The Best Kanye Lyrics you haven't heard - EXPLICIT CONTENT

Whatever the most recent media rumbling about Kanye, whatever latest churlish outburst or bold statement, it is undeniable that Mr. West has made a towering impression on the music industry over the past fifteen years or so.

Whether it is creating mind-bogglingly catchy beats like 'Lucifer' for Jay-Z or taking the best part of Hip-Hop royalty to Hawaii to produce 'All of the Lights,' Kanye musically, sonically and creatively has changed rap music forever. What often gets forgotten through all the hyperbole and brassiness is the fact that Kanye is also sharp to the point of bloodshed lyrically. At other times he can be so poor it's cringe-worthy; comparing separated parents at a basketball game to the horrors and brutality of South Africa's apartheid era, springs naturally to mind. There is also the opening to 'Father Stretch My Hands,' a beautiful and powerful symphonic tune, sadly not matched by the song's graphic and pretentious opening gambit.

However, it is important to focus on the positives that Kanye's words bring to the world; heaven knows there is enough out there that disparage him, not that he cares. Underneath the hubris, bravado and fanfare there is a genuine artist; a genuine lyricist. To try and regain some clarity through the madness, these are my favourite Kanye lyrics you may never have heard, explained in full.

And I always find something wrong
You been putting up with my shit for
Way too long
So gifted at finding what I don't like the most
Some think it's time for us to have
A toast

Runaway, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Ok, so a number of readers will know this one, but I feel it's an important one to start with. Here Kanye's braggadocio style is dropped completely as he raps about his failed relationship with ex, Amber Rose. Kanye in a moment of quiet reflection delves into the human and more importantly male psyche, pointing out its basic flaws. He concurs that his partner puts up with a lot of his crap, before going onto explain how he always finds what he doesn't want, in this case being lured to send explicit photos to another female admirer. Rather than fight back with contempt and vitriol, Kanye accepts his failings and raises a toast to them.

runaway kanye west

I know she likes chocolate men
She got more niggas off than Cochran

On Sight, Yeezus

This song is littered with sharp-witted, searing insights but this particular couplet is in reference to Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian and more pertinently aimed at her white ex-husband Kris Humphreys. Kanye makes the fairly trite point that she seems to be more enamoured with black men at this juncture of Kim K's well-documented life. He goes on to reference lawyer Ray Cochran, famed for getting many black men acquitted, most notably Oj Simpson. Kanye makes the double entendre between his wife 'getting them off' in a sexual manner and Cochran doing so in a legal sense. Brutal, but funny.

You know the kids gon' act a fool
When you stop the programs for after school
And they DCFS, some of 'em dyslexic
They favorite 50 Cent song "12 Questions"
We scream: "rocks, blow, weed, park", see, now we smart
We ain't retards, the way teachers thought
Hold up, hold fast, we make more cash
Now tell my momma I belong in that slow class

We Don't Care, The College Dropout

One of the reasons people seem to love 'The Old Kanye' is his focus on social issues and insights into black, working class culture (All Falls Down). Here Kanye opens his debut record by slaughtering the education system and indeed the teachers who judged Kanye for being 'slow.' He makes the point about after-school programmes being ceased wrongly before attacking the educators and attitudes to those who are not academic. In addition, he references Chicago drug dealer lingo ('rocks, blow, weed, park'), a phrase used to inform potential buyers what was purchasable at the time. Here Kanye is depicting how some people in black communities may not be academically smart, but use 'street smarts' to get themselves out of poverty. Entrepreneurial, huh?

Now we all aint gonna be American Idols, but you can at least grab a camera shoot a viral

Power (remix), G.O.O.D. Friday bootlegs

A fairly straightforward one here. Kanye beseeches all of us rather than sit around and watch derivative Saturday night TV, or indeed aspire to be on such a show, get out there and create something yourself.

Restraining order, can’t see my daughter
Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order

All of the Lights, MBDTF

Here, Kanye places himself into the shoes of a man who comes home to find his other half in bed with someone else. Deary me. A fight and separation ensue. Kanye, before having children of his own or indeed a wife, manages to succinctly depict the woes facing his protagonist. Again, he manages to use rhyme and inflection to humorous effect by listing the people he has upset by his antics.

Sorry for the night demons still visit me
The plan was to drink until the pain over
But what's worse, the pain or the hangover?

Dark Fantasy, MBDT

Following on from the death of his mother and the break-up with Amber Rose, Kanye is battling his demons. He manages to put himself (as he does so well, so often), into the shoes of the average joe and the issues we face. Kanye is sad and upset and thus reaches for the bottle. However, what's harder to deal with the pain in his heart, or the pain in his head the following day? Hmmm.......

Tell me what I gotta do to be that guy
Said her price go down, she ever fuck a black guy
Or do anal, or do a gangbang
It’s kinda crazy that’s all considered the same thing

How could you say they live they life wrong?
When you never fuck with the lights on

Hell of a Life, MBDTF

Kanye was at his most wild and reckless in this period of his career. Here he tells the allegory of having a marriage with a porn star over the course of one night. The song works fantastically and leaves Kanye realising that he doesn't need the trappings of the wild life, in his own words 'pussy and religion' are all he needs. Kanye makes the valid point that it is wrong that the lady's 'price' would go down i.e. she would be less marketable, if she had sex with him.  He then goes on to support her over-sexualised lifestyle by mocking those who are sexually inhibited. In other words, are those who find it very easy to judge actually in a position to do so, due to their lack of experience/knowledge? An interesting point for hypothesis.

Don’t do no press but I guess the most press kit

Plus, yo, my bitch make your bitch look like precious

Mercy, Cruel Summer

Here we see angry Kanye return, with a hint of acerbic wit to boot. Kanye famously stopped doing any press for a variety of reasons. Kanye makes the point that despite not doing any press, he still gets the most. In addition, he references 'press kit' a tool journalists use to get access to stars. Kanye is his very own 'press kit.' Kanye goes on to reference the film 'Precious' about an overweight, black teen from the projects, saying his other half (Kim K) ...well, I'm sure you get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dqgr0wNyPo

I got two white russians but I also need some drinks

Blazin, Pink Friday (Nicki Minaj)

Simple and effective, a throwaway line, celebrating Kanye's virility and attraction to the opposite success, as well as his obvious celebrity lifestyle.

Face it, Jerome get more time than Brandon
 And at the airport they check all through my bag
And tell me that it’s random

But we stay winning, this week has been a bad massage
I need a happy ending and a new beginning
And a new fitted, and some job opportunities that's lucrative

Gorgeous, MBDTF

Kanye references the injustice between black and white, using stereotypical names from each race. He alludes to the fact that blacks are still unfairly treated, a topic which needs no more highlighting in the current climate #blacklivesmatter.

Kanye doesn't let this get him down though, using the metaphor of a massage for his bad week. As such he needs a new suit fitting (he loves clothes don't you know), more money and of course a 'happy ending,' as per certain, stereotypical dodgy massage parlours.  Bless.

If my manager insults me again
I will be assaulting him
After I fuck the manager up
Then I'm gonna shorten the register up
Let's go back, back to the Gap
Look at my check, wasn't no scratch
So if I stole, wasn't my fault
Yeah I stole, never got caught
They take me to the back and pat me
Askin' me about some khakis
But let some black people walk in
I bet you they show off their token blackie
Oh now they love Kanye, let's put him all in the front of the store

Spaceship, The College Dropout

From his eponymous debut album, here we see Kanye in full flow. Kanye notoriously worked at the Gap and uses this as a reference point for how he perceives inequality. He goes 'ghetto' by threatening to attack the manager before stealing from the cash register. He then talks about stealing from shops (we've all been there, eh? Sorry Mum...), and being patted down by aggressive security guards, yet when some black customers walk in he finds himself maneuvered back to the front of the store by his over-zealous and ethnically-sensitive manager.

Now she claiming that I bruised her eosophagus
Head of the class and she just won a swallowship
I'm living in the future so the present is my past
My presence is a present, kiss my ass

Monster, MBDTF

The real skill here is the use of inflection, intonation and rhythm. In fact, it needs to be heard really. Also there is a brilliant verse by Nicki Minaj on this track for largely the same reasons. Kanye talks about his girth which obviously has caused his female companion issues in their oral sexual encounters. He uses word play and double meaning here playing off the idea of oral sex, with academic achievement. All very clever, if not the most highbrow. However, he goes on to say something mildly prophetic as he talks about the future and how he lives in it, a claim he has made many times over and if you are a Kanye fan and watched his impact on the industry, technology etc. first hand, you can only really agree with him. The final line is blunt and a shout out to his 'haters.' Whether you love him or loathe him, we are lucky to have him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOpQdJ5F5TI

Got staples on my dick. Why?
Fucking centrefolds
I swear to God she's so cold
Got a nigga in Miami wearing winter clothes
I got my fur on feeling like Jerome
She got her fur too we got our his and hers on

Illest Motherfucker Alive, Watch The Throne

My final and perhaps favourite Kanye line. You see, I love his arrogance. I love the fact he won’t settle for life on the treadmill. He demands the best for himself and of all his subjects. But this is Kanye in witty-braggadocio mode and it's marvellous. Kanye uses an explicit metaphor to explain that he is having lots of sex with pin-up girls and centrefolds. He then flips the script, complaining how her aloof coldness means he needs to wear his fur in the Miami heat, to keep out her wintry iciness. He references 80's American TV show Martin and the pimp Jerome who is seen in his fur, before making the double entendre that his girl also had her 'fur too,' however, she of course will be naked. 

So, this article has been a long time in the making and hopefully it highlights rap is still relevant and why Kanye is not only a visionary sonically and visually, but also is relevant and interesting lyrically as well.  I hope it inspires some people to go and check out the songs. I hope as well that people reading this won’t allow the media's presentation of this entrepreneur cloud their judgement of him. In Kanye's own words 'most people are slowed down by the perception of themselves. If you're taught you can't do anything, you won’t do anything. I was taught I can do everything.'

Haters, YOU are Kanye West - Glastonbury review

Kanye West does not care about you.

He is not interested in your Mum loaning you the money for your big adventure, for your life affirming foray into the great unknown. He doesn't care about your nights out in Brixton, drinking over-priced cocktails in jars, or you growing up on the mean streets of SW19.

He doesn't care that you got Nobby, Roddy, Sammy and Fran to hold the phones so you can try and weed your way into Glasto's broad arms for one last hurrah, with the guys, with the gals you know - for old times sake.

One of my peers on facebook stated 'he would throw a bottle of piss in kanye's face if he saw him.' I questioned him - he told me he knew nothing about him,but read about his show in the Guardian.

The truth about Kanye's performance at Glastonbury is that it didn't all go to plan. Lee Nelson did what Lee Nelson does appealing to the sub-average and caused a break in flow. There were clear problems with the earpiece and the PA that took time to resolve and effected the set. Also, watching the crowd sing every word to 'Gold digger' or 'All Falls Down' it certainly appeared that the crowd enjoyed themselves, despite the ongoing faults. But I am not convinced the music and the set are what the social media trolls are incandescent with rage about

Kanye West believes completely and totally in the timelessness and commercial appeal of a number of his songs. He also believes in the ground-breaking and game changing grandeur of others. He doesn't care about you sitting indoors on a Saturday night with your £8 bottle of wine, feeling more and more cross as Kanye doesn't show the requisite 'respect' for our flagship summer festival.

He isn't sorry that RiRi and Hova were not special guests and brought together for the 33rd time for 'Run This Town.' I guess when you work with the greatest artists and creatives on a daily basis, bringing them out for the Surrey commuter belt's entertainment is not high on his priority list.

The point is that honestly and truthfully, Kanye West does not care what you think. As stated in his recent Q interview, he has over "20 things" on the go at any one time. He didn't expand on this, but given that this is the man who enticed Paul McCartney into Rap Music, for not just one song, for three songs, the 'things' are probably big. They are probably game changing, they probably make Saturday night at Glastonbury seem well....irrelevant?

I can sense the fervour rising in the hinterlands. The backpackers, the Ukippers and the bandwagon jumpers effervescent with anger. I have witnessed this misplaced acrimony on Facebook and Twitter, there are 134,000 people who signed a petition, outraged that this man was allowed to perform. And why? Arrogance and ignorance. But aren't those the same negatives we pick out in Kanye West?

Thanks to the media, we have a subjective and disproportionate view of the real world. To put it in layman's terms you get about 15% of the full picture - you get the picture the corporations want you to see. The media create monsters because monsters are scary, interesting and most importantly they sell (see Pete Doherty - although no-one batted an eyelid at his triumphant return on Friday night - mercifully, the media have moved on here).

The creation of Kimye, Taylorgate, 'The greatest rock star on the planet' are all products of the media, taken out of context and designed to create a subjective viewpoint of our Saturday night headliner. His achievements are irrelevant - that is not what the haters want to hear.

So why did the white middle classes flock to social media to condemn Kanye on Saturday night? Because his set encountered difficulties? Or there was no real stage performance? Maybe because you are a rock n' roll fan and you can't stand rap? All these are possibilities.

The main reason why Kanye caused such a furore, is possibly because he exhibits the same traits that you do. Because damning someone based on a subjective media profile exhibits ignorance. To discount his performance or creative genius because of his arrogance is arrogant. So in essence haters, the same flaws that turn you off Kanye West are the same failings you are demonstrating. In other words, you are Kanye West (without the talent and success, of course).

In other more gentle words and to attempt to end this piece positively, we are all flawed. Kanye West would be the first to mention his and the endless issues that seem to cloud people's perceptions of him. It was Barack Obama who called him a 'jackass' after the Taylor Swift incident. Now Kanye has a direct line and speaks to the President regularly. How many of us can say we have turned a situation around that spectacularly?

Kanye West is human and he is often wrong, as we all can be at times on our respective journeys. However, he knows how to love himself and respect what he has done in this world. If we all could exhibit more of those traits, perhaps there would be more love, more creativity and most importantly, less hate.

The subconscious is a funny, old thing and in the words of Deepak Chopra people are doing their best on the level of consciousness they are at. That said, conformity is easy. Nations are ruled via conformity. Conform to work, to social norms, to condemning those that are different.

Kanye West is different and whether you like it or not, he maybe beyond the understanding of this time. I hear you scoff, but he wouldn't be the first visionary to be scorned in his own lifetime and revered long after.