The Three Songs Where Kanye Transcended the Human Experience By: Andrew Hatt

The Three Songs Where Kanye Transcended the Human Experience

Andrew Hatt

            Kanye West. The man, the myth, the asshole. Simultaneously the subject of adoration and hate, by critics and fans alike. No matter one’s opinion on the frequent controversy that Kanye finds himself in off the mic, and on Twitter, it is hard to argue that the man has made some of the greatest hip hop music of all time. This is in a large part due to his incredible production skills and exuberant charisma on the mic. Every album in his ever growing discography pushes the boundaries of the genre and stands on its own with a unique sonic palette. Take his rapidly changing sound over the course of just three years between Graduation (2007), 808’s & Heartbreak (2008), and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). Due to the distinct sound of each album, if one hears any song it is incredibly easy to know which project it comes off of. While he might not have the best bars in the game, it’s his fearlessness and passion for the artform that helps to push his music to the next level and create that X factor that cannot be quantified or copied. A once in a generation artist, hip hop’s David Bowie.

            While Kanye West has innumerable classics under his belt, there are three times that he has made a song that has transcended his own reality. These three songs are all very different from each other, but together they represent the full spectrum of who Kanye is at his core. The listener can feel who Kanye is as a person, what he is going through in his life from his successes to his failures. When humans in the future are listening back to the music of capitalism’s golden age from the safety of their underground bunkers, these three songs will be held up as the essence of the careless luxurious lifestyle that our society and media tells people that they should dream of achieving one day.

“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” - Graduation (2007)

From the very first line, “I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven / When I awoke, I spent that on a necklace / I told God I'd be back in a second / Man it's so hard not to act reckless,” “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” captivates the listener to the raw feeling of finally achieving the excesses of the celebrity lifestyle. It is both jubilant and sickeningly vain. In this song, Kanye embodies pure ego, and lets the listener experience unbridled arrogance in its purest form. When Kanye says, “I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny / And what I do, act more stupidly / Bought more jewelry, more Louis V / My Momma couldn't get through to me / The drama, people suing me / I'm on TV talking like it's just you and me,” it makes me feel like I know exactly how Kanye felt at this point in his career, even ten years later. Kanye chose to dive headfirst into the pool of excess, but is acutely self-aware enough to be able to translate the energy into raw music. Or maybe it’s just that fact that he is so caught up in his life. Perfect beat. Classic rap performance by Kanye.

“Devil in a New Dress” - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

            It is no secret that MBDTF is a classic hip hop album, a sprawling, maximalist masterpiece that delves deep into the excesses of American celebrity, with all of its pros and cons. The level of personality Kanye uses to delve into every facet of this topic is striking, particularly over the opulent production. If there’s one track that gets to the essence of what the album is all about, it is “Devil in a New Dress” though. This track is beautiful, with an amazing sample and an incredible guitar solo that stands out as innovative amongst the genre, before Rick Ross’s closing verse. (And what a performance by Rick Ross, who delivers what is probably his greatest verse of all time). Kanye tackles the emotional dissatisfaction of the celebrity lifestyle, both enjoying the debauchery but also know that is slowly tearing him apart. More than that however, he perfectly portrays the degradation of societal norms in the modern age, commenting on fading commitment to religion (“May the Lord forgive us, may the gods be with us / In that magic hour I seen good Christians / Make rash decisions, oh she do it / What happened to religion? Oh, she lose it”) and relationships (“Text message breakups, the casualty of tour / How she gon' wake up and not love me no more? / I thought I was the asshole, I guess it’s rubbing off”) in the first verse alone. Kanye is lost in the luxuries of life trying to find love.

“Send It Up” - Yeezus (2013)

            An underrated gem on an underrated album, “Send It Up” is a straight banger ready to be played in any club. This song is a Shakespearean play straight from the trap, complete with a defined beginning, middle, and end. King Louie opens up the song with a hard verse that segues perfectly into the chorus. Then Kanye comes in with his verse, which is very short and relatively understated. While this verse might at first seem to be throw away bars for the club, they are anything but. Kanye does not waste a word in this sixteen. He goes from nihilistic comedy at the beginning (“She say ‘Can you get my friends in the club?’ / I say ‘Can you get my Benz in the club?’ / If not, treat your friends like my Benz / Park they ass outside 'til the evenin' end”), to philosophical musings by the end (“She can't go to work, same clothes again / And her heart colder than the souls of men / Louboutin on the toes again”). Then, a Beanie Man sample comes in to close out the track with more philosophizing about memories, and how it really doesn’t matter if you live your life good or bad because either way you will be remembered by those you’ve left a mark on. Damn. Talk about firing up those with less than pure intentions. At the end of the day, this song is icey as hell, and is one of Kanye’s most nihilistic songs. No emotion, just hot energy in a bleak landscape.

Runners Up: “Touch the Sky” - Late Registration (2005), “Paranoid” - 808’s & Heartbreak (2008)