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