Kanye West is wasting no time in the new year. This morning the rapper/singer/producer/fashion designer/all capitals tweeter/ex backpack wearer released a new single off of his upcoming album. Only One features Sir Paul McCartney on the keyboard and lyrics from the point of view of West s late mother Donda who died in 2007 sung to his and Kim Kardashian West s one year old daughter North.
According to the press release West and McCartney began brainstorming together in 2014 in a small bungalow in Los Angeles though it s safe to say the bungalow probably wasn t that small. The release continues The process that would result in Only One began with a simple brainstorming session between the two With McCartney improvising on the keyboards and Kanye vocally sketching and shaping ideas in a stream of consciousness riff.
Whatever sketching and shaping and riffing went down in that tiny little house it worked. The song is searing soulful and heartbreaking. There s just the right amount of auto tune a l West s 2008 album 808s and Heartbreak and those dark slightly dissonant chords that made his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy so powerful.
There s also a tenderness to the song that we haven t heard before from West. It s a simple track the production is stripped pretty bare supporting the poignant lyrics. From Donda West s vantage it includes lines like I know you re happy cause I can see it/ So tell the voice inside your head to believe it/ I talked to God about you he said he sent you an angel/ And look at all that he gave you.
The song ends with a plea Tell Nori about me. In the off chance that you make it that far into the song without weeping into your take out (who cooks on New Year s Day ) that last line will probably do it.
If Only One is any indication of what marriage and fatherhood have done to Yeezy Kim deserves a thank you card.
No comments:
Post a Comment