Kanye West

[digster]

Those lyrics are awful.

They really are. But I've never been able to appreciate Kanye's lyrics. I think even his best work is pretty mediocre. There are plenty of Kanye fans who would agree and argue that's not necessarily why they listen to Kanye, though.

I've found myself almost more impressed by the fact that I like much of Kanye's work despite the fact that I think he's a poor lyricist. He's such a good producer and songwriter that he overcomes his weakness, and he's working in a genre that so often revolves around the cleverness and incisiveness of the words.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Jorge]

He's a terrible rapper, Jordan. Like, one of the worst I've ever heard. Remember when you said you were open minded about things? If you can honestly read those lyrics and think that he's skilled, then you are full of shit.

That's not entirely fair. For a lot of reasons.

Such as?

"If you disagree with me, you're full of shit."

[4/5]

My ex says she gave me the best years of her life / I saw a recent picture of her, I guess she was right

This is a pretty good line.

[tragabigzanda]

[tragabigzanda]

[LoathedVermin72]

I'm not really sure what parallel you're drawing between me liking Kanye's lyrics and me not being open-minded, trag? There's some kind of bizarre leap of logic in there I'm not getting.

Anyway, I'll try to summarize as best I can. Basically, you're looking at "rapping" in very limited terms. And to be fair, I used to look at it the same way. Rhyme. Flow. Skill. Beats. Those can all be exciting when executed well. But that's not all hip-hop is. In fact, it's an ultimately restricting and superficial way of approaching the music. Kanye is not a technical emcee or lyricist. He never has been. But (as Kevin Davis has noted before) he does have a gift for inflection, for matching his words and delivery to the structure of his music and themes. He doesn't just "rap" - he makes music. It's not that binary thing of beats and rhyming - it's more cohesive than that. It's one organic tapestry.

Picking apart individual lines out of context is a misleading tactic. I could easily pull a line like "Hurry up with my damn croissants!" and say "Look at the dumb garbage this guy writes!" But when the larger context of that song and album is taken into consideration, levels of self-awareness and irony are revealed that completely redefine the motivations and meaning of that line. I'm not comfortable dissecting the minutiae of "30 Hours" yet because I need to hear it in the context of the album. If Yeezus is any kind of indicator, the songs could very well be part of a larger narrative that will contextualize and clarify them.

[tragabigzanda]

[LoathedVermin72]

It wasn't based on your liking his lyrics; it was based on your posting "shut up Trag" and then suggesting I review your comments from 2013.

lol sorry, that was just an exasperated half-joke because your remarks were very reminiscent of stuff others have said in this thread before. It becomes a repetitive, cyclical discussion after a while.

I'm aware of all of this, and I don't think his gift for inflection is particularly astounding, either. In fact, he often sounds like he's very tight and about to run out of breath.

That can be to a purpose, though. That breathless urgency and even a well-placed "haaahhhh" can be very compelling and effective vocal tools. And he certainly doesn't always sound like that.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[LoathedVermin72]

Yes, for the most part I definitely do not think an artist's intent amounts to much. The work should be judged on its own merits. That said, I love Kanye and his persona and think they make perfect sense with his artistic statements. I love his art and I love his mind.

Though that Cosby tweet still stings.

[Strat]

I thought it was a good post.

Great work by trag. had my giggling the whole time.

GTHT

GOL

Giggle out loud.

There we go.

[LoathedVermin72]

Shut up, Strat.

[LoathedVermin72]

[Monkey_Driven]

This thing better get out before tomorrow. I have tons of shit to do around the house and I want to whistle while I work.

[verb_to_trust]

I got a long weekend with Presidents Day on Monday. I want to download this like now, especially since its 17 tracks.

[verb_to_trust]

Kanye doesn't work out his chest at the gym. Hes full of shit there:

[tragabigzanda]

[verb_to_trust]

I bet it will be on Tidal and that's it for a few days.

[LoathedVermin72]

I bet it will be on Tidal and that's it for a few days.

Shouldn't be. People were given download codes yesterday that aren't for Tidal.