Yesterday is being touted by many including Kanye West
protégé Travis Scott as the official beginning
of Yeezy Season. West dropped two brand new tracks, “When I See It” and a remix of 808s & Heartbreak track “Say You Will”. Of course when you have immense popularity along with the cult of
personality that Kanye has, the rumor mill has immediately began to churn at
full speed. I even heard a suggestion that Kanye is redoing the entirety of
“808s & Heartbreak” with Travis Scott and others. While I do not think this
to be the case I do believe that someone as cautious and attentive as Kanye
West has had a plot for some time now regarding how and when he will drop his
newest album which is currently titled “Swish” but lacks a release date. I have
tried to examine some of the songs and projects Kanye West has been involved in
along with 808s & Heartbreak, Rodeo, and the greater zeitgeist of hip-hop
as a whole to try and predict what “Swish” could sound like. It’s all
speculation, but Kanye has left some clues that could be foreshadowing an album
with a familiar sound.
808s & Heartbreak is hardly coming up on a monumental
anniversary. The album will only be seven in November, yet Kanye West has been
turning his fourth record into an extravaganza this year. Doing two major shows
at the Hollywood Bowl with a full orchestra as well as bringing in Kid Cudi and
Young Jeezy made the event a once in a lifetime experience for Kanye fans.
While undoubtedly a cool thing to do for fans, these shows should still have
his fans asking why. Why did he do these shows? Nobody really celebrates seven
year anniversaries, especially for albums that are hardly considered major highlights of an artist’s discography. However, 808s
& Heartbreak has become one of those rare albums that over the years has
only shone brighter even in the eyes of publications not known for being the most current on trends in hip-hop. The colder R&B
production style, raw emotional lyrics dealing with relationships, and sung
auto-tuned vocals has become a staple for artists like Drake, Future, and The
Weeknd.
Nothing is more exemplary of this fact than Travis Scott’s
major label debut, “Rodeo.” Yes, Kanye West has worked with Scott extensively as
well as producing and featuring in tracks on this record so it is unsurprising
the album would have a “Kanye-touch”. However, the significance of this record
and how it relates to “Swish” does not necessarily only relate to how it sounds,
but also the timeliness of it. Rodeo works well as a reflection of hip-hop as a
whole today when it comes to its sound. The record’s production was the clear
focal point of the album with Scott working with the biggest producers in
hip-hop today practically guaranteeing a successful record even for a rapper
who is not the most lyrically gifted. What is striking about this record is how
many tracks sound like they actually could be on 808s & Heartbreak. Tracks
like “90210”, “Apple Pie”, and “I Can Tell” may lack the strong emotional
perspective that Kanye West or Drake can convey, but the production and use of
auto-tune clearly pays homage to 808s in a very modern way. “Rodeo”, one of the
biggest and most anticipated records in hip-hop this year, manages to make
Kanye’s 2008 album sound fresher than it ever has before. This sound is undoubtedly
in and popular right now and Kanye is smart enough to recognize this.
808s & Heartbreak has over the years turned from Kanye’s
most disappointing work to arguably his most influential. The landscape of
hip-hop today is so different than in 2008 when this record dropped, but the
major tropes of hip-hop today can be seen in this record. The fact that Kanye
is revisiting the album so directly with concerts for the record could mean he
also is revisiting this sound as a whole for “Swish”. There would be no better
time to drop an album with this sound now. The album could absolutely be a
return attempt at grabbing airplay, especially with West coming off “Yeezus”
which was an adamant statement of airplay avoidance.
Finally, we get to the most concrete evidence we have which
is the songs West has released since Yeezus. In 2014, Kanye made it clear that
he was revisiting the auto-tuned singing sound with “Only One”, a gorgeous tribute to his daughter and “FourFiveSeconds" which features more singing from West. Now in November we have another song in
“When I See It” featuring an auto-tuned singing Kanye and a direct remix of one
of his 808s & Heartbreak songs. This style has clearly become a focal point
for Kanye over the last two years. It is hard to deny he is not revisiting this
style of production and lyrical honesty that distinguishes 808s. All the signs
point toward an album that can directly pair with 808s & Heartbreak even
down to the release date. Although we don’t have a date just yet, if the album
does drop relatively soon the winter months are beginning and West purposely
released 808s around this time to reflect the mood of the record. “Swish” is
likely going to be bringing content that is similarly heavy. Although it will
not be nearly as ground breaking this time around instead the record will have
the benefit of timeliness.
“Swish” could be a record which Kanye aims to prove he is
just as relevant as ever. To prove he can still undoubtedly top the charts with
brilliant production and an army of the hottest features at anyone’s disposal. It
is hard to predict anything Kanye West says or does these days, but it is
likely we can rule out a return to the heavy soul sampling of his early career,
the artistic maximalist production of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, and the industrial grind of Yeezus. Kanye West is not looking to create a
surprising record here and he has used everything he has done since Yeezus to foreshadow this. From the new songs, to
the production he has aided other artists with, to the 808s & Heartbreak
concerts at the Hollywood Bowl it seems as though Kanye has been leaving us
clues. What seems likely is a record that features auto-tune and R&B hooks,
but rather than confusing fans when the record does drop like 808s did, “Swish”
will be a series of hits similar to “Graduation” because hip-hop trends have
finally embraced this sound. I don’t expect “Swish” to innovate or challenge
but to be a reflection of current hip-hop culture in the same way “Rodeo” was.
This time Kanye West’s aim will simply be modernity.
-
TJ Kliebhan
10/20/2015
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