by will
A month or so ago i noticed some suspicious similarities in the careers of Kanye West and the Beatles. Here I’ll present my sock solid analogy .
The early 1960’s and the early 2000’s were both on the verge of a musical revolution. The Beatles invention of music in 1962 with the release of Love Me Do changed how people would think about and approach music forever. Similarly, Kanye West’s release of The College Dropout in 2004 redefined not just hip hop but what popular music would like like for the 2 decades to follow. There are tons of great articles on how kanye did this, go read them. In this post I’m focused on analogy and conspiracy.
Late Registration = [With the Beatles : Help!]
I’m gonna lump together 4 Beatles albums to compare them to Late registration. LR for Kanye represented an elaboration and improvement of the style of TCD. With the help of Jon Brion (who produced and completed Mac Miller’s last album, btw. Pretty cool) kanye took the pitched up soul from TCD and built symphonies out of it. Gone is a masterpiece, drawing from the sound of TCD but adding complexity. The song is an essay in which Kanye drops a short witty verse (very TCD) and then allows 2 other emcees to go absolutely nuts on the beat. Right when you think the song is over the orchestra swoons as kanye stomps through the doors of the strings and deliveries one of my alltime favorite versus from him (the door metaphor I saw someone else use like 5 years ago.) Okay where am I, that was a little off topic. The Beatles continued to develop their sound and complexity while maintaining the aspects of their first album which made it so popular.
Rubber Soul = Graduation
These 2 albums signified an enormous change for each artist. For the Beatle’s it marked their transition into full form psychedelia and for Kanye it was a total change in sound and an embrace of electronic music. Genius has a great article on how Graduation changed hip hop. I think this is the point where the analogy get’s very strong.
Revolver = 808’s and Heartbreak
Okay this one is a little weaker but hear me out.
Sgt pepper = MBDTF
Two albums considered by many stubborn fans on both sides to be the greatest album of all time. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the jewel in the Kanye’s crown. No just his crown, and his achievement, but his crowning achievement. Sgt. Pepper is crown too.
The two albums are renowned for their maximalist, dense sound and studio experimentation as well as the period of isolation which birthed both. These two albums were both surrounded by an eccentric aesthetic. For the Beatles this was the wonky costumes and psychedelic art and films that came from this period and for Kanye the grotesque album art and his famous red suit.
Kanye hit the reset button on his career when he released MBDTF [1] After retaliation against his last album and his increasingly erratic public persona (Taylor swift VMAs) Kanye retreated into isolation. He rented out an entire hotel in Hawaii to serve as his recording studio and invited artists from around to world to come join him in the creation of his masterpiece [1]. He remained in his compound for months. This process was fascinating and i encourage everyone to read about it. I’ve read stories about CyHi the Prince recording his infamous verse on So Appalled against Kanye’s wishes while Kanye was asleep in a nearby room (obviously Kanye ended up keeping it and the best verse in the song.) There’s the famous quote from Emile Haynie, co-producer of Runaway where he tells the story of Kanye getting struck by a sudden inspiration and recording Runaway in 20 minutes.
“Kid Cudi smoked marijuana in preparation and worked out on a treadmill, while RZA worked out in the weight room. West held breakfast each morning at his Diamond Head residence for his crew” [1]
MBDTF was a grandiose expression of Kanye’s musical mind. He spent thousands of hours pouring his heart into a project which pushed the bounds of what a hip hop album was. It was in his isolation that he could fully focus on getting the voice inside of him out. His creativity is on display both in the songs and in the unusual recording practices.
The comparisons to Sgt. Pepper follow naturally from that view of MBDTF. In a similar period of isolation following their cession of touring the Beatles started to experiment wildly in the studio, creating a maximalist masterpiece that pushed the bounds of a genre. No one knew so much sound was possible. No one knew so many sonic vibrations could enter someone at once.
Basically both albums were made when their respective creators focused on nothing but fucking around and making music. And they’re good. They’re both really good.
White Album = TLOP
Here we see a period of simultaneous experimentation and return to basics for both artists. The White Album saw The Beatle’s start to make more standard rock music again. George Harrison put down the sitar and picked up his guitar for the first time in 2 years.
The White Album is an insane and eclectic mix of music. I view The Life of Pablo very similarly. After his last 4 albums having a coherent theme and structure, Kanye put out what feels more like a random collection of songs. A lot of them. It’s worth noting that both works are by far the largest made by either artist. TLOP is the most Kanye’s sounded like old Kanye since Late Registration. The outro of Famous is a clear homage to his old soul based production style. Even the album covers look alike, with both artists abandoning their past trend of intricate designs for a more plain solid color.
Both albums are really good too. Perhaps my favorite Kanye and favorite Beatles album (obviously its not this simple though)
Abbey Road = Kids See Ghosts
While Sgt Pepper and MBDTF will always be viewed as the peak of the careers, the Beatles and Kanye both ended their career with a wowser for sure. Both are pristine and beautiful. Abbey Road is much more refined and consistent that the While Album. KSG is the most refined and thematic work kanye has put out since MBDTF.
Anyways yeah, I think there are a lot of similarities to be made between the Beatles and Kanye’s career. Am I right? Am I wrong? Am I lying to you? Fuckin sue me.
This Vibe Has Flown 