Last night Kanye West took a break from Making America Great Again to drop his highly anticipated eighth album. It was rumored to be called "LOVE EVERYBODY," but the actual title is "ye." The cover art is a picture of the beautiful Wyoming countryside, where Kanye recorded much of the album. And doodled over it in green text: "I hate being bipolar, it's awesome." Reportedly Kanye created the cover art on his phone. I guess he blew the production budget on that $85,000 Whitney Houston photo for Pusha T.
Like Pusha T's DAYTONA, the album is only seven songs long, clocking in at around twenty minutes. But despite its brevity, Kanye touches on a lot of topics, from his mental health to Tristan Thompson's cheating scandal to Kim Kardashian yelling at him for saying "slavery was a choice."
Over the past year, a lot of people have questioned Kanye's mental health, wondering if he's okay. On the opening song, "I Thought About Killing You," Yeezy talks to himself (or some unidentified 'other'), contemplating suicide.
"The most beautiful thoughts are always besides the darkest
Today I seriously thought about killing you.
I contemplated, premeditated murder
And I think about killing myself, and I love myself way more than I love you, so"
The second song, "Yikes," is a banger about drugs, the highs of intoxication, the perils of addiction. At the end, Yeezy confirms that he's bipolar. But rather than being ashamed of this disorder, he celebrates it, considering it a "superpower."
"That's my bipolar sh*t, n***a what
That's my superpower, n***a ain't no disability
I'm a superhero! I'm a superhero!
Agghhhh!"
The same week Khloe Kardashian gave birth, the father, Tristan Thompson, was exposed for cheating on her with several women. On "All Mine," a song about infidelity, Kanye mentions several celebrities involved with cheating scandals, including the Cleveland Cavaliers player.
"All these thots on Christian Mingle
almost what got Tristan single
If you don't ball like him or Kobe
Guarantee that bitch gonna leave you"
"Thot," of course, is slang for "that hoe over there." It is not known if Tristan used the dating site "Christian Mingle." Yeezy probably just mentioned it because it rhymes with "Tristan single." Kobe Bryant was famously caught cheating on his wife in 2011. It is not known if she was a thot.
On Twitter, Kanye shocked fans by declaring his love for Donald Trump, and showing off an autographed MAGA hat. But that was nothing compared to his outrageous appearance on TMZ. He told the newsroom, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. We're mentally imprisoned."
The rant went viral, getting over four million views. On Twitter, Kanye tried to clarify his remark, claiming he was talking about mental slavery. But the damage was done. People were furious. After the tirade, he took break from tweeting, and flew back to Wyoming to work on music.
On the song, "Wouldn't Leave," Kanye describes Kim's reaction to his "slavery was a choice" rant. He says she was "callin, screamin, saying, we about to lose it all!"
"They say, 'Build your own,' I said, 'How, Sway?'
I said, 'Slavery a choice,' they say, 'How, Ye?'
Just imagine if they caught me on a wild day
Now I'm on fifty blogs gettin' fifty calls
My wife callin', screamin', say, 'We 'bout to lose it all!'
Had to calm her down 'cause she couldn't breathe
Told her she could leave me now, but she wouldn't leave
Kanye says he told Kim she could leave him, but she refused. As you can tell from her brutal clapback to Rhymefest, she's the ultimate 'ride or die' wife. In the outro to the same song, Kanye praises every "female that stuck with they dude."
For any guy that ever f--ked up (love me or hate me)
Ever embarrassed they girl (love me or hate me)
Ever embarrassed they wife (gone when you miss me)
She told you not to do that sh-t (ohh)
She told you you's gon' f--k the money up
But you ain't wanna listen, did you?
Keep that same energy Keep that same energy
Now you testing her loyalty
This what they mean when they say 'For better or for worse', huh?
For every damn female that stuck with they dude
Through the best times, through the worst times, this for you"
Well, you have to hand it to Kanye. For a seven-song, 23-minute album, he says a lot.
