![]() ![]() ![]() The whole ordeal will become the definition of an ordeal-a bold attempt to make each person in the crowd understand just what the hell it means to have your heart fucking broken-and why we, as humans, care about that so much. Pallbearers will roll out a woman’s body on a slanted bed and perform a funeral. An army of shirtless men will march to “Love Lockdown.” Snow will fall and melt in the LA heat during “Coldest Winter.” Gunshots will go off multiple times. Three giant staircases will rotate around the stage before us, and West will climb up, sit on, and jump off of them. A massive bulb hanging above the stage will pulse various shades of red and white. Kanye will be dressed in clothes better suited the city of Zion in The Matrix than a live performance. What we will witness will be a strange and bizarre theatrical spectacle of a 60-person orchestra, a live band, and roughly 40 dancers that will last just over an hour. It’s a Friday night and I’m here with 17,000 other people from all over the world to see West perform his 2008 record 808s & Heartbreak for the first time ever in full at the Hollywood Bowl. He closes “Only One,” with a new love on his lap, and a favor to nurture an eternal one: “Tell Nori about me.Kanye West will appear to be shot on stage later tonight, but for now all I can do is sweat. He lets us in on a spiritual conversation with his late mother, and into a healing process that took years to conclude.įor Kanye West, a full heart is what frees. But that only makes “Only One” even that more special. Since the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West has rarely sounded unguarded on the mic, protecting himself behind a wall of ego. It’s admirable considering the expectations instilled by society, then passed on from generation to generation, for men to remain stone-faced and detached both in public as well as in a musical genre known for hiding weaknesses with verbal jabs.Ĭole opens his best-selling new album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive with the question, “Do you want to, do you want to be… happy? … Do you want to be free?” ![]() The first few years of this decade found male rappers focusing on love from a cautionary standpoint (listen to Big Sean‘s “Beware,” Wale‘s “Bad” or Drake‘s “Marvin’s Room”) but in 2014, some began candidly championing their own searches for happiness, whether through self-love ( Kendrick Lamar‘s “i”) or fondness towards family ( J. Inside Kanye West’s New Paul McCartney Collaboration Instead of adhering to expectations of an uptempo first single release, ‘Ye closed 2014 and simultaneously kicked off 2015 with a testimonial. Kanye West’s hard-fought acceptance of the loss of a loved one resonates (“And no, I didn’t pick the day to turn the page/ I know it’s not the end every time I see her face”), and it reaches the pit of those, including myself, who have shied away from dealing with such loss, or naively tried to rush into the revelations that take time to unfold. West calls him by an abbreviation of his middle /eMuH7Cmwrl ![]() There’s even power in the subleties: the song title is the meaning of Kanye West’s name, and Mrs. Ty Dolla $ign contributes background vocals. The melody, lead by Paul McCartneybehind the keys, is pacific, while the songwriting - penned by ‘Ye, McCartney and Kirby Lauryen- forces one to feel. West’s spirit calming Kanye West’s own, he reflects and relieves himself of affliction: “Hello my only one/ Just like the morning sun, you’ll keep on rising ’till the sky knows your name/ And you’re still my chosen one/ Remember who you are/ No you’re not perfect, but you’re not your mistakes.” West passed away from surgical complications in November 2007, ‘Ye now offers “Only One,” on which Donda West navigates Kanye to acceptance and appreciation for the flicker of light that’s been rekindled by his daughter with Kim Kardashian-West, North West. “Pinocchio Story,” “Coldest Winter” and other songs from 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak showcased West singing hopelessly of love lost, including that of his recently deceased mother. West, in a hopeful, joyous “Mama, I made it” tone. On “Hey Mama,” from 2005’s Late Registration, West expressed his adoration and admiration for Mrs. While West says, via a press release, that “my mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter ,” the new single is also an intimate conversation between both Wests - which at first feels invasive, for it marks a point in ‘Ye’s healing (or “letting go”) that, if based of his discography, has taken him a long time to arrive to. ![]()
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