A Philosophical Examination of Kanye West's "Freestyle 4." By: Nick Zablocki
A
Philosophical Examination of Kanye West’s “Freestyle 4.”
By:
Nick Zablocki
When Kanye West released his 7th
studio album The Life
of Pablo in February of
2016, reviews were mixed. After 5 or 6 classic albums,[1] this release left critics, and fans,
perplexed. I personally think the high points of “Saint Pablo,” “No More
Parties in L.A.,” & “Real Friends” make it an overall decent album. Cuts
like “Waves,” “Wolves,” “Famous,” “Father Stretch My Hands Pt.s 1 & 2,” and
“Ultralight Beam” are all classic Ye songs in my opinion as well. What I’m
saying is, the perception of this album is off just a bit. Just because it wasn’t
a perfect album like, say, Graduation or, My Beautiful Dark Twisted
Fantasy, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great album. We just hold Kanye to a
higher standard than almost any other artist. But, this article isn’t meant to
serve as my defense for The Life of Pablo, though these first 130 words
may beg to differ, such an article may come later on down the line; this
article is to take a close, philosophical look at the song “Freestyle 4.”
“Freestyle
4” is one of the most perplexing things I’ve ever heard. On the surface layer,
it’s an ass song. Kanye really doesn’t seem to be saying much of any substance;
though, he is certainly off a substance, or, more likely, a few substances
during this song. But, if we peel back the layers, like an onion, like an ogre,
it is revealed that this song actually proposes a deep existential question.
Before we dive into the metaphysics though, let’s continue to set the stage
that Mr. West pontificates his question within.
Firstly, this title. “Freestyle 4,” what am I supposed to
make of this? What did Freestyles 1,2, & 3 contain? Did they exist?
Secondly, this beat. This beat is what carries the song during the mundane
listen.[2] It’s spooky. It’s grimy. It’s got
weird electrical synths bouncing around. This beat is a 10/10 seven days a
week, twice on Sunday. Next, the song opens with what I can safely assume is a
not sober Kanye West declaring “This that rap god shit nigga/I rip every one of
these mothafuckas down/Aye!” and then proceeding to spit a verse that wouldn’t
even qualify as that “rap alter boy shit.” Then he growls a couple times?
“Now,
wait a minute Nick, it sounds like you don’t like this song. Why are you
writing an article about it?”
Not true, I actually love this song.
I show this song off to people who have no business ever hearing it[3], just cause I need their opinion on
this existential question that I’ve been alluding to. Let’s get to that
(finally.) It happens around the end of the verse, Kanye says “What if we
fucked at this Vogue party?/Would we be the life of the whole party?/Shut down
the whole party/Would everybody start fuckin’?/Would everybody start fuckin’?/Would
everybody start fuckin’?” This. This
right here, is the single most important existential question I’ve ever heard
proposed. It’s heavy stuff. Let’s think about, what do we know about the elites
in the fashion and/or Hollywood industry? There’s a lot of passion, and sexual
energy floating around. So, let’s say that Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are at
this Vogue party, and, all of the sudden, they start fucking, what happens
next? Would that be the life of the whole party, maybe. Would that shut down
and end the party, perhaps. But, would everyone start fucking? I think so. I
really do. I think if Kanye and Kim started fucking at this hypothetical, but
probably-based-on-true-events, Vogue party, that the rest of the party members
would join. I think some animalistic, cult-like behavior would just take over
all the guests present. How could it not? I mean, that’s Kim and Kanye breaking
down all social barriers, the tribal primate instincts would have to kick in.
Next thing you know, we’ve got an orgy at the Vogue party.
[1]
Depends on how you feel about 2013’s YEEZUS. I personally loveYEEZUS,
so it’s a classic, you might disagree.
[2]
Thankfully, Tyler, The Creator and A$AP Rocky also rapped over this beat and
actually did something lyrically with it.
[3]
I showed my sister this song once, she was not amused. I almost showed my mom
this song, then I was like “Nick, you might be too amped up about this song,
you probably shouldn’t even drive a car right now, you’re not making rational
decisions.”
Comments
Post a Comment