Kanye West “Ye vs the People” & “Lift Yourself”

Kanye Kanye Kanye, you have constantly been throwing blankets of confusions to your harsh critics and surprisingly your die hard fans. Your antics are not necessarily aligning with the normal ‘Ye schematics we have been so casually familiarized with over the years. You came in like a wrecking ball fully loaded with a high form of ammunition. I applaud you and your team for keeping you a trending topic for the past month but what the lyrical geniuses, musical intellects, and Ye enthusiast want to know: will the actual musical climax be as historical as this beautifully strategized “shit show” you have been spoon feeding? During this performance you, bonded with Trump, made touchy comments about slavery, released two new tracks “Lift Yourself” and “Ye vs the People” feat T.I. and we are patiently waiting to get to the bottom of what is really up your Yeezy branded sleeve. Through all these antics, I find you to be even more eccentric and genius from listening to both songs.

“Ye vs the people,” a song produced by Kanye featuring T.I., is a game of political ping pong expressing the opposite political agendas of both rappers. At the surface of the song it sounds like a high school political debate, but at the core, there are some lyrics that can not be dismissed as child’s play. “I know Obama was heaven-sent but ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be president”. In the grand scheme of things Kanye expresses his love for Obama and his belief that, if someone as obnoxious as Trump can be president, then he definitely has a chance as the next POTUS. Trump is similar to a Shwartznegger or a Regan, popular gun toting actors, turned high political figures. Kanye is indeed correct, with people like Trump winning an election, there are really no odds against anyone who can afford to run. Ye’ has the money, the power, and the popularity to run in a presidential race. He also has a slim chance of winning due to his popularity fame and obscurity, just as Trump. I highly doubt someone who boasts such lyrics as:

“Fuck you and your Hampton house
I’ll fuck your Hampton spouse
Came on her Hampton blouse
And in her Hampton mouth”

is really as engulfed with Trump as the media portrays.

T.I. responds to Kanye’s potential presidential run, stating, “If your election ain’t gone stop police from murdering niggas, then shit.” With that said, T.I. himself is a bit baffled on what angles Ye’ plans to use in his projected political agenda, and the people feel, if its not as strong as stopping the killings of innocent people, supplying me with a pair of black Yeezys for the rest of my life, reparations for the oppressed, or making the economy wealthy again, then Kanye needs to lay the presidential idea to rest. The beat is a sample of the “7 Rooms of Gloom” by the popular 70s group, Four Tops, that Ye geniusly remixes to a thumpy slow melodic beat to fit the argumentative theme of the song. It is a song for listening and assessing both sides with an open mind. Both rappers state good points, lyrically define their opposing ideas in an articulate manner, and both slang words back and forth with lyrical ease. “Ye vs the People” sheds light on how two powerful artist truly engage in the art of “politikin”!

Kanye has a platform to do and say pretty much anything he feels. But forming a negative response, go look in the nearest mirror and ask yourself, “Self can I pay thousands of dollars for quality studio time, to rap about poo, and come five songs shy of making Billboard’s 100?” No? Me neither. But Kanye most definitely can and does with his 2nd release, “Lift Yourself.” The song is the most condescending thing I have witnessed all year. I too am a creative in Hollywood, so I breathe condescension on a daily basis. This is next level “kiss my ass,” even for Kanye. I imagined the production of the song maybe going a little something like this “Hey Nori baby, make daddy a song about poo and Ill produce it, and we will manically laugh and high five when it trends.” In actually the song is not about poo at all. Sampled from a 70’s band, Amnesty, track titled, “Free Your Mind,” Kanye finds glory, and applies his message of ‘free thinking.’ Intertwining soul and technology “Lift Yourself” is quite steady in the balance of quality sound. Would you believe me if I told you this song is very well thought out and slightly genius? Ye’ remixes the sample as a high toned chorus and transitions back and forth neatly to an 80’s supersonic beat, all while maintaining the theme of lifting oneself to opulence. His lyrics of “poopty scoop” may be condescending but the underlining message has great merit. If you choose to read between the lines, the message of the song is undeniably inspiring, lift yourself, and you too can have the same freedoms of Ye’ which include but definitely are not limited to; use of state of the art production materials, creating folly lyrics,saying minimal, and still make an extreme impact on pop culture. Now go lift yourself!

Leave a Reply