This blog is going to be different from every other blog I’ve done. I am straying away from lyrical analysis for my last post, this one will be more opinion based. This blog is going to be about separating art from the artist, specifically Kanye West. 

Kanye has always been one of my favorite artists, his music has consistently gotten me through some of the darkest points of my life. One of my favorite things to do is listen to his music and really dive into the lyrics and attempt to figure out the meaning, so when the opportunity arose to make my passion blog about Kanye lyrics I knew it was the only option for me. This decision is one that I have grown to regret. 

I have always considered myself a person who doesn’t separate art from artist because at the end of the day if you listen to their music you are putting money into their pocket which enables and allows them to continue having a space where they can spread harmful ideologies or practices. Like when the R. Kelly allegations surfaced. I had no problem, no longer streaming and listening to his music. In fact I didn’t want to listen to his music. I feel the same about Chris Brown, I won’t listen to his music because he has a pattern of abusive behavior towards women.  But with Kanye it has always been different. He has been controversial as long as I have been able to remember. 

I ask you, where were you November 11, 2009? Were you watching the American Music Awards? The award show where Kanye stormed on stage and grabbed the microphone from Taylor Swift because he was made Beyonce didn’t win the award. This moment was a foundational moment in my young brain, it might even be the reason I am so interested in pop culture today. He also took another stab at Taylor is 2017 in his song Famous when he says “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.” Even though Kanye did not make her famous, she was famous before, in fact she was famous enough to beat Beyonce at the AMA’s. This is one of the first things many of us (myself included) can remember, but there had been incidents before this in which Kanye had acted out of impulse. 

An earlier example would be in 2005 when Kanye was participating in a charity concert for Hurricane Katrina relief. When he blurted out “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” George Bush was our sitting president at the time and whether we agree with the way he handled the aftermath of the hurricane or not, this event was supposed to be about those who have been affected by the hurricane not Kanye and his beliefs. But Kanye did what Kanye does best and made sure all the attention was on him. 

These incidents alone are enough to make someone stop listening to him, but I didn’t. For me he always fell into this troubled artist trope and that was okay with me. I didn’t have to agree with everything he said and believed because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That was until recently when Kanye started making his anti semitic comments. On October 9, 2022 Kanye West tweeted he is going to go “death con 3 on the jews.”  and obviously this got the internet talking because of its anti Semitic nature, but this backlash did not stop him. He lost everything, his deal with Adidas, his billionaire status, and he even lost his divorce hearing from Kim Kardashian (even though this is completely separate from his anti semitism.) Nevertheless, on December , he did an interview with Alex Jones where he said he “loves the Nazis” and “can see good things about Hitler”.  These combined with his outburst over the summer about his divorce and custody of his kids have made me question whether or not I should continue to listen to his music. It is truly a moral dilemma because I don’t want to support an antisemite but I also find it hard to leave behind the music that helped me get through high school. But at the end of the day I can’t really separate the music from him because the more I stream the more money he gets. So, I’m curious as to what you all think of this situation and your opinions on separating art from the artist. 

Ghost Town by Kanye West featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR is the sixth track on his eighth studio album Ye. This song, like many other Kanye songs we have looked at, starts out with a sample. Kanye samples Shirley Ann Lee’s Someday which only has a duration of about thirty seconds. It starts “Someday, Someday, Someday I’ll, I wanna wear a starry crown.”

THe first verse is sung entirely by PARTYNEXTDOOR. It starts “Someday, someday, someday. I wanna lay down, like god did, on sunday.” Here I believe he is hinting that he isn’t concerned with his ambitions but is instead more concerned with spending time with his family. Midverse he says this “Somedays I wanna hit the red dot on everybody.” I believe this is referring to the red dot on certain kinds of guns, and that he is saying somedays he just doesn’t want to be around anybody else, matching the title of the song Ghost town. Given the current epidemic of mass shootings this line is particularly morbid. 

The next line worth mentioning is the chorus, sung by Kid Cudi. “I’ve been trying to make you love me. But everything I try just takes you further from me.” This sounds like a confession from Kanye spoken through Cudi, about wanting the masses to love him but given the context of the song I don’t think that is correct. I think this statement is more about Kanye’s relationship with himself. 

In the second verse Kanye says “Baby. don’t you pack it off. On a pack of fentanyl.” This is a commentary on Kanye’s substance abuse issues. In 2018 Kanye West opened up to TMZ about his addiction to opioids after he got liposuction. “You might think they wrote you off. They gon’ have to rope me off.” I think in this line Kanye is talking to himself, he is responding to his subconscious thoughts that he might be losing relevance, but Kanye knows he won’t let that happen. “Someday the drama’ll be gone and they’ll play this song on and on.” This is Kanye commenting on the drama surrounding him. He is saying someday no one will care about the drama and they will just listen to the music. “Sometimes I take all the shine. Talk like I drank all the wine.” I think this is Kanye reflecting on his past and his willingness to say outlandish and offensive things for the spotlight. “Years ahead but way behind.” We all know musically Kanye is years ahead but many of us would agree he is way behind in terms of his moral belief, and Kanye is aware of that. “I’m on one, two ,three, four, five.” This again is a commentary on his drug addiction. “No half-truths, just naked minds. Caught between space and time, this is not what they had in mind but maybe someday.” Here Kanye is talking about his state during the time of writing the song. 

After another chorus there is an outro. “Woah, once again I am a child. I let it all go, of everything that I know, yeah. Of everything that I know, yeah. And nothing hurts anymore, I feel kinda free. We’re still the kid we used to be, yeah, yeah.” Children often live in their own world that doesn’t revolve around politics or social norms. By Kanye saying he is once again a child he is saying he is back to living in this childlike world that isn’t caught up in all of the systems of the adult world. “I put my hand on a stove, to see if I still bleed, yeah. And nothing hurts anymore. I feel kinda free.” Kanye is saying he is so numb to pain that he is willing to put himself through excruciating pain to feel anything. 

Once the outro is over the song comes to an end. Overall, this is one of my favorite Kanye songs, we really get an insight into his mind, which is an overall theme of the album. The song is open and honest in a good way, not in the offensive way that we often see from Kanye.

West, Kanye, Ghost Town, Ye, GOOD Music, June 1 2018

Staff, Indy. “Kanye West’s Unfiltered New Album.” The Santa Barbara Independent, 20 June 2018, https://www.independent.com/2018/06/20/kanye-wests-unfiltered-new-album/.

No More Parties In LA is the 17th track on Kanye West’s Seventh studio album The Life Of Pablo. It features Kendrick Lamar and has background vocals from Junie Morrison. It starts with an intro that samples Johnny “guitar” Watson’s Give Me My Love from his 1977 album Funk Beyond the Call of Duty. The intro continues “Let me tell you, I’m out here. From a very far away place. All for a chance to be a star. Nowhere seems too far.” Junie Morrison is explaining to the listener why he left his home far away to become a star.

The chorus begins by repeating “No more parties in LA. Please, baby, no more parties in LA, uh” twice. I have reason to believe that this aspect of the song is about Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend Amber Rose. Kanye revealed in the documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton that the song was originally written during the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy era which was around the time he was dating Amber Rose. The chorus continues “Please (Shake that booty, party that bod-)” repeated three times. The portion in parentheses is sampled from Ghostface Killah’s Mighty Healthy. 

The first verse begins “Hey, Baby, you forgot your Ray Bans. And my bed sheets still stained orange from your spray-tan.” Kanye West is alluding to his girl being materialistic, Ray Bans are like $100 glasses and spray tans can become costly when kept up with, this girls spray tan is also so thick that it left behind an orange residue. At this point the verse switches over to Kendrick Lamar “It was more than softcore porn for the K-Man. She remember my Sprinter, said ‘I was in the grape van’.” Grape van is a reference to the cover of Kendrick’s album good kid, M.A.A.D city, which is pictured to the right. The verse continues “Um- well, cutie, I like your bougie booty. Come Erykah Badu me-well, let’s make a movie.” Kendrick is letting us know that the girl he is talking about is upper class by saying “bougie”. Kendrick also uses a play on words when he says “Come Erykah Badu me” he is telling the girl to have sex with him. “Hell you know my repertoire is like a wrestler. I Show you the ropes. Connect the dots” this is another innuendo for sex by Kendrick. “A country girl in North Hollywood. Mama used to cook red beans and rice. Now It’s Denny’s, 4 in the morning, spoil your appetite. Liquor pouring and n****s swarming your section with erection.” The girl that is being described left home to pursue a life of glitz and glamor in LA. She left her homely lifestyle behind to live an unhealthy lifestyle. “Smoke in Every Direction, middle finger pedestrians. R&B singers and lesbians, rappers and managers. Music and Iphone cameras. This shit unanimous for you, it’s damaging for you.” Kendrick is describing the typical LA party, he says that big and influential people will be at the parties and that is what entices people, but that lifestyle can be damaging. Skipping to later in the verse “Now you wanna divide the yam like it equate the math? That shit don’t add up, you’re making him mad as fuck” I think yam refers to money and the girl that Kendrick was previously talking about wants to split his money, and that math doesn’t add up since they were never married. “I said ‘baby, spin that ‘round and say the alphabet backwards’” Saying the alphabet backwards is a common sobriety test, Kendrick is asking the girl if she is sober. “The head still good, though; the head still good, though. Make me say ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’. make a n***a say big words and act lyrical. Make me spiritual, make me believe in miracles. Buddhist monks and Cap’n Crunch cereal.” Kendrick is so caught up in lust that it will make him start to behave differently, believe different things, like different foods, and change things about himself. “Lord have mercy, thou will not hurt me. Five buddies all herded up on a thursday. Bottle service, head service, I came in first place.” Kendrick is using religion to save him from temptation while he and his friends go out drinking. “The opportunity, the proper top of breast and booty cheek. The pop community, I mean these bitches come with the union fee.” In the entertainment industry there are unions that make sure artists are being paid equal wage and receive proper treatment. As Kendrick Lamar received more commercial success more women started throwing themselves at him, like they were a part of one of the unions. “And yeah, G,  I was all for it. She said ‘K-Lamar, you kinda dumb to be a poet’”. Kendrick’s girl doesn’t think he is qualified to be a poet, but Kendrick isn’t your typical rapper and he has been known to put poems into his music.

After another chorus the second verse which also happens to be Kanye’s verse begins. “Friday night, tryna make it into the city. Breakneck speeds, passenger seat-something pretty. Thinking back to how I got here in the first place. Second class bitches wouldn’t let me on first base. Kanye is saying that when he tries to go into the city he goes so fast on the highway it could give you whiplash, which is something he suffered from along with a broken jaw after his 2002 car accident. His car accident inspired his breakthrough song Through The Wire. 15 years after the accident, which is when this album was released, Kanye seemingly has it all, a beautiful family, money, businesses and more. “A backpack n***a with luxury taste buds and the Louis Vuitton store got all of my pay stubs.” Here Kanye is referring back to his early career where he was a backpack or underground rapper. Even when he was underground he still had expensive taste. “Got pussy from beats I did for n***a’s more famous. When did I become A-list? I wasn’t even on a list.” Yet again Kanye is referring back to the beginning of his career when he was signed to roc-a-fella as a producer, but the label also gave him a deal as a rapper just because they didn’t want to lose his abilities as a producer. “Strippers get invited to where they only got hired.” This is another line that alludes to the song being about Amber Rose because she was a stripper prior to dating Kanye. “I was uninspired since Lauryn Hill retired and 3 stacks, man, you preachin to the choir” Here Kanye references two pretty well known artists in rap Andre 3000 and Lauryn Hill who happen to be some of Kanye’s idols. “Any rumor you heard about me was true and legendary. I done got Lewinsky’d and paid secretaries.” Kanye is referencing Monica Lewinsky of course and the “inappropriate relations” she had with Bill Clinton. “For all my n***a’s with babies by bitches that use they kids as meal tickets. Not knowin’ the disconnect from the father. The next generation the real victims. I can’t fault em’ really.” Kanye is calling out rappers who have multiple kids with different women which as we know is a problem that a lot of celebrities have, starting with Ol’ Dirty Bastard who had 13 kids all with different women to Nick Cannon who has 12 children with 6 different women. “I remember Amber told my boy, no matter what happens, she ain’t going back to philly. Back to our regularly scheduled programmin’ of weak contest and slow jammin’”. This is about Amber Rose who told one of Kanye’s friends that she would not go back to Philly where she was a stripper. A year after her break up with Kanye she married Wiz Khalifa, had a kid with him, then divorced him and even after receiving one million dollars from the prenup she still wanted child support from him. “But don’t worry, this one’s so jammin’. You know it, LA, it’s so jammin’.” Kanye is returning back to the style he used on previous albums and straying away from the abrasiveness that was Yeezus. He also is referencing where he lives, Los Angeles, which is referred to as the worst traffic jam in the country. “I be thinkin’ every day Mulholland Drive need to put up some goddamn barricades. I be paranoid everytime, the pressure. The problem ain’t I be drivin’, the problem is I be textin’… Textin’ and drivin’ down Mulholland drive. That’s why I’d rather take the 405” Mulholland Drive, while being a real road in LA, is also a movie in which a young actress is the only person that survives a car crash on that road. This is another way Kanye brings it back to his own near fatal car crash. Despite being in a car crash that almost ended his life he still chooses to text and drive which as we know is a very immature and dangerous act. “I be worried ‘bout my daughter, I be worried about Kim. but Saint baby ‘Ye, I ain’t worried ‘bout him.” Kanye is worried about the women in his family but he isn;t worried about his first born son Saint because he shares DNA with Kanye and to Kanye that means he will be able to overcome all the odds. “Had my life threatened by best friends with selfish intents. What I’m supposed to do? Ride around with a bulletproof car and some tints.” Kanye is referencing how people switch up when you become successful. Kanye has also bought bulletproof cars to protect his family from anyone who might want to harm them. “Every agent I know, know I hate agents. I’m too black, I’m too vocal, I’m too flagrant. Something smellin’ like shit, that’s the new fragrance. It’s just me, I do it my way, bitch.” Kanye is known to hate agents as he has switched talent agencies multiple times throughout his career. He is also acknowledging his many public outbursts such as the incidents with George Bush, Taylor Swift, and Beck. “Some days I’m in my Yeezys, some days I’m in my Vans.” Yeezy is Kanye’s brand with Adidas, since it is his brand you would expect him to promote it at all times but no. In true Kanye fashion he will do and wear whatever he wants. “I know some fans thought I would never rap like this again. But the writer’s block is over; emcees, cancel your plans.” Leading up to this album, Kanye’s lyrical abilities had been questioned because he wasn’t writing the way he used to on his old albums, but Kanye is putting those worries to rest. “A thirty-eight-year-old eight-year-old with rich n***a problems. Tell my wife I hate the rolls so I don’t never drive it.” Many people consider Kanye’s constant complaints about his life to be childish, and he is owning it with this line. “Whole family making money, thank god for E!” Kanye is obviously talking about Keeping Up With the Kardashian and many spin- offs which have allowed his whole family to make excessive amounts of money. “I love rockin’ jewelry, a whole neckful. Bitches say he fun-ny and disrespectful.” As we know Kanye’s personality is rather devise. You either love him or hate there isn’t really an inbetween. But the divisiveness used to benefit him, until recently the more press around his name the more money he made because he received more traction. “I feel like Pablo when I’m workin’ on my shoes. I feel like Pablo when I see me on the news. I feel like Pablo when I see me on the news. I feel like Pablo when I’m workin’ on my house. Tell ‘em party’s in here, we don’t want to go out.” Kanye thinks of himself as an artist like Pablo Picasso, everything about him is crafted like Picasso would craft a painting. This also references the title of the album which is The Life of Pablo. “We need the turbo thots, high speed, turbo thots. Drop-dro-dro-dro-drop, like Robocop.” Kanye is referencing his song off of 808’s and Heartbreak, Robocop. To end the verse Kanye says “And as far as real friends, tell all my cousins I love ‘em. Even the one that stole my laptop, you dirty motherfucker!” Kanye is once again referencing the way people act towards you when your famous, but this time specifically the cousin that stole his laptop that had a sex tape on it. 

After a repeat of the bridge and chorus the song ends the same way it began with the Junie Morrison intro. I feel like I say this every blog but this song is truly one of Kanye’s best. After the abrasiveness that is Yeezus this album brings us back to “old” Kanye, the Lyrical Kanye. This song reminds us that Kanye’s still got it. The song is beautifully balanced between Kanye and Kendrick Lamar so both of them get to shine. Kendrick gets a verse to show off his poetic lyrics but he still doesn’t outshine Kanye and his old school sound. 

Kanye West – The Life Of Pablo (2016, Clear, Vinyl) – Discogs

Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.d City (2012, CD) – Discogs

Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 20 Episode 10 Release Date Cast Spoilers & Preview (dekhnews.com)

West, Kanye, Lamar, Kendrick, No More Parties In LA, 2017, The Life Of Pablo, G.O.O.D. Music 

Black Skinhead by Kanye West is the second track on sixth studio album Yeezus. In this album we are greeted by a far more experimental tone from Kanye. The song features a strong drum kit, audio bites of dogs barking, and a far more aggressive tone. With little to no introduction we get the first verse.

 It opens “For my theme song. My leather black jeans on. My by any means on” I think the line about a “theme song” is in reference to his song Power on his fifth studio album. In Power kanye says “I guess every superhero needs his theme music”. I’ve listened to a lot of Kanye West and one thing about him is that he is going to reference previous tracks or other tracks on an Album. I believe when he says “my leather black jeans” he is using it as a metaphor for his genes as a black man. I have reason to believe this because the next line references Malcolm X’s famous saying “by any means necessary”. His reference to Malcolm X highlights the racial undertones of this song. Specifically the undertone of anger. “Pardon, I’m getting my scream on. Enter the Kingdom, but watch who you bring home. They see a black man with a white woman at the top floor and they gon’ come kill the king kong”  This big chunk of lyrics are all a part of a king kong reference. I think Kanye is comparing himself to king kong, the way I interpret this is that Kanye is commenting on the critics of his relationship with Kim Kardashian. Kim and Kanye experienced a lot of backlash for their relationship because they were interracial. At the end of the line he also uses alliteration when he says “Kill King Kong” which stacks three K’s like the famous hate group the Ku Klux Klan which brings in the Skinhead aspect of the title. He continues “Middle America packed in. Came to see me in my black skin.” I also believe that this relates back to the King Kong reference because in the story of King Kong, when Kong is dead hordes of people crowd around his body like he is a spectacle. Which I believe is how Kanye feels when he is on tour. I think he brings up Middle America because the majority of people in Middle America are white and they came to his shows to see a black artist. “Number one question they askin’, fuck every question they askin’” At this stage in his career Kanye was not too fond of doing interviews and here he is making a comment about that disinterest. “If I don’t get ran out by catholics. Here come some conservative baptists claiming I’m overreactin’.” Here Kanye is simply saying that no matter what he does some group will be criticizing him. Kanye ends the verse with this “Like them black kids in chiraq, bitch.”

Now being that I’m not from Chicago, I had to look up the meaning of Chiraq. Which is just a nickname that depicts the violence in certain neighborhoods in Chicago. 

We now see the first chorus of the song. “Four in the mornin’, and I’m zonin. They say I’m possessed, it’s an omen.” I think in this line he is talking about his demeanor when he records songs, he gets so in the zone that he seems possessed. “I keep it 300, like the Romans. 300 bitches, where the Trojans” This is a historical reference to the battle of Sparta, where they had 300 soldiers. However, Kanye got confused because Sparta definitely isn’t Roman. Trojans could be referring to either the Greek Trojans who fought in a war or Trojan condoms. “Baby we livin’ in a moment. I’ve been a menace for the longest. But I ain’t finished, I’m devoted. And you know it, and you know it” these last few lines are just Kanye letting us know he is a loose cannon and he can’t be tamed. Next we have the Post- chorus in which Kanye states “So follow me up cause the shit ‘bout to go. I’m doing 500, I’m outta control. But there’s nowhere to go. And there’s nowhere to slow. If I knew what I knew in the past, I would’ve been blacked out on your ass.” This is Kanye reiterating that he can’t be controlled and no one can stop him. 

The chorus repeats again, then we meet the second verse. He starts off strong with “Stop all that c**n shit. Early morning cartoon shit. This is that goon shit. Fuck up your whole afternoon shit.” He starts off with a slur that is used to describe a black person. I think with the early morning cartoon line he is talking about the charcutiers that are painted of black people like the picture to the right.

He continues on with “I’m aware I’m a wolf. Soon as that moon hit” He pairs aware and wolf in clever play on words, when the two words are said quickly next to each other they sound like werewolf which is a popular character in folklore. “I’m aware I’m a king. Back out the tomb, bitch. Black out the room, bitch.” Kanye referring to himself as a king could be taken in many ways but the two that I lean towards are that he thinks he is the king of pop culture or that he is a black king. This is a term used usually to uplift black men. “Stop all that c**n shit. These n***a’s aint doin’ shit. Them n***a’s aint doin’ shit.” Kanye is responding to people who call him a c**n (I’m going to keep censoring it because I don’t personally feel comfortable typing out slurs). That word is often used when talking about black entertainers and how they think they have made it so big but they are still working for white people, and are metaphorical slaves to the industry. However, Kanye is saying he isn’t like those other entertainers because he is doing things, for example he had his business Yeezy.  “Come on homie, what happened? You n***a’s ain’t breathin’, you gaspin’. The n***as ain’t ready for action. Ready-ready for action-action.” Since the beat has a layer of gasping, the mention of it ties the beat with the lyrics. After the chorus and post chorus the song comes to an end. 

This is without a doubt my favorite Kanye West song. The references to pop culture and the clever word play is quintessential Kanye but the experimentalism of this song and album sets it apart. Overall, this album is very experimental and is the start of a new era of Kanye where he was experimenting more with the way his music sounds and is perceived.

West, Kanye, June 18 2013, Yeezus, Black Skinhead, Def Jam

West, Kanye, June 18 2013, Yeezus, Def Jam

Huntley, Chris, “King Kong”, Dramatica

 https://dramatica.com/articles/king-kong

Licolins, Thiago, August 02 2019, “CENSORED ELEVEN: O LADO RACISTA DOS LOONEY TUNES”, 

Aventuras Na Historias

https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/noticias/reportagem/looney-tunes-racista-censored-eleven.phtml

Devil In a New Dress is the eighth song on Kanye West’s fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It starts off with the iconic “I love it, though. I love it, though, huh, you know.” which I believe is Kanye referencing that this is the only song he didn’t produce. And even though he didn’t produce it he still loves it. From here it moves into the chorus “Uh, put your hands to the constellations. The way you look should be a sin, you my sensation.” Kanye is implying that the girl he is portraying in the song looks so good that it leads to thinking sinful things. He pronounces sensation as sinsation which helps to portray this idea. By saying “put your hands to the constellations” he is saying when you see a girl that looks that good the best thing to do is praise god. He continues “I know I’m preachin’ to the congregation. We love Jesus, but you done learned a lot from satan.” he is uses the idiom preaching to the choir to let us know that the girl he is depicting is also a Christian but her ability to make other people sin is similar to that of Satan. The chorus continues on “I mean, a n***a did a lot of waiting. We ain’t married but tonight I need some consummation.”  Consummation is the first time a couple has sex after they are married, which in the eyes of the lord completes the union. Kanye is saying he has waited long enough and he wants to skip the wedding bells. He also leaves a six second pause in between waiting and we ain’t married. 

He starts off the first verse with “May the lord forgive us, may god be with us. In that magic hour, I seen good Chistians make rash decisions, oh, she do it.” Although he takes a biblical tone he is referring to hook up culture and how people will lower their standards after a certain hour. “What happened to her religion? Oh, she lose it?” Kanye is saying the extremely pretty girl who lowered her standards to be with him has “lost her religion” which is a popular phrase in pop culture to signify immorale actions. “She putting on her makeup, she casually allure.” He is praising the girl’s natural beauty, but he is also implying that she is a natural temptress. He goes on “Text message break ups, the casualty of tour. How she gon’ wake up and not love me no more?” He is talking about all the things that come along with touring like the groupies, partying, and the excitement that makes it hard for a musician to keep a relationship. He also ponders love and how quickly it can change. “I thought I was the asshole, I guess it’s rubbin’ off.” We all obviously know that Kanye has developed a negative representation in the media and he comments on it here, saying his girl has been hanging around him so much that she is starting to pick up his attitude. “Hood phenomenon, the LeBron of rhyme” Kanye is saying his ability to rhyme is equivalent to the skills LeBron established at a young age. “Hard to be humble when you’re sitting on a jumbotron. I’m looking at her like, ‘this is what you really wanted, huh?’” Kanye is continuing with the basketball reference, While LeBron is playing, Kanye is on the jumbotron because he is famous. The girl he is with seems unimpressed by this and it confuses him. He ends the verse with “Why we argue anyway. Oh, I forgot, it’s summertime.” There can be two interpretations of this line. One, would be that he tours in the summertime and it’s another “casualty of tour” or that they argue so much he forgets the true root of the argument. 

After the chorus we go into the second verse. Kanye starts “When the sun goes down, it’s the magic hour, the magic hour. And outta all the colors that’ll fill up the skies. You got all that green on your mind, I can see it in your eyes.” Here Kanye refers to a different magic hour, either sunrise or sunset. He is admiring all the colors but most importantly the one he thinks his girl likes the most, green which is money. He is kind of calling her a gold digger. “Why you standing there with your face screwed up? Don’t leave while you’re hot, that’s how Mase screwed up. Throwing shit around, the whole place screwed up. Maybe I should call Mase so he could pray for us.” Kanye is comparing his relationship to Mase’s career because Mase left the industry right after he dropped his album Harlem World. Kanye doesn’t want his girl to ruin their relationship like Mase ruined his career. Mase also became a pastor after he left the industry. “I hit the Jamaican spot, at a bar, take a seat. I ordered the jerk, she said you are what you eat. You see, I always loved that sense of humor. But tonight, you should have seen how quiet the room was.” In this line Kanye’s girl is calling him a jerk by saying “you are what you eat”. “The Lyor Cohen of Dior Homme. That’s ‘Dior Homme’ not ‘Dior Homie’”. This is a less catchy version of Kanye’s nickname at the time “The Louis Vuitton Don”. Diot Homme is a high-end brand of men’s clothing. “The crib scarface, could it be more Tony?” In the movie Scarface Tony Montana lives in a very lavish home, kanye turned Tony’s name into an adjective. “You love me for me, could you be more phony.” Kanye is referencing superficiality which is a theme throughout this album. I believe he is saying that he is so “phony” that if you love him for him then you must be equally as phony. 

After another chorus we get the third and final verse which features Rick Ross. It starts “Lookin’ at my bitch, I bet she give you a bone.” He is talking about an erection but more importantly he is using a play on words. In referring to the girl as a “bitch” he is referring to her as a female dog thus a dog is giving someone a bone. “Lookin’ at my wrist, it’ll turn your ass to stone.” Rick Ross is actually referencing the watch he wears which is Versace and the Versace logo is the face of Medusa so looking at his watch will turn you to stone. “Stretch Limousine, sipping rose all alone.” Ross could be saying one of two things, that he enjoys being a rapper and enjoying the luxuries that come with that or that he is lonely.  “Double-headed monster with a mind of its own.” Ross is saying he thinks with his penis. “Cherry-red chariot, excess is just my character. All black tux, n***a’s shoes lavender.” chariot is another mythology reference standing for a red car. He is also saying everything about his character is excessive. “I never needed acceptance from all you outsiders. Had cyphers with Yeezy before his mouth wired (Uh), before his jaw shattered.” Rick Ross and Kanye (Yeezy) have known each other since 2002, before Knaye got into his car accident, when they were both just getting into the rap game. “We still speedin’, running signs like they don’t matter, uh” Ross references his carefree and reckless lifestyle, despite seeing the consequences it may have. “Hater talkin’ never made me mad. Never got that, not when I’m in my favorite paper tag. Therefore, G4s at the Clearport.” Rick Ross is essentially flexing on his haters by saying they can’t bother him when he’s in a new car that still has the paper plates. “When it comes to tools, fool, I’m a pep boy. When it comes to dope, I was a quick export. Never tired of ballin’, so it’s on to the next sport.” I believe the sport he’s referring to is selling drugs, handling guns, and other illegal activity which he’s claiming to be good at. “New Mercedes sedan, the Lex Sport. So many cars, DMV thought it was mail fraud.” This is another way that Rick Ross is flexing that he has so many cars. “Different traps I was getting mail from Polk County, Jacksonville, right in Melbourne. Whole Clique appetites.” Tapeworms cause you to be hungrier than normal, so Rick Ross is saying that his whole crew was hungry for money. The next notable line happens to be the last one in which Ross says “I’m makin’ love with the angel of death. Catchin’ feelings, never stumbles, retracin’ my steps(uh) uh.” I believe in this line Ross is referencing “flirting with death” and saying that his lifestyle keeps him living on the edge. 

All in all, this is one of my favorite Kanye West songs. It is nostalgic and makes me happy when I listen to it despite the themes. In this song Kanye once again proves that he can manipulate words and phrases to insinuate something completely different from the meaning.

West, Kanye & Robets, William, “Devil in a New Dress”, Roc – A – Fella, 2010 

West, Kanye, My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy, Roc – A – Fella, 2010

Pinocchio Story from Kanye West’s fourth studio album is a live recording of a freestyle. This is also the last track on the album. There is an intro to the song but I’m going to skip it and start on the first verse. Mid-verse Kanye says “Do you think I’d sacrifice real life, for all the fame and flashing lights, do you think I’d sacrifice a real life, for all the fame and flashing lights?”  Kanye is commenting on all the luxuries that normal people have that he has had taken away from him due to his fame. For example, going to a restaurant is a hassle for him but it is something that most people don’t even think twice about. He goes on to say “there is no Gucci I can buy, there is no Louis Vuitton to put on, there is no YSL that they could sell, to get my heart out of this hell and my mind out of this jail” Despite seemingly having everything and being able to afford anything Kanye is still sad because money can’t him true happiness. To end the verse Kanye says “Real life, what does it feel like? I ask you tonight, I ask you tonight. What does it feel like? I ask you tonight. To live a real life” The song is called Pinocchio Story and Kanye relates to the way Pinocchio feels. Pinocchio wants to be a real boy just like Kanye wants to live a normal life. He is comparing himself to a puppet because he feels like one. He continues this them into the chorus where he says “I just want to be a real boy”. 

Kanye starts the second verse saying “It’s funny, Pinocchio lied and that’s what kept him from it, I tell the truth and I keep running” Kanye is addressing the irony between him and Pinocchio, because Pinocchio can’t be a real boy because he lies, but Kanye feels like he can’t be a real boy because he tells the truth. He is almost saying that being his true self feels like he’s playing a character. He goes on to say “Do you really have stamina? For everybody that sees you say: ‘where’s my camera’. For everybody that sees you say: ‘sign an autograph’. For everybody that see you cryin’ that you say you oughta laugh. You oughta laugh.” Kanye is speaking to himself here. He is asking himself if he has the stamina to handle these situations everyday. A lot of people want fame, but they don’t understand the scrutiny that comes with it. 

Kanye returns to the Pinocchio reference in the third verse saying “there is no Gepetto to guide me. No one here beside me. The only one was behind me. I can’t find her no more, I can’t call her no more. I can’t-” This Album was released following the death of Kanye’s mother who was his ”Gepetto”. She guided him through life much like Gepetto did to Pinocchio. “The only one that come out on the tour and screams. Back when I was living at home, and this was all a big dream, and the fame will be get-got.” Kanye is evaluating the amount of time he has spent with his family, specifically his mother. He is trying to understand his inability to connect with his mother because of his busy life pursuing a career. He continues “the day I moved to L.A, Maybe that was all my fault. All my fault to be a real boy, chasin’ the American dream. Chasing everything we seen up on a TV screen.” He is pondering if he would be happier without fame and fortune. “And when, uh, the Benz left. And when the clothes was left, and the hoes was left. You talk the hoes to death thinkin’ the money that the- you spend the dough to death.” He is yet again talking about his mom and how the material items that gave him the “good life” can’t fill the space in his life that he is missing now. He ends the song saying “Perspective, and wise man say. One day you’ll find your way. The wise man say you’ll find your way. Wise man say” he is referring to the intro in which the wise man tells him he is never going to figure it out, but he is also choosing to end the song on a semi-hopeful note. 

I think this is without a doubt one of my favorite Kanye West songs. It is just the fact that this is freestyle, recorded live at a concert. It is extremely impressive that he was able to think of the reference and continue the theme throughout while thinking on the spot. He manages to make it personal while still holding the theme. The song overall feels like a big venting session for him and I think it is without a doubt one of his most underrated songs. 

West, Kanye, Pinocchio Story, Roc-A-Fella Records, 2008 

(7) Pinocchio Story – YouTube

West, Kanye 808’s and Heartbreak, November 24 2008

Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain is the fifth track on his third studio album Graduation.  The song opens on the chorus which ends by saying “I’ma get on this TV, Mama, I’ma. I’ma put shit down.” which is a recycled lyric from his song School Spirit off of his first Album. 

The first verse starts off “Welcome to the good life, where n****s who sell D won’t even get pulled over in they new V.” I think it’s quite obvious that D is short for drugs and I’m not very good with cars but I’m pretty sure V is probably some type of car. “The good life, let’s go on a living spree.” He flipped the idea of a killing spree into a living spree, which I like to think is just the enjoyment of life. The last line from the verse I thought was notable was “The good life, it feel like Atlanta. It feel like L.A, it feels like Miami. It feel like NY, Summertime in Chi.”  Not only are these cities notorious for nightlife but they are also areas where music is known to thrive. We also know that Chi means Chicago and that is Kanye’s hometown.

Before Kanye goes into the chorus again there is a bridge that States “Yo, it’s got to be seasoned. Haters give me they salty looks, Lawry’s.” I wanted to point this out because Lawry’s a brand of seasoning that is known for their seasoned salt. He goes on to say “50 told me, ‘Go head, switch the style up. And if they hate then let ’em hate and watch the money pile up” He is referencing 50 cent’s song “In Da Club”. This is also relevant to the style switch that Kanye made with this album. 

After the chorus we meet the second verse. We get our first witty line mid-verse when he says “‘Cause she feel booze like she bombed the apollo.” I believe this is a play on words because the Apollo is a theater that is notorious for being a very brutal venue to perform at. “The good life, it feel like Houston. It feel like Philly, it feel like D.C.. It Feel like VA or the Bay or Ye.” He names more places in which music is known to thrive, which shows how important music is to him. The “good life” to him involves being in a place where his creativity can flourish. He also says the good life feels like himself. Kanye ends the verse uneventfully. 

There is only one really notable line in the third verse which is “Have you ever popped champagne on a plane, while gettin’ some brain.” Which is him talking about his life now that he lives his version of a good life. T-Pain sings the outro which goes “Ayy, it’s the good life, better than the life I lived. When I thought I was gonna go crazy. And now my grandmama ain’t the only girl callin me baby.” In interviews T-pain has stated he felt like he was working so hard to achieve his dream of being a musician that he was driving himself crazy. 

To wrap this up, I don’t think this would be one of my favorite songs either. I like the feel good nature of the song and how irrelevant it is. I definitely play this when I’m in a good mood but not at any other time. 

West, Kanye, “Good Life”, Graduation, Roc-a-fella Records, 2007

Kanye starts the song with a sample of Etta James’ version of My Funny Valentine “You make me smile with my heart, oh, but you make me smile” . This is the perfect use of the song because it plays off the idea of addiction. To start off Kanye states “What’s your addiction, is it money? Is it girls? Is it weed? I’ve been afflicted by not one, not two, but all three”.  Which is often referred to as the rapper’s trifecta of temptation. Mid-verse kanye says “just let me peek now damn I’m so curious” Which could obviously be about a girl that he wants to see naked or it could be a play on words and he could be referring to the peak of being high. Kanye ends the verse stuttering “Then I’m co-coming over ‘cause it’s ne-never over” which I think is a another way he is playing off of the aspect of addiction, he furthers this idea of addiction when he says “it’s never over” as in the addiction is never over. 

The chorus isn’t that important, so I will use this time to talk about the sample that is used. My Funny Valentine is inherently a love song about loving someone you shouldn’t, but when used in this context it gives a different vibe. Whatever his addiction he is describing it as his “funny valentine”. He shouldn’t like it but he does. 

The second verse mainly addresses his relationship and the effects addiction has had on it, saying “I see the emotion in your eyes, that you try not to show. We get the closest when you high, or you drunk, or you blown. So I pour the potion, so we can both get high, as we could go…Not now but right now, I need you to undress, and then pose I’m into that now, catch a vibe, when the doors, get closed” by him saying “I’m into this right now” he makes think he is only attracted to this person when he’s high. 

 The chorus repeats once more, this time it is sung by a girl. This is to represent that the unnamed woman in Kanye’s relationship feels the same as him. She is addicted to him like a drug but is also struggling with the same substance addictions that Kanye addresses earlier in the song. 

There is an outro to the song that is also pretty unimportant. So, after listening to the song multiple times and analyzing the lyrics I can say that I really enjoyed this song. Kanye takes a more conversational tone over the beat and uses the sample to end each verse and chorus, which I thought was really creative. It isn’t my favorite Kanye West song but it definitely would be on my top ten.

West, Kanye, Late Registration, Roc-A-Fella Records, 2005

This song, like many of Kanye’s hits, sounds pleasant upon first listen but when you pay attention to the lyrics another story is told. In the first line, Kanye directly references the audience  “If this is your first time hearing this you are about to experience something so cold, man”. This line addresses people that don’t know the experiences that Kanye shared in this song and album.

 The first line that really stuck out to me was “But as a shorty, I looked up to the dope man, the only adult man I knew that wasn’t broke man”. In this line, Kanye directly references looking up to drug dealers and finishes the line by saying “We don’t care what people say” to brush off anyone who speaks  negatively about his childhood idols.

To end the first verse: “’Cause ain’t no tuition for having no ambition And ain’t no loans for sitting your ass at home so we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job, you gotta do something, man, your ass is grown”,  Kanye  encourages children to work as hard as he has. He had a day job and a side hustle, dealing drugs. That is the only way to survive in the inner city.

With a chorus of “Drug dealin’ just to get by, Stack your money ’til it gets sky high (Kids, sing! Kids, sing!)” Kanye celebrates the culture of inner city life and tells people to look at all they’ve accomplished by stacking their money. Based on the last line of the first verse I believe that when Kanye says kids he is referring to college aged kids, but he represents them by using a children’s choir.  “We wasn’t s’posed to make it past twenty-five, Joke’s on you, we still alive” here Kanye could be alluding to many things: rappers who have died young like Tupac, the life expectancy of African – American males in south-side Chicago, or himself. When Kanye was twenty-five he was in a car accident that nearly took his life. “throw your hands up in the sky and say ‘We don’t care what people say’” Kanye wants to end the chorus with a celebration to rip away everyone’s cares and fears. 

Kanye yet again chooses to celebrate those who work normal jobs and still sell drugs by starting the second Verse saying “This second verse is for my dogs working with me nine to five that still hustle”. Very few lines in the second verse stuck out to me but “So N****S’ money is homo, it’s hard to get straight” did. This stuck out because we know that when people sell drugs and make a regular income off of that it is hard for them to get “straight” and go back to not having that income, and Kanye compares this challenge to that of someone who is apart of the LGBTQ+ community who will never be heterosexual. 

After the chorus repeats we are greeted by the third verse. In the this verse West hits us with a stark commentary on government systems that he feels have failed his community saying “You know the kids gon’ act a fool when you stop the programs for after school and they DCFS, some of ’em dyslexic They favorite 50 Cent song ‘12 Questions’” West is expressing his frustration at the schooling system for seemingly setting him and other kids up for failure because there are increasingly less after school programs even though those programs are known to help kids stay out of trouble. “We scream: ‘rocks, blow, weed, park,’ see, now we smart We ain’t retards the way teachers thought Hold up, hold fast, we make more cash Now, tell my mama I belong in that slow class It’s bad enough we on welfare You tryna put me on the school bus with the space for the wheelchair I’m tryna get the car with the chrome-y wheels here You tryna cut our lights out like we don’t live here”. His frustration with the school system continues but a different problem is addressed: the conventionality of the schooling system. He casts doubt on the schooling system because despite being told he was “slow” he still managed to out-earn the very people who told him that he wouldn’t succeed purely because he wasn’t good at learning conventionally. 

The chorus repeats once more then the song ends. After listening and analyzing the lyrics I think the song despite having a positive sound manages to tough on some of the challenges of living in the inner city. He reassures people who are selling drugs that they are simply doing what they need to do to survive, while at the same time he tries to offer up explanations as to why committing illegal activities is necessary for those of us who don’t get it and to justify those actions. 

Sources: 

Kanye West, “We don’t care”, UMG Recordings, 2004, (10) We Don’t Care – YouTube

Kanye West, The College Dropout, UMG Recordings, 2004