The last two weeks have placed Kanye West back into the center of popular music discussions amidst the prolonged rollout for his forthcoming album, currently titled “SWISH.” On New Year’s Eve, West released “Facts,” essentially a diss to Nike. The song is an immoderate sampling of Drake and Future’s “Jumpman” single and includes tongue-in-cheek punchlines, Kanye’s rapping flow and the beat. While there was no indication that this song would be on the upcoming album, it was a sobering release for a fanbase that has eagerly awaited new music from West.
Kanye’s no stranger to this kind of release. On New Year’s Eve of last year, for instance, West released “Only One,” the ambitious single featuring Paul McCartney. Soon after came “FourFiveSeconds” with McCartney and Rihanna, as well as “All Day”: three completely different and equally ambitious releases. Ever since his breakout in the mid-2000s, the name of the game for West has been innovation. On “Facts,” however, West’s flow and cadence come off as derivative of a new era of hip-hop, which he helped to usher in.
All of this has raised suspicion that Kanye West may have lost his touch. This would not be the first time a star artist has had to confront the circumstantiality of their place in contemporary music. Just this past year, Dr. Dre rode more than a decade of good-will to a “Compton” album that, while good, sported none of the forward-thinking production, which made Dre the superstar he was in the mid-90s.
Stars known for their innovation aren’t innovative as much as they are committed to an alternate vision. As with any industry, hip-hop is replicative where there is success. Such vision takes hold with and is replicated by the masses, and those pioneering artists are forced to go back to the drawing board. However, what if these original visions is all pioneering artists have for a basis? They weren’t innovative as much as they were different, doomed in a copy-cat industry to eventually be just one of many. Few artists have been around as long as Kanye West has while still captivating a listenership as large as his.
This past Friday’s news of Kanye bringing back GOOD Fridays, a movement of his spawned back in 2010 in support of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” refocused the conversation back unto his upcoming album. Every Friday, Kanye will be releasing new music to placate fans who anxiously await the release of “SWISH.”
The recently released “Real Friends” was as encouraging a sign as any for fans who feared West’s reign to be nearing its end. With clear influences from MF DOOM’s “Deep Fried Frenz,” Kanye sounds as somber and vulnerable as he’s sounded since his 2008 album, “808s & Heartbreak.” West confronts the fragility of family when he raps about having to buy back a stolen computer from his own cousin or how money turns “kin into an enemy.”
This past weekend’s “No More Parties in L.A.,” featuring Kendrick Lamar with production from Madlib, displays the Kanye of old: witty, confident and completely in control of the beat. Lamar stole the show with the song’s second verse, but the two came together for what is a stirring display of Kanye’s universal star quality and Lamar’s vitality.
West is a much different artist than he was the last time we checked in on him. He’s gotten married, become a father twice over and announced a presidential bid, among other things. For all the schizophrenic glory of West’s “Yeezus,” a return to introspection and sample-driven production would be as fitting a culmination as any for an artist who continues to innovate.
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