What do you take with you whenever you leave the house? Phone, keys, wallet, purse, handbag, travelcard – everyday essentials, right?
Well, you missed two vital items off that list – an aux cord, and the laptop that you’ve stored all of the unreleased music that much of the world is dying to hear on.
That’s certainly the case if you’re Kanye West, anyway: following what was unofficially the world’s largest album listening party a fortnight ago at Madison Square Garden – where ‘Ye played ‘The Life of Pablo’ for 20,000 fans during the launch of season three of his clothing range – the 38-year-old turned up in Los Angeles club 10AK last night, laptop and aux cord in hand, to treat clubgoers to a previously-unheard track. Christened ‘Closest Thing To Einstein’, it’s a rumbling, bass-heavy affair that bears a fair bit of instrumental similarity to ‘Runaway’, in that it places Kanye the tortured artist at the front and centre of the action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69_4BvHnCWA
Footage of West airing – and clearly loving – the track in public has of course surfaced online (alongside clips of him ranting about the messy fall-out from both Taylor and Amber-gate), sending both the blogosphere and Yeezy fans into absolute meltdown on an otherwise casual Wednesday. The rapper has said recently that the currently available version of ‘The Life of Pablo’ isn’t the finished article, so last night’s premiere of ‘Closest Thing To Einstein’, which appears to feature regular SBTRKT collaborator Sampha on vocals, would suggest that there’s more material yet to erupt from the currently-active Yeezy volcano.
The spotlight on the near-seven-minute-long track will inevitably shine most, however, on Kanye’s introspective lyrics – so let’s take a quizzical gaze at a few of the highlights, shall we?
“People trying to say I’m going crazy on Twitter / My friends said to stay low / I guess it’s hard to decipher all of the deals, especially when you got family members on payroll”
Kanye’s Twitter rants have become something of a regularly seismic event these days – you’d be very wise to turn on tweet notifications for his account – and yes, some of the things he has tweeted recently have looked a little… odd. But will he duck out from this most public of spotlights? Hell no.
Also, “family members on the payroll” – Kylie? Kris? North?! Or, more likely, the cousin who stole his laptop. That dirty motherfucker.
“I know I’m the most influential / That Time cover was just confirmation / This generation’s closest thing to Einstein / Don’t worry about me, I’m fine”
Gracing the cover of Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ issue last April clearly did no damage whatsoever to Kanye’s ego: he’s only gone from comparing himself to God to now putting himself on the same level as the Godfather of Relativity. Also, don’t you go worrying about Kanye – he’s fine, he said so himself.
“At this rate we gon’ both die broke / Got friends that ask for money knowin’ I’m in debt”
Much of the media reaction to his prolific tweeting streak recently has focused on Kanye’s claim that he’s massively in debt, a problem that crystallised most visibly in his subsequent pleases to the likes of Mark Zuckerberg for a $1 billion investment into “Kanye West ideas.” Anyone who doubted that one of the most famous people in the world could find themselves debt has just had all uncertainty wiped away – again, why would Kanye lie in song, eh?
“I’m the Modern MJ with an ‘Off the Wall’ flow”
Kanye’s love of the late King of Pop is well documented throughout his discography and beyond – “21 Grammys, superstar family, we the new Jacksons” he rapped most recently on ‘TLOP’ cut ‘Highlights’ – so we shouldn’t be surprised by this particular display of braggadocio. After all, Jackson’s passing has left a vacancy for the role that Kanye’s been angling for ever since his Glastonbury headline performance last summer: “THE GREATEST LIVING ROCKSTAR ON THE PLANET!”
And so, the latest chapter in Kanye’s wild 2016 draws to a close, and don’t you worry – the next chapter is sure to follow just as quickly. In the meantime, Ye, could you just release ‘Closest Thing To Einstein’ properly, please?