Analyzing ‘YE’
In late March, I published a short article titled, "Kanye's Wyoming Retreat: The Making of the Best Album of All-Time in which I theorized that the highly anticipated album of the most polarizing artist in hip hop could potentially be one of the best albums of all time. Support for my theory was rooted in the fact that his isolation and solitude in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in preparation for the album was much like his isolated behavior in Hawaii while working on the critically acclaimed, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010.
Kanye West released his latest project last Friday after a live listening/streaming party at Diamond Coss Ranch near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. West was accompanied at the listening party by collaborators, friends, family, and also flew out around 150 other influencers including DJs, radio programmers, and media heads. Even a surprising number of locals made an appearance at the party. The lie stream was broadcasted live via WAV, a media streaming app, around a large bonfire surrounded by tall speakers. I think it's safe to say that this album is not the best of all time, but it does provide 24 minutes of high level production, catchy hooks, witty punchlines, and a dive into the controversial mind of Kanye West never before heard so candid and honest. All of this, right on time to kick off the summer and officially commence Yeezy season.
Ye, Kanye West's eighth studio album, has spurred mixed reviews from critics and Yeezy fans alike. The album has hit over 100 million streams in just three days and as of June 4th, the top 7 songs on Apple Music and Spotify were entirely occupied by the seven track album according to Complex. Based on a tweet by Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian West, the album's cover art was shot by Kanye on his iPhone on the way to the listening party. The photo features the scenic rugged terrain of the snow-capped mountains of Jackson, WY with three lines of handwritten text in neon green that reads, "I hate being Bi-Polar it's awesome". Throughout the album, we hear Kanye's theme of bipolarity as he highlights manic episodes in songs like "Yikes" against more depressive episodes in songs like "I Thought About Killing You".
With a running time of just under a half hour, the relatively short record may leave many fans thinking, "That's it?" But the trend of producing short albums in hip-hop has become fairly popular this year. DAYTONA, Pusha T's latest album which released on May 25th, and also executively produced by West, ran for only 21 minutes. Hip-hop's young menace, XXXTentacion's most recent studio album titled, ?, ran for just 37 minutes. To be frank, I believe the trend will continue as long as people's attention spans continue to shrink. However, I think there's something special in making an album this brief. Even though, fans could always use some more hits from Kanye, the relatively short length of the album adds replay value and a level of brevity and weight to each track making each song it's own story.
The album wouldn't be what it is without Kanye's carefully selected supporting cast of producers, engineers, and artists. Featuring in most of the record, Ty Dolla Sign and PartyNextDoor, along with G.0.0.D Music newcomer 070 Shake from North Bergen, New Jersey, shined assisting Kanye with melodic vocals on hooks and choruses throughout the record. But features aside, long time collaborators/producers including Mike Dean and Francis and the Lights played a huge role in sound engineering, mixing, and even writing on most tracks. Even with Kanye's skillful roster helping to make the album what it is, people will inevitably hang on every word that Kanye West utters. Below, I have broken down the seven songs on Ye.
ye by Kanye West (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
1. "Thought About Killing You" produced by Kanye West and Mike Dean.
The intro track of the album seems to capture Kanye at a suicidal and homicidal state of mind. "The most beautiful thoughts are always besides the darkest" his first spoken words on the album, serves as the thesis of the album. This line can be related to the bipolar theme of the album as the disorder usually involves manic episodes alongside darker and depressive thoughts. This is expressed when Kanye reiterates this line and hums a pleasing melody.
When Kanye reiterates the line 30 seconds later, the hum that was once light and pleasing is transformed and shadowed by a darker synth of the same melody representing the dark depressive state of bipolarity. Another element that adds to the bipolar theme of the album is the pitch of voice Kanye uses throughout the intro of the track. The pitch of his voice varies from high to low, which can also be linked to the manic and depressive states of bipolar disorder. For instance, Kanye confesses, "But sometimes I think really bad things. Really, really, really, bad things." as his voice is edited to become dramatically deeper and deeper. The low pitched voice in the song is associated with the darker and depressed lyrics of the track and his higher pitched voice is associated with his hyperactive thoughts. Throughout the first 2 and a half minutes of the song, Yeezy seems to be confessing to a certain loved one that he has thoughts about killing them.
Kanye explains that you would only care enough to kill someone you love. He goes on to explain that since he has thought about killing himself and because he loves himself way more than he loves this person, then it is reasonable for this person to believe that Kanye surely has thought about killing said person. A layer of bass is added to the production as Kanye switches flow and begins his first organized verse speaking on various things that have been going on in his criticized life in a metaphorical prose. The beat then does a complete back flip and speeds up with a recurring auto-tuned scream ad libbed while Kanye also increases the tempo of his flow. The song becomes a bump as Kanye spits witty one-liners such as, "Young nigga shit, nigga we don't age:' and "Don't get your tooth chipped like Frito-Lay".
2. "Yikes" produced by Kanye West, Mike Dean, Apex Martin, and Pi'erre Bourne.
One of the more popular songs among fans of West, is a relatively faster paced song with a meladramatic hook and a melody that resembles the same chorus as "Wolves" from The Life of Pablo. Kanye sings, "Shit could get menacin', frightenin', find help. Sometimes I scare myself," alluding to the mental health issues that he has had in the past. He then abruptly begins rapping a manic rant on a heavy bass covering topics from Russell Simmons' #MeToo scandal to the potential of being in North Korea. He begins the verse by saying, "Tweakin', tweakin' off that 2CB, hah?" which leads me to believe that this song must have also been inspired by his recent opioid abuse as he disclosed on TMZ live. Further evidence of this is the fact that he name drops TMZ in the same verse, Kanye spits, "Turn TMZ to Smack DVD, hah?" The "hah" Kanye says at the end of many of the bars throughout the track, is reminiscent and mimics the 1998 song, "Ha" by Juvenile and produced by Mannie Fresh. After Kanye's last verse where he mentions both Prince and Michael Jackson, Kanye speaks in third-person as he says, "You see? You see? That's what I'm talking about! That's why I fuck with Ye!" He goes on to say that his bipolar disorder is not a disability, but rather a superpower, calling himself a superhero.
3. "All Mine" produced by Kanye West, Mike Dean, and Francis and the Lights.
The third track off Ye is mostly about infidelity. According to a tweet by Kanye displaying a whiteboard of the apparent tracklist, this song was initially going to be titled, "Medulla Oblongata" as the term is repeated in the hook. You would think the quick and bouncy voice that serves up the hook of this song belongs to Pharrell, and others were quick to speculate that the voice belonged to G.O.O.D Music signee, Valee. However, producer Francis and the Lights responded to a tweet and confirmed that the uncredited vocal is actually Jeremih. According to Tidal,Ty Dolla Sign also has uncredited vocals on the song as well.The church organ at the beginning of the song is ironic because it is as if Kanye is at the church confessing his sins of infidelity or taking those who have cheated to church. Kanye touches on various celebrity infidelity scandals including that of Chris Rock and Kerry Washington, Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels, and most recently Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian. Yeezy also drop some invaluable advice regarding cheating on your girl as he says,"If you don't ball like him or Kobe, guarantee that bitch gonna leave you.”
4. "Wouldn't Leave" produced by Kanye West and Mike Dean.
An ode to his wife, Kim Kardashian-West, as well as "every down female that stuck with their dude, through the best times and through the worst times,” this song functions as both personal and professional, individual and universal. Kanye is serenading not just Kim, but also the fans who stuck by him during the most trying periods of his life, especially as of recent.
Kanye slows it all the way down with this one, and tapped PartyNextDoor, Jeremih, and Ty Dolla Sign, for uncredited vocals. The slow jam contains a sample from "Baptizing Scene", written and performed by Reverend W.A. Donaldson. This is the first song on the album where we can hear Kanye's favorite gospel influences. PartyNextDoor is more than impressive as he leads the hook with an experimental voice sounding almost identical to Young Thug.
The combination of uncredited vocals by talented R&B artists and Kanye's honesty about his marriage and his wildin' out in public, makes for an expressive and significant song in his career. Kanye speaks almost directly to Kim throughout most of his verses as he raps about his personal life, "You want me working on my messaging. When I'm thinking like George Jetson, but sounding like George Jefferson." This song serves as Kanye's open apology to his wife and the gratitude he has for her sticking by his side through all the madness.
5. "No Mistakes" produced by Kanye West, Mike Dean, and Che Pope.
Running at just 2 minutes, the soulful "No Mistakes" features uncredited vocals from Charlie Wilson and Kid Cudi. The voices of the two legendary artists fuse and recite, "Make no mistake, girl, I still love you." The chopped up sample from Slick Rick's 1988 hit song "Hey Young World" serves as a complimentary ad lib throughout the song, especially in Kanye's verse. The track is truly rejoicing and seemingly inspired by victory and getting through the rough times such as Kanye going from being $53 million in debt, to his company, Yeezy, being valued at $1 billion. As Kanye begins by singing, "Take the top off, let the sun come in", it is hard to ignore that this is a perfect song for cruising in the summer time. Shortly after the first line, it's noteworthy that Kanye harmonizes a rather fleeting, but nonetheless graceful melody that hits the soul. I felt as if he received the inspiration of the melody from his late mother, Donda West as it is fairly reminiscent of "the old Kanye". Later in the single verse song, Kanye seems to be referring to Drake, touching on the recent 'beef between Drake and G.O.O.D Music president, Pusha T. This is made most apparent as Kanye shouts lines like, "Too rich to fight you. Calm down, you light skin!" at the end of his verse.
6. "Ghost Town" produced by Kanye West, Mike Dean, Francis and the Lights, and Benny Blanco.
The penultimate song of the record also happens to be the climax of the album, featuring uncredited vocals from PartyNextDoor, Kid Cudi, and 070 Shake and contains a sample from "Take Me For A Little While", written by Trade Martin, as performed by The Royal Jesters, and "Someday" written and performed by Shirley Ann Lee.
The song serves as foreshadowing of the highly anticipated Kanye and Kid Cudi collaboration album, Kids See Ghosts, to be released on June 8th. From beginning to end, "Ghost Town" is a certified anthem. From the oldie-sounding sample of Shirley Ann Lee's "Someday" leading into PartyNextDoor's killer intro sung with shredding electric guitar riffs bringing a fervent rockstar vibe to it all, this track is hard not to like.
Cudi's familiar voice whines against the riffs as he sings about his desire to be loved. Kanye then begins his one and only verse of the song. Kanye sings about his hope for the future and at the same time recognizes his wild antics like "talking like he drank all the wine," alluding to the many times he has ranted and spoken on outlandish unpopular opinions in the public eye. However, G.O.O.D Music signee, 070 Shake, steals the show and sings passionately with a unique voice unheard of. She profoundly sings, "We're still the kids we used to be. “I put my hand on the stove, to see if I still bleed. And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free."
A contributor named Jody Eastside on Genius.com wrote about how Kanye could possibly be referencing his philosophy about free thought through this song. He proposes that if you interpret Kid Cudi’s hook being about the public, Kanye metaphorically "putting his hand on the stove" could also be interpreted as the real life action of putting his real thoughts out in public about hot button topics such as Trump, race, and slavery.
7. "Violent Crimes" produced by Kanye West.
The final track of ye is apparently dedicated to Kanye's daughters North and Chicago West. The track features uncredited vocals from 070 Shake and Ty Dolla Sign with additional spoken word vocals provided by Nicki Minaj. The intro of the song is beautifully sung by 070 Shake with accompanying vocals by Ty Dolla Sign, against a moving gospel-laced production. The song details Kanye's thoughts of mens’s attitudes towards women until they have a daughter, and suggests their perspective changes. He raps, "Father, forgive me. I'm scared of the karma. Cause now I see women as something to nurture, not something to conquer."
The only song on the album completely written by Kanye West, it is definitely the most touching and authentic song on the record as Kanye raps with raw emotion against a tear-jerking beat produced himself. He also touches on his fear of raising his daughters when they grow older and begin to get involved in relationships with toxic men and friends.
One of my favorite lines in the song, "I hope she like Nicki, I'll make her a monster. Not having menages, I'm just being silly. I'll answer the door like Will Smith and Martin. Nigga do we have a problem?" The first half of this lyric being a double entendre referencing Nicki Minaj's role on Kanye's song "Monster" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the fact that Kanye wishes his daughters to be "monsters", meaning tough, independent women. In the outro of the song, it is disclosed that Minaj actually offered the idea of the lyric to Kanye via voicemail.
