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The All-Time Best and Worst Kanye West Lyrics

By Tom Hawking on

While only the terminally curmudgeonly doubt Kanye West’s abilities as a producer, he’s always been a more divisive figure on the microphone. It’s easy to ridicule West’s lyrics — and god knows sometimes they deserve it — but he often walks a fine line between genius and disaster, and both extremes are compelling in their own strange way. Yeezus is just like his other records in this respect, dispensing lines both strikingly good and strikingly awful, often in pretty close proximity. It seems like a good time, then, to survey both the best and worst of West’s lyricism from over the years. There are loads more, of course, so feel free to add your suggestions. … Read More

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Music

How Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ Tears Down 30 Years of Hip Hop Orthodoxy

By Tom Hawking on

Ever since Kanye West’s Yeezus was announced, the general consensus has been that it’s a “producer’s record,” a label that really reflects the prejudices of whoever’s saying it — if you’re one of those who believe West’s a moneyed charlatan, there’s a whole roster of producers you can deflect credit to. But it would be contrarian to argue that West remains anything besides firmly in charge here. As with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, it’s like he decided on the sounds he wanted for Yeezus and then drafted the producers best equipped to help realize his vision. … Read More

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Music

Since We’re All Desperate to See Kanye’s ‘American Psycho’-Inspired Video, Let’s Watch This Preview

By Alison Nastasi on

We’ve been waiting to see something, anything, from Kanye’s American Psycho-inspired video that the artist collaborated on with Jonathan Cheban… Read More

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Art

Monster Sales That Are Already Shaking Art Basel

By Reid Singer on

Art Basel, the art fair that all other art fairs want to be like when they grow up, opened to the general public Thursday. Though the event has been known for its uncommon ritziness, even by art fair standards, the string of reported sales have been so big you can almost imagine Knight Ranger playing a high-distortion guitar riff, off in the distance, when the collector signed the check. A few of these Earth-shakers, after the jump, should assure readers that the art market in northern Switzerland is indeed ready to rock. … Read More

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Music

Everything We Know About Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus’ So Far

By Tom Hawking on

Kanye West released another teaser video for Yeezus overnight, and also played the album in its entirety at Art Basel (including a roof-raising a cappella rendition of “New Slaves”). The album is out next week, of course, but whoever has the masters must be guarding them like crazy, and although there’s been lots of publicity, there’s been very little in the way of actual information about the record and its contents. Like everyone else, Flavorwire has been scrambling for any and all tidbits of news about Yeezus — here’s everything we know so far. … Read More

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Music

If You’re Laughing at Kanye West, the Joke’s on You

By Tom Hawking on

The media is freaking out about an interview with Kanye West that the New York Times ran yesterday. West always gives good copy, and predictably enough, he obliged the NYT by saying lots of suitably “outrageous” things, all of which have been circulating like crazy around the Internet over the last 24 hours. The inevitable quote roundups have already started rolling in, and their tone is all too predictable — Vulture, for instance, gives us “The Most Ridiculous Things Kanye Said In His New York Times Interview,” while The Daily Beast goes with “The Craziest Quotes,” and… well, you get the idea. Look at the crazy guy! Listen to the crazy things he says! The thing is, if you really think West isn’t doing this on purpose, well, the joke’s on you. … Read More

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Music

Photo Gallery: The Mud, Rain, and Music of Governors Ball 2013

By Alison Herman on

After one day of torrential rain, two days of ankle-deep mud, and countless ruined shoes, the third and largest incarnation of New York’s Governors Ball Music Festival wrapped up last night with a headline set from Kanye West. Although West did treat the audience to some brand new Yeezus tracks — and also let everyone know know the album is coming out sooner rather than later because he “doesn’t give a fuck” about album sales — his set was mostly a compilation of crowd-pleasing hits and surprisingly cheesy visuals. Compared to Friday’s shortened sets and canceled headliners, however, the majority of the Governors Ball went smoothly, with the exception of a retooled main stage schedule that pushed up acts like Japandroids and Cut Copy, and some sound issues that led Animal Collective to flat-out leave the stage on Saturday night. Standout performances included a show from embattled Harlem MC Azealia Banks and a visually stunning set from The xx, along with the much-hyped return of Guns ‘n’ Roses. Flavorwire’s ace photographer Andrew Boyle was there to capture all the action, so click through for a look at some of the dozens of acts that took to the festival’s four stages this weekend — minus the mud. … Read More

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