Kanye’s new album is on the horizon, and the timing is pretty awkward
After sparking some major controversy at Sunday’s Grammy Awards with his harsh jab at big winner Beck, the Kanye kettle can’t seem to simmer down. Although he has threatened to boycott the Grammys, he doesn’t plan on shying away from his musical endeavors. In fact, the rapper plans on releasing an album in the very near future.
Granted, there’s been a wealth of negative publicity circulating about West these last two days, but it was to be expected. Let’s be honest here — his Grammy blunder was a slap in the face to Beck and the rest of the artists in the Album of the Year category. The Grammys should be about celebrating other artists, not belittling their accomplishments or waging a war on a purely subjective definition of “artistry.” (He did sort of, kind of clarify his Beck statement to TMZ. See what you think.)
Needless to say, Kanye’s got a lot of mountains to tackle — one of the biggest being the public’s opinion. But West is talented, and his future work might just stand on its own. While that still remains to be seen, Vulture published a timeline detailing all of the (more positive) elements to Kanye’s forthcoming album. Here’s what we’ve gathered so far:
Q-Tip, Rick Rubin, Symbolic One Hudson Mohawke and Ty Dolla $ign will be producing
You know what they say: it takes a village to raise a child produce an album. In an interview with Elliott Wilson, legendary rapper Q-Tip (of “Vivrant Thing” fame) revealed that he and Rick Rubin would be producing the unnamed album. Just two months later, Symbolic One, who has previously worked with West on “Power” and “Murder to Excellence,” confirmed his involvement with the new album as well. In addition to the trio of super producers, Hudson Mohwake and Ty Dolla $ign also confirmed their credits on the album, with Ty Dolla $ign having already produced Kanye’s latest single, “Only One”.
There seems to be a good amount of genre blending
Evian Christ, a beat-maker of Kanye’s, alluded to the album’s possible intersection of hip-hop and soul, claiming that Kanye was in search of “something that sounds a bit like Otis Redding, a bit like Mobb Deep.” The crossover rumors continued when a source told Billboard that the album is “mostly a mixture of soul samples and tamed Yeezus-esque darkness.”
Rihanna and French Montana will be featured on the album
Or maybe he will be featured on their albums? Aside from the collaborative effort Kanye and Rihanna pulled off with Paul McCartney, both artists seem to be in the process of recording their albums simultaneously. French Montana echoed a similar situation, claiming to have recorded five songs with Kanye since he too has been in the process of a new album. He told MTV News, “we’ve been working on his album and [mine] so we’re just going back and forth.”
Paul McCartney will definitely be featured
. . .And maybe the two will come out with a project of their own. Apparently, they’ve amassed enough work to create their own project separate from Kanye’s album. Just before New Years, “Only One,” featuring Paul McCartney on the keys, came as the first single off of [what we assume to be] the new album. Just this month, Kanye and Paul collaborated yet again with Rihanna on “FourFiveSeconds,” which will be listed on both Kanye’s and Rihanna’s albums.
There’s been no word on the album’s official release date, and while we’re psyched to hear it, we may need a moment to digest all that went down on Sunday first.
(Image via)
