After releasing his much anticipated eighth studio album Ye on Friday, Kanye West has revealed that he felt compelled to redo his album after his car crash appearance on TMZ where he infamously stated that slavery was a “choice”.
What did Ye just say?
Speaking with BigBoyTV at his exclusive listening party in Wyoming, West was questioned as to why his album sounded different from earlier versions.
“I just completely did a new album,” said Kanye. “With what the universe was giving me, I wanted something that matched that energy.”
West further elaborated that, “I completely redid the album after TMZ.”
The rapper said that he removed a number of bars because they could have been misconstrued in the wake of his slavery comments: “We know now it’s all headlines and every bar could be used.”
“It was just too sensitive. It was about the topic,” said West. “I was just like, ‘Yo, I’m just going to chill right now, just keep making some music.”
Ye is done with the drama. Ye just wants to make music!
West making changes to his albums in the last minute is not completely unheard of, as legendary producer Rick Rubin recalled during the making of Yeezus.
Rubin said that West still needed to record the majority of his lyrics for the album, and had only two days to complete the job. So what did Kanye do? He just casually finished the album in a manner that mere mortals could only dream of replicating.
To wit:
“In the two hours before had to run out to catch the plane, he did exactly that: finished all lyrics and performed them with gusto. A remarkable feat. He had total confidence in his ability to get the job done when push came to shove.”
Record an album in 2 days? Ye has got this.
Ye also touches upon his bipolar diagnosis – the cover features the words, “I hate being bipolar, it’s awesome” and West raps that he sees his bipolar not as a disability, but a “superpower” on opening track ‘Yikes’.