Longtime readers will know that I love Kanye West. He’s a great producer and an okay rapper that still manages to be interesting at almost all times. I’m sure Timbaland, much as I admire him, was thinking he deserved to have some of Kanye’s success as both producer and performer, but Timba’s recent solo record is just okay.
In order to promote his third studio album Graduation, Kanye has released a mixtape on the Internet. As I’ve mentioned previously, this has become a ubiquitous marketing maneuver in hip-hop. But as proof positive of why I love the dude, it starts with him talking over a Daft Punk song and then the first song, from his forthcoming album, is based on a sample of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” from Daft Punk’s Discovery album.
In typical fashion for mixtapes, Kanye also raps over other people’s songs. But look at the material he chooses! “Us Placers” is based on “The Eraser” from the solo album of the same name from Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. Later on, he raps over Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks.”
Tom Breihan at the Village Voice describes what ensues:
On a riotously entertaining Can’t Tell Me Nothing interlude, he talks about the Rolling Stone article (he calls it “Rolling Stones,” even though I know he knows that’s wrong, which is hilarious). He mentions wanting final approval over magazine interviews like it’s a reasonable thing. He concedes a bit: “I realize that I was halfway out of my mind for the last two years and shit. I was, you know, off that drug called fame.” He also says that he’s calmed down since, but (and this is the best part) he sounds totally unconvincing on that last bit. He’s still trying to be all things to all people, and that leads him into a lot of ridiculous decisions, but I’ll take that over another corporate micromanaged rap album. Supposedly, Kanye and 50 Cent both have their third albums coming out in September, and I know that’ll never happen, but it would be interesting to see what would come of it if they did. 50 Cent is also making noise about branching out and experimenting, but he means he’s making songs with hitmakers he hasn’t worked with yet; he’s not talking about going off the artistic deep end.
I know Kanye seems to have a raging ego, but he also seems very aware that he does. He’s clearly a very emotional guy and isn’t that what you want in a musician?
Kanye West – Us Placers
Kanye West – Young Folks / Interviews (Interlude)
Tags: Kanye West, mixtape, Can’t Tell Me Nothing, Daft Punk, Thom Yorke, Peter Bjorn and John
9 Responses
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seamus Says:
That “young folks” mash is fantastic.
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kt Says:
i think graduation will have a similar sound to TY’s ‘The Eraser’
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HurriKane Says:
When Kanye first came out I was pretty impressed with his production skills, although his rapping was to be desired. Anymore though, he just blatantly steals other peoples music, speeds/chops it up, and calls it his own. I absolutely cringe to hear him use Daft Punk samples. Come on! Create something original!
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justie Says:
are you serious HurriKane? its called having a little fun in between albums by sampling a song that wouldnt normally be considered “rappable”. hes not stealing some one elses music, he is just sampling it. im sure he has a ton of orignial material under wraps for the new album.
and kt, how can you say it will sound like “the eraser”… they are completely different genres.
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Chris Says:
Hey – thought you’d like to check out “Stronger” – the post has a full radio rip of the track and it’s amazing!
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DanTheMan Says:
i mean come on people, when you say he only samples music you act as if hiphop wasnt built on sampling. everyone has done it but the only reason you never notice is because you dont know the original songs, like whenever you here a horn section on a song chances are that it came from an old jazz track, and yeah you may say not everyone does this but for the most part everyone does thats just the way it is. no one makes a whole new band or something o they can have something new on their latest track
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Ryan Says:
Kayne doesn’t steal music if you knew anything about music you would know that this is what happens to most genres of music. For instance Jazz was only popular to black Americans prior to the 1930’s Swing movement. It wasn’t until this time that Jazz became analogous with popular. Many big bands sprawled up during this time and the focus shifted from notes to band arrangements. After that decade Jazz really began to adventure out and take music to the next level of creativity. We were blessed with talent like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. In the past few years we have seen Rap music all but lose its creativity, in an effort to attract more listeners. Kanye, Pharrell Williams, Blackalicious and Common, just to name a few, are really keeping rap music from going to crap. Despite what many believe, putting together cheesy punch lines doesn’t make good music!
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The Pop View Says:
Kanye to possibly perform live with Peter Bjorn and John on “Young Folks.”
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Generation-HipHop.com Says:
Kanye West is the greatest rapper alive!
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