“Innovator”—Plains (Link) At first we think it’s a requiem; the minors chords on a solo guitar, “ROOSEVELT DIES SUDDENLY” as the featured headline. The women weep as Truman kisses the Bible, then as shadows descend over the mountains the soldiers … Read More
I am not entirely sure that Kanye West knows how a phoenix works. He does, however, know how to make a gorgeous, self-indulgent, gorgeously self-indulgent piece of art.
I got 99 problems, and all of ’em’s being happy,” bursts out Tyler Okonma—better known by his stage name Tyler, the Creator—on “Pigs,” one of the many disturbing looks inside the mind of this 22 year-old rapper on his new album Wolf. The pop-culture riff with a demented personal twist is Tyler’s signature move, and one that somehow keeps the listeners coming back for more.
Perhaps it makes most sense to analyze it in the context of Yeezy’s artistry: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and Yeezus are reaches, exemplars of a bravado unparalleled by Kanye’s contemporaries; The Life of Pablo is a revision.