the life o f Paul
the A postle. W est didn’ t make the ti­
tle the life o f Paul though, it had to be
Pablo. It had to be changed to fit W est’ s
aesthetic. On the cover are two pictures,
one of a marriage, one o f a topless wom ­
an in a thong. Around the pictures are
printed the words “ W hich / O n e.” A p ­
parently the choice for West is between
the Pablos. Is he an artist, a criminal or
a saint? The holy and profane content
suggest all three.
Inside the album W est never relents
from the dark/light them e. The album
starts in the light, specifically in an “ U l­
tralight Beam .” A little girl cries out “ We
don’ t w ant no devils in the house, we
w ant the Lord!” M atthew 18:3 echoes
across time: “ Verily I say unto you, ex­
cept ye be converted, and become as lit­
tle children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.”
The little girl cries hallelujah as West
takes over for the refrain. “ W e on an
Ultralight Beam, this is a God dream .”
Chance the Rapper enters in the album’s
most shining moment. With his “ foot on
the devil’s neck,” Chance references the
hym n “ This Little Light o f M in e,” sings
the first rainbow and praises glory to God.
The song ends as a choir sings “ faith .”
Then, as the brilliance o f the “ Ultra­
light Beam ” fades, the brilliance goes
out o f the album.
The next eight songs are as unfinished,
unpolished and as masturbatory as any
e ig h t tracks ever released b y an artist.
“ Dark Fantasy” was built with maximal­
ist lu sh textures and larger th an life im ­
ages. “ A ll o f the L ig h ts” is a powerhouse
o f a son g th at succeeds in fe e lin g truly
encom passing, from the infin ity o f all the
lig h ts to th e in fin ite sim a l and personal:
abuse. The album was com m itted to being
m axim alist, and each song fin d s a w ay to
pu sh th e sounds fu rth er.
“ Y eezu s” w as in turn a m in im alist a l­
bum . Digital pun k w ith ham m ering drum
m a c h in e s an d d a rk sy n th e s ize rs gave
W est th e sound to express h is anger in a
cold sweat. The ten tracks o f “ Yeezus” are
hard as diam ond and fu lly sculpted into
a co n sisten t product. T he L ife o f Pablo
is n o t co m m itte d to a n y so u n d . It w ill
bounce fro m a “ Dark Fantasy” sounding
track back to a “ Y eezu s” track and th en
to a h a lf produced “ G radu ation ” track.
T h e so n gs a ll sou n d u n fin ish e d w ith
little sem b lan ce o f structure.
M aybe th is is deliberate. It h elp s the
p ro fa n e m ix b a c k in to th e d iv in e , fo r
certain . T h e first intelligible lyric in th e
second son g “ Father Stretch M y H an ds
Pt. 1” is th e m od el w ith a bleached ass­
hole lin e.
“ F a m o u s ” fe a tu re s a R ih a n n a -s u n g