The new Kanye album is maybe out tomorrow. This news comes on the back of word that Kanye is maybe holding a listening party for it today, in Wyoming, where he’s reportedly been recording his album. That’s according to the above Instagram post from account @breakthesimulation, which NME reports was originally posted by designer Yoon Ahn.
No word yet on how they got hold of the supposed leak, who it was sent to in the in the first place, or whether it’s just some Yeezy fan discovering Helvetica for the first time. But timewise it makes sense, if we can trust Kanye tweets, which we probably can’t but it’s all we’ve got to go on. So: back in April, Kanye tweeted that his new album is “my album has 7 songs”, promptly followed by the date “June 1st.” This suggests that his new album has 7 songs and is out on June 1.
Ok, so we have a tentative date, and that date is tomorrow. What about artwork? Again, to Twitter:
As you can see, he wants to put his mum’s old surgeon on the cover — that’s the one who was widely blamed for her death. This is where it gets a bit awkward, (well, besides that other really awkward bit where Kanye tweeted his support from Trump), because Dr. Jan Adams reportedly wrote a letter to Kanye via The Blast, which says, among other things, that Kanye must “cease and desist using my photo or any image of me to promote your album or any of your work.” Guess that rules out the tentative title of “LOVE EVERYONE” suggested above.
Ok ok, so we have no Solid Facts about the title, release date or artwork. But that’s not important. The important thing is: what does it sound like?
Here we have two real, audible, potential samples of the album. The first is Ye vs. The People, in which he defends his incredibly problematic support of Trump, while T.I. takes the mantle of all the people. The second is a sample of the excellent 1973 Amnesty track Liberty, a title that seems to slightly juxtapose his own views but there we go. (Maybe he was referencing his opinion that slaves had “a choice”?)
Anyway, as a purely sonic experience, the track actually starts with a lot of promise. But then just he starts talking shit. Literally — the lyrics are:
Poopy-di scoop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop
Poop-di-scoopty
Scoopty-whoop
Whoopity-scoop, whoop-poop
Poop-diddy, whoop-scoop
Poop, poop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-diddy-scoop
Whoop-diddy-scoop, poop
Which suggests that thematically, the album will be about a) poop, b) his political views, or c) all of the above.
Guess we’ll maybe find out tomorrow.