Why We’re looking forward to Yeezy’s ‘WAVES’ a.k.a. ‘Swish’
This past Monday, Kanye West revealed the tracklisting for his highly anticipated upcoming album ‘WAVES’ formerly known as ‘SWISH’. With this snippet of information he not only confirmed that his handwriting is terrible, but the latest G.O.O.D. Fridays offering No More Parties in LA featuring 2015’s Hottest 100 runner-up Kendrick Lamar had made it onto the 10 track album.
As the song that quashed any recent worries about Kanye’s lyrical ability, this can only be considered a sign of good things to come. However, if the many rumours circling this project are to be believed, this will not be the only song with a high profile feature with talk of Big Sean, Young Thug, and Chance the Rapper making trips to the studio.
As impressive as that list is, this is not an album that will rely on its features and this is not the reason I am excited for ‘WAVES’. At this point, some of the anticipation and excitement can be chalked up to habit, it has been about 3 years since our last full size offering from Ye after all. However, the truth is, I am excited for ‘WAVES’ simply because it is a Kanye West album.
From the backpacks, polos, and determination of ‘The College Dropout’ to the sonically adventurous sojourn that is ‘Yeezus’, Ye is yet to disappoint. No other rapper has produced albums as distinct and game-changing.
While tracks like No More Parties in LA and Real Friends may conjure up memories of ‘Late Registration’ era Ye, it never feels like he is rehashing or recycling old ideas and sounds. With every album, if not everything Ye does, he pushes himself and the culture of hip-hop forward. There really has not been an artist as versatile or boundary-pushing since Bowie…even if online petitions disagree.
Given the aforementioned back catalogue when Kanye declares this will be the “album of life”, I believe him. Despite what you may be thinking I am not a Kanye West apologist, I believe there is nothing to apologise for (I was 1 of the 5 people that actually cheered when he took to the VMAs stage in 2009). To me Kanye is a contradictory figure; he simultaneously holds the titles of rap god and underdog. With every tweet and interview he is mistakenly labelled an egomaniac and with every release he goes up against unprecedented levels of negative public sentiment and has he ever failed to deliver? The answer is a resounding no.
‘WAVES’, previously known as ‘SWISH’, is set to be released on Thursday 11th February.
