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Lou Reed is a big fan of “Yeezus”

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:37:00 +0000

Velvet Underground guitarist and vocalist Lou Reed is a huge, huge fan of hip-hop artist Kanye West. Reed wrote a rave review of West's latest album, "Yeezus," for TheTalkhouse.com, describing the record as "majestic and inspiring," "glorious," "beautiful" and "seriously smart."

Reed swoons:

Kanye West is a child of social networking and hip-hop. And he knows about all kinds of music and popular culture. The guy has a real wide palette to play with. That's all over Yeezus. There are moments of supreme beauty and greatness on this record, and then some of it is the same old shit. But the guy really, really, really is talented. He's really trying to raise the bar. No one's near doing what he's doing, it's not even on the same planet.

Addressing the most controversial aspect of "Yeezus"-- West's lyrics -- he says that West is "just having fun":

What Kanye has in common with Bret Easton Ellis

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Rap's often cross-pollinated with literature or film -- it would take weeks to chronicle all of the references in hip-hop to Armitage Trail's "Scarface," via Al Capone, via Al Pacino. But Kanye West's new "American Psycho" short film might be the most post-postmodern crossover yet, featuring Scott Disick as homicidal yuppie Patrick Bateman, and allowing him to chop apart Kim Kardashian's best friend Jonathan Cheban in some kind of Freudian passion play. Chatter about the rapper's adventurous new album, "Yeezus," is at a fever pitch, and since his mesmerizing interview in the New York Times, some have been making the direct connection between the public persona of Kanye West, and that of novelist Bret Easton Ellis. Parallels can certainly be made particularly since Ellis wrote the initial treatment for the "Yeezus" clip: Both are impressive chroniclers of their generational predicaments. Both are prone to outlandish statements and to strong opinions (sometimes these things are separate). Both enjoy music in the "new wave" genre. And they would probably have a lot to talk about in the love department. (Seriously, where is their Interview interview? And will it include quotes from the baby?)

All about Kaidence, the reported name of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s baby

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:11:00 +0000

The musician Kanye West and media personality Kim Kardashian have been slow in revealing the name of their new baby girl to the world -- but a report today indicates that they may have been inspired by a kommon letter.

Kaidence Donda West is the name of the new baby, according to Media Take Out, a reliable source for scurrilous gossip (the site claims to have been tipped by a Cedars-Sinai nurse). While first reports of baby names are often dubious -- just ask baby girls Amelie Jane and Isla Marcheline Jolie-Pitt -- Donda is a believable middle name. It's the name of West's late mother, whose premature death has inspired much of his latter-day work. And Kaidence isn't entirely preposterous -- it's not made up by reporters or by West and Kardashian.

Kanye West’s sex problem

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Kanye West is about as subtle as a Range Rover. From the pink-Polo prep of debut “College Dropout” to 2010's ominous “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” each of his albums has arrived with the force and presence of a runaway train, crashing over anything in sight. He has evolved from a producer with a chip on his shoulder to rap royalty through constant challenge and innovation. Kanye has a penchant for drama, unfortunately for Taylor Swift, but he also has the musical prowess to back his swagger. But an obsession with making his point by denigrating women continues to blunt his impact.

In an interview with the New York Times, the Chicago-bred rapper indicated that his sixth album, “Yeezus,” would provide articulate commentary on race, a subject that he first tackled in "College Dropout's" "All Falls Down." A "Saturday Night Live" preview of album cut "New Slaves" demonstrated bold, anti-pop beats rallying against privately owned prisons. It was a perfect opportunity to start a real conversation. Kanye has the audience, he has the gravitas, and he has the intelligence to make people actually listen.

Kanye West album “Yeezus” leaks on Internet

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:43:00 +0000

Kanye West's highly anticipated album, "Yeezus," leaked onto the Internet Friday afternoon, ahead of its Tuesday release date (listen to it here). As EW predicted it would be, the most hyped lyric of the album, from the track "I Am a God" is -- wait for it -- "Hurry up with my damn croissants."

The lyric is pure Kanye at its core: indulgent and nonsensical and totally cray, and all-the-more annoyingly catchy for it. Given the sudden, bizarre rise of the croissant as a cultural phenomenon, however, at first glance it could seem like Kanye -- the man who understands culture, the man who is the nucleus -- somehow predicted the coming of the cronut.