Kanye West

What do you make of that title?  I only ask cause I’m not totally sure of it myself.  It could mean various things, and have multiple interpretations.  The title comes before and refers to the above photo snapped by photographer  William Yan who right-place right-timed it Friday in Soho. He wrote on his blog that,

“Kanye West was on his incognito steez yesterday strolling the Soho streets with his buddies Virgil Abloh and Don C. The gang was nice enough to let me flick up Mr. West, before all hell broke loose and people realized who I was shooting. Thanks Mr. West! :)”

Now, I was going to kind of continue on that path, and lay out the different meanings of the title, but I kind of got stuck and would rather tell you what I mean by using the phrase “Kanye West Emerges (Dun Dun Dun)”.  I am trying to convey some sense of what it’s been like living in Chicago the past 6 months and knowing people who know Kanye West, knowing people who have been to Hawaii but can’t talk about Hawaii, knowing people who say they know something about Kanye West and the album and don’t know anything and other variations of that.  But as Robert De Niro says in Raging Bull, “I’ve heard things.  I definitely heard things.” 

Some have said, “it’s Kanye’s best ever”, “a return to the attitude from College Dropout“, “going to shock people.”   The album has lived in the wind of the windy city for quite some time, building up a somewhat mythical existence.  I don’t want to over exaggerate or make it corny, but it’s been communicated and transmitted that this album is something special, and I’ve waited patiently, sometimes biting my tongue, to learn more details and most importantly, HEAR SOME MUSIC. 

In my head I’ve envisioned Kanye West out in Hawaii working, creating, sleeping, living in some sort of music and art wonderland.  In various stretches of the day, he’s greeted by some of the world’s most brilliant and talented artists.  It conjures up images of the Renaissance and the days of Picasso being commissioned and consulted.  He calls for someone and they come.  Leaving a piece of their art and their creative spirit, putting a piece of themselves into this puzzle that will be Kanye West’s 5th LP. 

That’s what it’s like in my head. It’s like Kanye West was Dr. Frankenstein, holed up inside a lab until it was “alive”.  This picture, and the comments regarding the music, the hints at a release date, all signify that the project is turning from myth to material. “Dun Dun Dun” could even be an understatement.  And because music leaks at various stages, and drops in the digital form, physical copy, on iTunes, on a blog, in stores, in online-stores, in clothing stores, at Starbucks, for free, for however much you want to pay etc, getting excited just doesn’t happen that much anymore.  We want to know so much that we take some of the specialness away. 

I’m happy to only know Kanye’s new album in this form, and excited to hear the music, see the accompanying videos, and digest something that is hopefully more than just new songs.  Kanye West didn’t just create a new album, he added to my enjoyment and appreciation for music by doing it in the way that he did.  And I haven’t even heard it yet.

Drumroll. Please.