#what would yeezus wear

[deepdwnbodythurst]

What’s that jacket, Margiela?

— In 2013 rapper & producer Kanye West started his Yeezus Tour, wearing head-to-toe Maison Martin Margiela.

Reinterpreting the maison’s archives, the parisian atelier revisited ten couture pieces and adapted them to the image of the artist - with embroidery prints on bombers & pants - and 20 ready-to-wear pieces.

Kanye has always been a fan of the maison. “We have wanted to work with Kanye West for a very long time, ever since he became a close friend of the Maison; supporting us a lot and coming to our shows.” said the brand.

Kanye was very involved in the project. He brought a lot of his own ideas into the creative process and helped with his stage expertise - the clothes had to be seen from afar, be perfectly functional and retain the same shape & freshness till the last tour date.

They first went through the Maison’s archives, trying to find iconic pieces to reconceptualize that would encompass the spirit of Maison Martin Margiela’s creations. Then a few pieces were selected and modified to match with Vanessa Beecroft’s scenography and to work as a stage wardrobe.

The masks were handmade in Paris using materials like crystal & marble. One of them was sold for $50.000.

The costume that took the longest to create was the couture elongated embroidered bomber jacket, adapted from a 1900s dress.

[soukita]

RICK OWENS AND HIS INFLUENCE ON YOUNG ADULTS AND THEIR FASHION JOURNEYS

The fashion industry is forever evolving, inspiring a new generation of young teens and adults to express their individuality through the language of clothes. In the midst of the fashion industry, many people have shared their love for clothing by designing and creating new pieces that can influence a group of disciples for years to come. Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy are two influential figures who completely changed the fashion industry with their intricate designs and unique silhouettes whilst helping introduce many people, of all different backgrounds, to avant-garde fashion. The fashion industry continues to fluctuate in terms of what is and what is not popular due to the rapidity of trend cycles and the gentrification of fashion. Rick Owens has gained a lot of traction in recent years due to widespread popularity on social media such as TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. This wide-spread popularity can be attributed to numerous celebrity endorsements and collaborations. I interviewed two Rick Owens enthusiasts: Bailey Anderes and Chase Walker comparing the influence Rick Owens has had on their respective fashion journeys. Walker, a 23 year old reseller from Detroit and Anderes, a 19 year old Fashion Student from New York, both have different journeys in finding their own route in the fashion industry, however they both share a common admiration for the brand. 

When did you first get into the brand Rick Owens?:

Walker: “When I was about 16-17 I saw Kanye wearing this Rick parka and ever since then it’s been on my radar.”

Anderes: “Around sophomore year. So about 4 years ago.”

What inspired you to get into fashion, specifically Rick Owens?:

Walker: “Back in 2016, I was in several online communities, mostly on Reddit and Kanyetothe. This is when we were coming out of the Yeezus era and I saw a lot of affluent people wearing Rick such as A$AP Rocky and Kanye. This era is when a lot of people were getting into Rick because of celebrities. It wasn’t until 2019 that I actually started buying Rick because I had started downsizing by selling my thrifted clothing on Instagram. Then, when COVID happened, I lost my job and used my stimulus checks to invest in my business, importing and dealing with designer goods, mostly Rick.”

Anderes: “I think the dark, drape, and brutal style is super cool. Seeing my dad wear suits early on definitely made me want to look fashionable”.

Do you think the location of where you live affects your fashion sense?

Walker: “Detroit is a fashion desert. Short answer, yes”.

Anderes: “Absolutely. I grew up in Wisconsin. And that’s honestly what pushed me into Instagram and websites, so I began seeing and reading about designers there.”

“One thing about Rick is that it has such longevity because it’s the only brand in the public eye that is “dark wear adjacent”

Rick Owens has gained an insane amount of popularity in the recent months, why do you think that is and do you think gatekeeping the brand has aided its exclusivity?

Walker: “Definitely has to do with the Converse and Birkenstock collab, Rappers like Gunna and Playboi Carti and Tyrone Dylan’s influence on the brand with Kiss Heels and the more glam look also have had a major influence. One thing about Rick is that it has such longevity because it’s the only brand in the public eye that is “dark wear adjacent”.

Anderes: “Yes. Gatekeeping Rick Owens definitely would allow them to be less popular, however with collaborations with Converse and Veja, they end up hitting a lower price tier bracket so it’s more accessible. Also gatekeeping Rick is still a thing, there are a lot of collectors who don’t like how popular it’s getting so they tend to stray away from giving out a lot of info”.

When a brand gets really popular in mainstream media and fashion, it is inevitable that fakes start to appear in the market more frequently. Have you ever bought any fakes?

Walker: I’ve bought so many fakes by accident. I think it’s weird if you wear it. Money is out there, there are very little things you cannot afford when it comes to clothes. If you have $200 but the piece you want is $500, just wait until your next paycheck. Counterfeiters don’t intend to fool the buyers, they are selling to a customer. If you really care about the piece, you’ll look diligently to make sure what you’re buying is real”.

Anderes: “Unbeknownst to me yes, I also was on Canal Street and got a fake Prada hat cause it was funny”.

Do you think the price tag of some of Rick Owens pieces are worth it? In terms of quality and honing your personal style?

Walker: “Short answer: yes, value is a complicated concept. I can buy a Gildan shirt from Walmart and as soon as I walk out the door the value depreciates, however I can buy a piece and as time goes by I can get back the money I paid, or more, if I resell it”.

Anderes: “Retail? No. Resell? Definitely not. You have to be patient to find a good deal nowadays. I used to have a lot of Rick Owens. I collected a lot from SS02 and I was able to pick it up for pretty cheap a few years ago. Now, not so much”.

Rick Owens has created such a big community that truly brings people in the fashion world together. There’s a private discord, accessed only by invite, that allows enthusiasts to have an open discussion with other archivists and devotees to the brand where one is able to chat, share their newest pieces, and oftentimes sell to each other. Owens, a bi-sexual man, has also used the brand as a way to blur the lines of gender steryotypes (creating the famous “KISS Heels” that many hetoro-sexual men are now wearing). I asked Walker if he thought Owens himself has had an influence in breaking these gender norms:

Walker: “Yes but not really. A lot of men who are wearing Kiss heels are some of the most homophobic and bigoted people, but they dont even realize the meaning behind the piece. You cannot look at these muses Rick has and not think this isn’t a little queer. Some people are just so close-minded and blinded by their own delusion that they’ll wear anything hype even if they don’t support it. Rick operates in such a peculiar space, being a designer endorsed by rappers and hype while simultaneously androgyny and femininity”.

Anderes and Walker are both different in age, style and location, however they both share one thing in common and that is their self expression through fashion and their work. Walker a reseller and Anderes a writer both hone their experiences in the fashion industry to continue utilizing their craft in order to evolve.

As fashion keeps evolving, Owen’s brand will too, and currently he is in the midst of releasing another collaboration with Converse. As Anderes said, people are still gatekeeping Rick Owens, but with his continuation of collaborations and releases that appeal to the masses, the brand seems as if it will continue to be a staple on social media and in everyone’s wardrobe.

“Rick operates in such a peculiar space, being a designer endorsed by rappers and hype while simultaneously androgyny and femininity”

[absolutelydw]

Can I talk my shit again?

No, really. Can I talk my shit again? I talk shit. I will talk shit and won’t refrain from doing so. It’s me. I’m not talking shit about people, places or things to be malicious. I just simply was born with the gift of gab and I just happen to be the funniest person I know. Look at me talking my shit, again. -wink-

Look. I absolutely WISH I could be a no fucks given, uninhibited blog writing superstar. But the way my “corporate baddie” 6yr old son havin, single mama life is set up? Would not support such a thing. I admire those people. In fact I strive to be those people… living carefree not worried about a thing. BUT until my poor unfortunate soul of a sperm donor and my strong manifestation of being a multimillionaire stay at home wife/mama/Bravo network housewives celebrity lifer align.. I must keep life a bore… on the World Wide Web.

Fine with me. less more… more the less. But. Ma’am’s and sirs, this week has been mind blowing. I say this. Manifestation is real.

Energy is real.

Divine timing and Gods plan?

ABSOLUTELY REAL. I’ve seen nothing but angel numbers, signs, messages in a bottle lately, all of the things and all of it makes me equally gitty, excited and nervous for the future… because I know if I put my mind to it, the shit comes. It comes in strange ways… but it comes. It also makes me sad- to a degree because what I thought “was it” is no longer it. What I thought was what I wanted, no longer serves me… and it scares me.

10 years ago, you couldn’t tell me shit.

I didn’t want kids, I now have two one living who runs my life and other as a guardian angel. Possibly may even want a third if we’re being 65% honest. (No typo. 65% percent)

The thought of marriage made me want to slit my wrists, and donate my blood to the American cross as a hobby. Now I know I’m no man’s lady of the night or desire to be and could potentially* be a man’s wife. In the words of Tiffany “New York” Pollard… I want my name dropped, meaning I want to be married. I’m not messing around with you.

I was hit with the realization the other day that some men really think money makes them attractive… for me, it does not… and the more you talk about it, it makes me look at you as a cornball… a fuckin Frito Lay corn chip, if you will. I think I read somewhere that the richest people wear the simple clothing… okay, alright. I didn’t read that but you get it. I don’t even want to use this man as an example because for me personally… and most people I know… we do not find him attractive. But here it goes..

Mark Zimmerberg, Facebook “Meta Man”, rich? Absolutely… does he brag about it? Willing to bet 85% of the change in my purse he doesn’t. To be completely honest? I don’t care that much about his net-worth. However, what I do know is that he doesn’t need to walk into a room and disclose how much he’s made in the last 24hrs. Im sure he’s proud of his success but it’s absolutely repulsive to feel the need to do so.

all men should strive to be like Mark… don’t be Mark. Lol but strive to be LIKE mark and keep your accomplishments you’ve obtained within the last… few months to yourself. It makes the girls and some boys drier than the Sahara desert and we’re just trying to stay hydrated.

Last thing, because I’m on a tangent, leading down the road of who the hell knows what..

I will continue to stay in a positive state/space, shoot for the stars, hope to land in soft clouds next to mr. moon and remain open for what’s to come.

Pray for love, clarity, and the strength to remain, mentally, physically and emotionally strong and grounded. All the while manifesting the NEXT YEAR of my life to be closer to the images on my motherfuckin vision board.

I’m a good person who says fuck a lot but I deserve everything I want.

In jesus, geezus, and yeezus name.

Amen.

xo, dw.

[angeliquee-indigo]

Ojala yo sea una de las personas que ya no estén en el 2021.

[whatwouldyeezuswear-blog2]

In a rare cameo reserved only for FAM:

Happy birthday to the greatest performer of all time, OF ALL TIME!

Who wore it best?

[thefashioncritic]

Julia Fox Fashion Review

Brand - Balenciaga

Rating - 5.5/10

Review - I am being overly generous to Julia for this look. I can’t seem to figure out what this exactly is. Low rise trouser? Leather heel boots? Leather jacket? Latex gloves? Long leather overcoat? Purse? Too many elements all together. One thing that I have learnt is that the outfit you have put together has to have a main element that binds the look together, the star of the show. This outfit seems to be missing the main part and due to that the outfit doesn’t seem to work together.

Brand - Sies Marjan, Balenciaga

Rating - 7/10

Review - Julia was seen donning this outfit, consisting of - a midnight blue and black Sies Marjan coat paired with black pants and shin-skimming black patent leather pointy-toe boots. For a shirt, she chose to wear a Balenciaga nylon and spandex mock neck top that includes the Balenciaga’s logo on the collar. The shirt, trousers and boots, seems to be recycled from the previous outfit but this time is paired in a more sensible manner. The glove this time does not cover the entirety of Julia’s fingers. The main element this time exists! Hallelujah! The aforementioned Sies Marjan jacket is the centre of attraction and rightfully so. The coat brings a type of freshness to the look that we have seen before. The minimal hair and makeup also remain the same. Overall, this is a….not so bad outfit but could have been better with one or two less accessories and maybe an earring giving some attention and glamour to her face and not just the outfit. Black hair might looked better and a darker shade of lipstick would have helped.

Brand - Daniel Roseberry

Rating - 4/10

Review - At the Paris Fashion Week, Julia donned a denim jacket featuring a cone bra, low-slung denim trousers, and earrings.The cone-bra is quite outdated, and was best suited on the yesteryear heroines. Generally a sudden pop of colour is a pleasant surprise but not in Julia’s case, the golden handbag is not going with the otherwise all black outfit. The golden earring was enough. And now we have to address the elephant in the room - the eyeshadow. What in the name of Yeezus is this? It’s utterly appalling, and looks terrible. Did Julia really think that this was fashionable? If it weren’t for the hideous over usage of eyeshadow, this would have gotten a 6.

Brand - Balenciaga, KNWLS, Diesel

Rating - 5.5/10

Review - This look features a jacket is a fresh take on the grunge biker aesthetic, featuring brown leather and a cinched silhouette, along with a pair of gray denim jeans with built-in heeled boots hailing from Diesel's spring/summer 2022 collection. She finished the look with a mini Balenciaga Neo bag and black gloves. The top gives a biker vibe while the bottom half seems less edgy. I am not a fan of the built in heels, it seems like too much. If the bottom half was just the trousers and the heels weren’t built-in or orange, this look would have been much better. The latex gloves are too much. The handbag would have been better if the colour had not been matching with the top jacket.

Brand - Balenciaga

Rating - 5/10

Review - Julia wore this risqué outfit which includes - a black leather crop top and matching pants with a rise so incredibly low, they practically required a below-the-belt shave for her date with the likes of Madonna, Floyd Mayweather and boyfriend-cum-stylist, Kanye ‘Ye’ West. Again the low rise trousers. See, I know that everyone has different tastes, but I for one don’t understand this re-rising trend. I can’t help but think, what if there is some….adjustment issues and the trousers goes a bit below. Again, too much is happening at once, as I said before, running theme. This outfit had a lot of potential, only if the top was a tiny bit longer so that her bare torso wouldn’t hog the attention reserved for the top, gloves weren’t there and the boots were a bit shorter. The handbag is definitely redundant. At this point, Kanye and Julia having a glove fetish is more than likely.

——————————————————————————————

Disclaimer -

This is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not have anything against Julia Fox, Kanye West, and the brands mentioned and I don’t mean any hate to them. Please do not get offended, and if your hobby is to get offended at tiny things, then don’t come here and talk to me about it, just leave this blog. Don’t spread hate.

Source - Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Page Six.

[cursedcleopatra]

no nothing to do with Kanyes personality but omg do you not think his music has gone a bit downhill it’s sad :( the Jesus album and the one before that were kind of mediocre tbh I want old Kanye I hope his new album bangs

Yeah I completely agree, everything after The Life of Pablo has been a miss for me too. I’ve been listening to some leaks from the new album and I’m honestly really hopeful. From what I heard it sounds like a combination of Jesus is King and Yeezus…which would make sense considering that mask he’s been wearing everywhere lately. Seems like he’s going back to the Yeezus era mask motif but putting a gothic/saintly twist on it, I’m really excited

[kailynchadwick]

Yeezy Supply: The New Uniform

“I TOLD YOU MOTHERF**KERS IT WAS MORE THAN THE MUSIC.” –KANYE WEST, COLD

Kanye West has always been one to make a statement. Whether it’s through his lyrics, his Twitter account or his controversial remarks regarding his support of our president, Donald Trump. Along with being hospitalized and going on TV to very publicly voice his opinions about the 13th amendment Kanye has made waves with his clothing line “YEEZY.” Debuting his Season 1 collection in 2015, I can speak on behalf of all Kanye fans; this was the greatest gift he could have given us since My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy. So what is it about this designer, who is fairly new to the scene, and his collections that have the music and fashion world so excited? What is it about Yeezy that has garnered the support of Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld? What is it about this new “dad” fashion that has Millennials lining up in stores and online to cop the newest Yeezy drop? I believe the answer is simple, Kanye has given us a new uniform to abide by and we’re all lining up to get it.

Before he launched Yeezy Kanye spent time interning at Fendi (where he met Virgil Abloh), he had collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Nike and he also launched two collections under his own name. But it was when he had his first show using the Yeezy name that we can see his fashion career really taking off and solidifying the West name as a household name in fashion. In his early shows, the models don’t walk down a traditional runway as they did with his 2012 shows, rather, they stand in rows and stare blankly at the audience. And for the Yeezy Season 3 show that doubled as a listening party for The Life of Pablo, there were thirty-eight strict rules the models had to abide by to pull off the perfect un-phased look. It’s in these first few seasons that we have our first glimpse at the Yeezy “uniform:” a sea of models including Kendall Jenner, wearing tights, socks and bodysuits paired with baggy sweatpants, sweatshirts and combat boots and “sock boots” that cling to models legs. Some of the clothing is distressed as well, with sweaters and shirts having deconstructed elements like rips and tears. Kanye really shows the creative process with his early shows but concerning the present day Yeezy, it’s a bit of a different story with the brands sleek sneakers and witty advertising campaigns using his Insta-famous wife Kim Kardashian. In my opinion Kanye West is doing what Coco Chanel once did. Chanel took the “little black dress,” a simple “working girl” dress and made it high fashion. She cultivated the idea of wearing something that wasn’t visibly luxurious except to the one wearing her clothing. Isn’t Kanye doing the same thing?

He’s come a long way since pink polos, backpacks and shutter shades but no matter what trend Kanye creates his loyal fans are sure to follow. With Yeezy, Kanye has created a uniform of some kind. We can see uniforms in everyday life and how they’ve changed throughout the years. Hospitals, schools and the military use uniforms of different kinds to identify different positions within their professions. We can even look back in time at different subcultures like Punk, High Camp or the New Romantics and see that they each have their own uniform that society can identify them by. Has Kanye created a new uniform for Millennials? Or more specifically has he created a uniform for his fans alike? His collections have the same dystopian, Mad Maxx commonalities throughout the years. The color palette is neutral and absent of any logos or words besides the recent “Calabasas” or “Lost Hills” that are splashed against long sleeves or some sweaters. If you’re wearing any model or color way of the “Yeezy Boost” sneaker, any Kanye follower is guaranteed to recognize the bulky, oversized sole. The shoe retailed at $200-$350 is known to sell out in minutes and in some cases even seconds and is a must-have commodity for anyone who wears the Yeezy uniform proudly.

It seems to me that regardless of his outlandish antics and outspoken political views that flocks of his followers are attracted to the Yeezy brand because of his pure artistry. It’s the love for his music and his story that keeps his fans in his corner. It doesn’t matter if you were with Kanye from The College Dropout or if you hopped on the bandwagon with Yeezus, it’s the confidence, pride and passion that Kanye possesses with whatever he’s talking about or working on in that moment. You would swear you disagreed with him one minute but the next you’re giving him “kudos” for speaking his mind. For a generation that seems to want to be heard but not seen we love to hide behind our Twitter accounts but shout our opinions through tweets. We hide behind Snap Chat and Instagram filters but enjoy posting selfies at the bar or the concert we’re at. Kanye shares some of these tendencies with his fans; he’s someone who is very private but then on the other hand he is loud (figuratively and literally). It’s no surprise his designs reflect this in a way: the clothes being somewhat mundane except for in structure and the shoes making a bold statement. I suppose we won’t know if the Yeezy brand is a fad and will be finished in a couple seasons or if it’s here to stand the test of time, but as long as Yeezy reflects the interests of his followers I would bet on the latter.

[thesinglesjukebox]

BILLIE EILISH - BURY A FRIEND

[7.76]

Why you always play that song so loud? Oh.

Ian Mathers: Over a series of songs and videos, Eilish has practically offered a survey of fears and bad feelings: spiders, isolation, drowning, physical assault, mental illness, poison, other people as monsters, the self as a monster, etc. and here she leans harder than ever into the horror tropes, both sonically and visually. The sampled dentist drill, lyrics equally evoking the monster under the bed and sleep paralysis, the haunted house/nursery rhyme lilt of the verses, the bravado that at least partially stems from her narrative persona already feeling bad enough about herself that you sure as hell can't touch her, and of course the line that recurs over and over: "I wanna end me." It's the sort of thing you can imagine parents freaking out over, and even possibly the (yes, yes, very young) Eilish looking back years from now and thinking the better of. But, much as plenty of pop music conjures up outsized romantic sentiments that listeners gravitate towards despite not actually wanting to follow through with them in a literal sense, it also feels like the kind of darkness that I know many people who don't struggle with suicidal ideation still identify with in the context of a pop song. I'm not actually arguing for its total harmlessness so much as admitting that I don't think total harmlessness is necessary or even desirable in pop, maybe especially when it is from someone as young and who seems to be as tapped into a new vocabulary (sonic and gestural as much as linguistic) as Eilish is so far. The line and the song make me uneasy even as I love it and feel seen by it, as opposed to (say) Juice WRLD's bullshit which doesn't to me feel like it has any redeeming element at all. Eilish and "Bury a Friend," meanwhile, don't need a redeeming element unless you have a problem with the rich history of darkness in pop (as opposed to the rich history of misogyny in pop). Not for nothing does my friend Jess Burke describe her as "Fiona Apple for a Blumhouse future" and of all the paths to go down, that honestly feels like a pretty great one right now. [9]

Tobi Tella: Billie Eilish is one of the first true Gen Z pop stars, and as someone only a year or so older than her I'm impressed with how fresh her music feels on the pop landscape. The sense of dread that appears in most of her music is in full force here, and while I have found some of her music to be a little "2edgy4me," this works by fully leaning into it. It's unlike anything anyone else is making right now. [7]

Alfred Soto: If "Bury a Friend" is a gesture, an experiment -- as if Billie Eilish said, "Let me show how minimalist my music can be, and put in cool noises too" -- then its failure to be more than this is my failure. She's been tuneful before, which means she knows what she's doing. [6]

Jonathan Bradley: "Bury a Friend" sounds like the product of a musical landscape where anything can be heard on demand and none of it comes with context. Billie Eilish's artless murmur suggests that her roots lie in the DIY aesthetics of bedroom folk, but while her music can be wispy and personal in that mode, it wanders into other realms in which it seems not to realize it doesn't belong. This song is punctuated by producer Crooks intoning Eilish's name like a mixtape DJ's drop, while the shrieks that tear into the dark low-end pulse seem torn from Yeezus-era Kanye. There's even some Fiona Apple in the stops and starts punctuating her phrasing. Like Lorde before her, Eilish is adept at playing up the adolescent's attraction to darkness, and the haunted house atmosphere and lyrics about stapled tongues and glass-cut feet settle into a delicious murk. Perhaps most unsettling and most unexpectedly novel about it all is that Eilish doesn't sound like a paralysed gothic heroine. She sounds like one of the monsters. [8]

Katie Gill: Insert that Marge Simpson 'kids, could you lighten up a little?' reaction image here. It only makes sense that the hot new pop sensation is the musical distillation of nihilistic memes and the lolz I'm so depressed joke culture that's permeated the popular consciousness. To her credit, Eilish has her finger perfectly poised on the zeitgeist. Unfortunately, we've been dealing with the zeitgeist for at LEAST two years now. Such ironic detachment and 'I want to end me lmao' already feels out of date -- the fact that the song seems tailor-made to score an American Horror Story scene only dates it even more (those backing screams were a baaad choice). The main thing this does is make me wish that Eilish leaned in more towards her lighter fare. [5]

Vikram Joseph: I've been a Billie Eilish sceptic, but "Bury A Friend" is, if not quite Damascene, certainly revelatory. It feels deliciously, obscenely engrossing; that minimalist pulse, the mocking, nursery-rhyme motif ("What do you want from me? Why don't you run from me?"), those swift, decisive industrial gut-punches, the breathtaking turns of pace and time-signature tightrope-play. Most of all, it's fun, especially when her vocal affectations come off like a demonic sonic negative of Lorde. It feels like her entire aesthetic coming together, a camp horror-flick dark-pop queen finally wearing the crown she's been threatening to unveil for a while now. [8]

William John: At 28 I feel far too old to be pontificating about Billie Eilish, but what I will say is that if their new formula for chart success is to mine the aesthetic of Róisín Murphy circa Ruby Blue, then I'm ready to submit to our new zillennial overlords. [7]

Iris Xie: I've been hearing Billie Eilish everywhere I go, and her music always vibrates with a moody, dark warmth while I move through thrift stores, coffee shops, and sidewalks. Reclaiming whisper-singing from Selena Gomez is a fantastic move, especially when paired with that slight rhythmic drumming, sudden starts and stops, and that little omnipresent danger that I miss so much from f(x)'s Red Light. Our times are escalating faster to some kind of destruction, but in the air, there is exhaustion and energy of both a defiant joy and a quiet numbness. "Bury a Friend," and her album overall embodies that energy in spades. [7]

Will Rivitz: Jump scares in horror movies suck; they're cheap, calculated cash-ins on human predilection to react badly whenever something threatening pops out from the underbrush. Much more difficult to pull off, and much more impressive in its execution and creativity when it succeeds, is the slow-burn thrill. When a ghoulish, uncertain threat is buried ever so imperceptibly below the surface, it roils adrenaline in the most painfully pleasant of ways, as we fail to put our finger on anything about what's about to destroy us except that, make no mistake, it will indeed destroy us. "Bury a Friend" nails that most sublime skin-crawl. The lowing bass and teeth-scraping industrial synths roll around the aural triggers that make every hair on a back stand up with the cold impersonality of coins circling a hyperbolic funnel forever, the end always implied but never achieved. Appropriate, too, since Billie Eilish's main triumph is capturing the slow-burn existential dread of living as a young person in a world thoroughly ruined by those who won't live to see out the ramifications of their present actions. Obliquely, that's "Bury a Friend," a nightmarish Borges y yo resurrection, endlessly Genius-ready especially given the original story now has a Genius annotation itself. (The internet continues to be bizarre.) Instrumentally and lyrically, it's a warped and terrifying celebration of a muddling and destruction of identity supercharged by the less savory bits of our constant interconnectedness; it is, in other words, the best summary of Billie Eilish she could possibly present to us. Eilish affirms our base fears that things are fucked, we're all irrevocably in shambles, and there's absolutely jack shit we can do about it; we might as well learn to celebrate where we're at, since there's nothing else awaiting us. [9]

Alex Clifton: I can't remember the last time I felt this astonished by a song, nor can I remember hearing anything this sublime. I mean this in the gothic sense -- something beautiful and terrifying and subsiding where you've just got to stand and soak it all in. "Bury a Friend" is every nightmare and melodramatic thought I had as a teenager set to music, the suspicion that I was a monster who was better off dead and everyone knew. It felt so plainly written on my skin. But it's not just dark and monstrous. Billie feels scared and sad on the chorus: when we all fall asleep, where do we go? Something in her voice is so vulnerable that I feel cut open myself just hearing it. I fear some older people may hear "Bury a Friend" and write it off as emo teenage poetry, but it's so much more than that. It's the honesty of Lorde's first album mixed in with the sharp crunch of being a teen in 2019, living in a world constantly on fire with questionable prospects for a future. I would expect nothing less from a teenager to be honest, especially one as talented as Eilish. I just wish I had had the courage to be this dark and messy when I was her age. [9]

Will Adams: So much of the Billie Eilish discourse concerns her aesthetic and how it relates to Gen Z, but it often misses a key part of her appeal: how electrifying her music sounds. Tactile, confronting and claustrophobic, Billie and her producer brother Finneas create music that tightens its grip and refuses to let go, and "Bury a Friend" is as good an example as any. Alternately screeching, skittering and booming with sub bass (like "Black Skinhead" crawling with spiders), it conjures up a nightmare you can't look away from. [9]

Katherine St Asaph: A game that is both fun and great for making yourself acutely aware of how fast the grave is yanking you down is asking yourself, and being honest: if you were a teen today, who would you stan? Would you be an Ariana Grande Teen? A Blueface Teen? A Billie Eilish Teen? The depressing truth is that I probably would've been a Lana Del Rey Teen, but I could see myself reluctantly liking this for its weird drama, its dramatic weirdness. I'm convinced people confused about why Billie's dark music appeals to teens have never themselves been teens, the time of life where you endless-repeat Nirvana (ask Dave Grohl) or Sarah Brightman's cover of "Gloomy Sunday" or "Bury a Friend" and often make it out regardless. The flavor of darkness here is more than a little Tim Burton, in the twisted-nursery-rhyme melody, but there's also more than a little "Black Skinhead" and "Night of the Dancing Flame," and how many teen sensations can you conjure those references up for? [9]

Stephen Eisermann: Billie Eilish, especially here, is the exact representation of what would happen if Lorde pulled a Jack Skellington and entered the portal in the trees to find herself in Halloween Town. The same intriguing vocal tics, off-beat metaphors, and bold production choices -- just decorated with horror-tinged jack-o-lanterns and ghost sheets. In other words, I love Billie and I love this song. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: "Bury a Friend" is less a song and more an intentionally jarring collection of phrases -- even Eilish's individual lines sound cut off, as if they've been reassembled from a previously coherent whole. Not every piece works -- Crooks' vocal additions are unnecessary and some of Eilish's longer phrasings in the bridge are too stylized. Moreover, the picture that this collage is supposed to be forming never gets cleared up. And yet there's almost an illicit thrill to listening to a pop song that sounds like this, in all of its chaotic terror and joy. [6]

Edward Okulicz: In truth, this song feels like it runs out of gas, but its first 30 seconds are incredibly arresting. It's not that the rest of it is bad, I mean there's a bit where she sounds exactly like Róisín Murphy and that's never bad. Over the course of a bunch of singles, Eilish has used lots of existing musical tropes in an interesting way and built up a style that's unmistakeably her -- maybe I'm just disappointed she's taken it to complete fruition in half a minute and maybe there's nowhere else for her to go but to do a full-on macabre Glitterbeat thing. She's got fans that'll go with her to any place she chooses. [8]

Taylor Alatorre: I'm inclined to dislike most of the well-manicured teenage dramascapes that make up Billie Eilish's discography so far. Maybe it's the narcissism of generational differences -- sure, I was moody and disaffected as a 17-year-old, but I wasn't this kind of moody and disaffected. You're doing anhedonia all wrong, kids! Yet somehow, "Bury a Friend" is able to dislodge me from this self-consciousness by brandishing its own self-consciousness as a weapon and waging a merry war on itself. It's a staging ground for a bunch of one-off experiments and on-the-nose signifiers and 2spooky vocal tics and vintage 2013 alt-pop tropes, all of which seem to communicate: "This is a song that I wrote, and I can debase it however I want." It's squeamish about its own existence yet sure of its purpose, with a simple driving beat that yields to miscellany while warding off the specters of musical theater. Its high point is an archly written low point: the sneeringly drawn out "wowww." in response to a blunt confession of suicidality. If it turns out that reducing the stigma doesn't always lead to better outcomes, at least we got some good banter out of it. [8]

Joshua Copperman: Huh, I guess we are seeing the beauty at the end of culture. And it's suicidal, it's offensive, it's ugly. Then it's fake-deep, and it's edgy, because Heaven forbid we legitimize the concerns of teenagers. The common thing is supposed to be how, as a teenager, everything feels like it matters, but today's teens are growing up in a political moment when nothing feels like it does, if it ever will again. Okay, that's a bit much -- there's a chance that actual teens aren't like this, and this is what people whose brains have been poisoned by Twitter pundits think teenagers must be like. It can't be a huge coincidence, though, that "I wanna end me," "why do you care for me?" and "I'm too expensive!!!" all wound up in a Top 20 hit by a 17-year-old. Like any good writer, Eilish sublimates those fears into a horror movie song from the point of view of the monster under her bed, a pure Tumblr or r/writingprompts move. But with this many Spotify plays, with this much success, it's hard to shake the feeling that along with the stellar "idontwannnabeyouanymore," Eilish is actually onto something with The Youths. Finneas O'Connor's bonkers production, with dentist drills and the 12/8 "Black Skinhead" bounce, certainly helps this stand out. (Rob Kinelski, too, has crafted a mix more interesting than anything his more successful contemporaries like Serban Ghenea have done lately.) Underneath the grimdarkness, what really separates Eilish is the sense of humor; the nursery rhyme bridge seemed a bit obvious, but after hearing songs like "Bad Guy," Eilish sounds completely aware of the tropes she is using. I have no doubt this blurb will age badly if her music gets worse after this, but who cares when there's not much aging left to do? Lead us into the apocalypse, Billie and Finneas! [9]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[angrycleverhedgehog]

Analysis: angryhedgehog calls out favorite lines and game references from fan fiction

Hi, i am angryhedgehog and I have a liberal arts college degree. It does not enable me for gainful employment so I will use it for its next best use: analyzing fan fiction. Mom and Dad, I know you’re proud. Let us begin.

“What a great way to ring in the new year, right Jeanne?” Bayonetta said

The fan fiction picks up after Bayonetta 2 here! It even re-uses the line that Bayonetta uses regarding ‘ringing in the new year’

Maybe this was a good time for some alone time with Jeanne…

I haven’t seen evidence of Bayonetta think or say this, but it’d be a nice thought.

“Very funny, Cereza, after I’ve waited 500 years trying to get you up to speed with your own… choreography.”

Poor Jeanne :( 500 years of protecting Bayo like the game said. BUt also, she says choreography bc they dance fight. love the dance fighting. *Swoons*

“if only you weren’t so painstakingly slow…”

Jeanne does comment in Bayo 1 about Bayonetta being slow to gather up her past memories. I like.

“Sometimes it was a shot through the dark,” she bantered.

I get it, “shot” is used playfully here. They’re masters of their weapons which are guns. author uses idea and the idiomatic phrase. Excellent.

“Oh, Enzo. If you had been a good lackey and carrying my things as we shopped, you wouldn’t have this problem, now would you?” Bayonetta said with a mock pout.

Author references the scene in the game where Bayonetta drops her things behind her, expecting Enzo to be there and catch her shopping gifts. 

“Yeezus, I need to call my wife.” - Enzo

Enzo does appear in the game to be attached to his wife in some way, his license plate is Ed n Edna if I’m not mistaken.

“I need a new dress.” She said as she passed by the windows of storefronts, looking in casually.

“Third time’s the charm.” Jeanne said

Ah, because the first one was white, the second was pink, and now they’re shopping for the third! Jeanne was around for all the dress destruction.

“Oh Cereza, you know you can rock any white dress. What I really liked was the pink one.”  

Yes! because Cereza did wear a pink dress in the game! Maybe Jeanne liked that one because it was like Red, which is her color. *Swoons again.*

She could learn house spells but why would she ever want to do that?

Hahaha of course she’s the hangover queen (per creators confirmation). Dont think she’d be a fan of being clean and kept, leave that to her royal servants.

A+

[boobdolan]

a review of melodrama (2017) by lorde

hey what’s up it’s your boy b-dawg. the b is for boobs as in breasts. this post is a track-by-track review of melodrama, the grammy-nominated sophomore studio album by ella yelich-o’ connor (aka lorde), a new zealand singer-songwriter who likes to dance funny and eat onions. her first album was pure heroine which was pretty big bc i think people (angsty teens) related to her songs about being an angsty teen.

i’m gonna keep it real with you chief. when i first heard green light (the lead single from the album) i thought it was pretty ass. but you know what. i’m an ass man despite my username. so eventually by some karmic circumstance i was reintroduced to the album and i realised: “hey! this is pretty dope! 😎” and then i ended up writing a 4000-word extended essay on it for the IB. but that’s another story.

green light is also the first track on the album, and it’s a hella effective one. with its intro bringing listeners acapella ella™️ over sparse piano chords, it kicks open the door to the sound of melodrama and immediately subverts any expectations for a pure heroine 2.0. as the song progresses we get additional elements of new and old - the boom-bap drums recall the hip-hop influences that permeated pure heroine, while her high-pitched backing vocals in the chorus introduce listeners to new vocal stylings from a singer who was previously known for being a Cool Bean who was Too Cool for all that stuff.

as the maximalist bop green light ends, listeners are thrown even further away from the sound of pure heroine with sober. personal note: sober was the song i most liked on the album upon first listen. and I can see why. it’s because i’ve got good taste! from the spacey uber-processed backing vocals to the bongo beat to the horns in the chorus, the song’s really unlike much else in the pop scene today. i especially like the “night, midnight, lose my mind” intro because when i first heard it i was like “wtf???? cool 🤠” anyway, point is, ella and her bf did well on this track.

at this point one might think, “this girl has a thing for acapella intros to her songs”. and she does! homemade dynamite starts, like an action movie, in situ, with its musings about top gun and the house party that the album is conceptually based around. one thing i love about the song is its synths. the 80s inspiration is obvious, with the synth pad emulating the iconic Fairlight sound on kate bush’s running up that hill. however, the moodiness of the synth pad is contrasted with a sprightly riff that comes in every now and then, emphasising that Potent Teenage Mix of Emotions™️ that the album is focused around. lorde also uses contrast in her lyrics, pairing wordy, literary, stream-of-consciousness style verses with almost childish phrases like “know I think you’re awesome, right???” it’s things like this that really encapsulate the state of being teenaged to me - that uncertain transitional period between adolescence and adulthood.

the following song starts with a very indie-sounding guitar, which is an unconventional sound for a lorde song. but the louvre is so typically lordey in that it shows off one of her greatest skills - the ability to create memorable, quotable lines with unique phrasing. who else would think of stammering the line “i overthink your punctuation use”?? who else would think of using a spoken “broadcast the boom boom boom boom and make ‘em all dance to it” as a hook??? another thing of note in this song is its extended U2-esque instrumental outro, courtesy of jack antonoff. sometimes when i listen to it, i understand why ella is banging him.

jack then mumbles the intro to the next song and starts playing the piano. after a few bars, ella joins him and her voice basically has sex with his tinkling on the ivories. liability is objectively great. lyrically, she reaches mind-bending extremes that many of her contemporaries can only dream of achieving. there’s a verse where she goes “home, into the arms of the girl that [she] loves” which is very interestingly constructed - it hits listeners with the initial shock of “oh wait is ella coming out” and just Leaves It for a few lines. and theN BOOM!!!! she’s actually talking about herself. that’s pretty cool. one other thing is her rhyme scheme in the line “the truth is, i am a toy that people enjoy ‘til all of their tricks don’t work anymore” which has a devastating effect that always gets me, even though it greatly takes advantage of her bananies voice.

now the listener is halfway through the album, and at this point they’re likely as hard as the feelings in the title of the next song. hard feelings/loveless brings us back into the world of electronic drums and synths after the minimalism of liability, and it does so excellently, providing an ambient atmosphere with its muffled beat and echoey distorted guitar. this song used to be one of my least favourites on the album because I thought the L O V E L E S S chant in the second part sounded kinda dumb and edgy. but then i watched lorde’s performance of the song for VEVO and ?????? WtF????? it really shines with a small choir and a boombox. fantastic. i also appreciate the little paul simon sample that bridges the two parts together - it’s a rare example of lorde wearing her influences on her sleeve for this album. also paul simon is one cool mf. i pop my pussy to graceland 24/7. 😎👌

taking a note from jack antonoff’s albums, the next song is a reprise, which have been used by many artists after the beatles to say “hey look my album is cohesive!” even though the only reason why it’s cohesive is because it’s cohesively shit. that’s not the case with sober II (melodrama), which functions as a response to the first sober. the parent song’s repeated calls of “can you feel it?” are immediately countered in sober II’s first line: “you asked if i was feeling it, i’m psycho high”. that’s cool because it reinforces the house party concept of the album. however, while i think the strings and trap drums combo sounds cool on paper, this production choice is the album’s first misstep because it sounds like jack put together 2 apple loops on garageband that didn’t quite fit.

luckily, before lorde turns into one of the migos, we’re treated with another piano song - writer in the dark. a word about lorde’s vocal performance in this song: WOW!!!!!!!!!! 😃😃😃 good stuff! in the verses, her raspy, imperfect voice highlights the intimacy and personal nature of the lyrics. in the chorus, she double tracks her voice and sings with a more round tone, which gives the eerie effect of sounding a bit like kate bush. it’s ok. i’m a bush man too. jack does a little production trick in the outro where ella sings the hook progressively louder as he fades out her vocal and lets the song be overtaken by strings. while it’s cool, i feel like he quite obviously snagged it from the outro of david bowie’s “heroes”, where a similar trick was achieved by the production god brian eno. jack then did it again on the song slow disco by st. vincent later in the year. side note: i’m still kinda pissed about what he did to st. vincent’s masseduction. more on that another time.

the next song, which should’ve been a single, features the metaphor of a supercut. i’m not sure how i feel about that because, on one hand, the term feels very millennial, like a better-written version of katy perry’s save as draft. you know what i mean? like those songs that aged fast - crazy in love with its pager reference, and payphone with its..... payphone reference. on the other hand, a supercut is pretty timeless, as montages have been used in cinema since the french first figured out how to make moving pictures. and the word sounds cool, so it’s ok i guess. but that’s beside the point. the song’s really nice, with some very interesting moments. one notable instance is lorde’s phrasing and the instrumentation in the prechorus - “in your car, the radio on”. the instrumentation just stops for a beat after ella sings the line, in a genius move that makes the song Even More Boppable!!. another moment is how the beat changes during the final choruses - from mellow, with her voice sounding like it’s coming out of a cassette player, to full, regaining all the instrumentation of the original choruses. then the song ends with a weird echoey vocal outro that’s a fantastic moment for me, especially after the intensity of the final choruses. boner time!!!!! 😃 one last cool thing about the song is that i feel the line “so I fall into continents and cars” is an Excessively paul simon thing to say. it’s one of those abstract things that just sounds GREAT, like “fat charlie the archangel sloped into the room” from his song crazy love, part II.

speaking of part twos, the end of supercut transitions into the bassy, atmospheric synths of liability (reprise). unfortunately, i still haven’t gotten round to fully appreciating this song. to me, it’s the biggest misstep on melodrama. don’t get me wrong - it’s a nice enough song, it’s really chill, but it feels slight because of its association to the majestic, melodic liability. apart from their lyrics, there’s not much that links the two. i feel that liability needed no reprise; it’s a work that stands on its own. i felt the same way about yandhi when kanye west announced it. yeezus doesn’t need another album associated to it! it’s perfection by itself. also, someone pointed out that the drums on liability (reprise) are the same as those on taylor swift’s call it what you want, and the last time taylor and jack screwed up a great indie artist’s work was fast slow disco, which we don’t talk about in this house.

finally, we come to the end of lorde’s house party with perfect places. and what a brilliant ending it is. there’s something so stirring about the drum beat, with its crunchy, decisive snare. there’s something equally moving about the synths and chord progression in the chorus, which give me chills like loud organs echoing in a church. when put together, they sound industrial, menacing, as if they move into your soul and alienate you from your own body. but at the same time, they’re an emotional release, a source of comfort like bruce springsteen’s cathartic 70s and 80s albums. another cathartic element - the use of the word “fuck” in the chorus. i could write a whole essay on it tbh. to me, it represents an intensely freeing release of the bad vibes and negativity in one’s life - for lorde, perhaps, her failed relationship and the state of the world in 2016. you know how studies have shown that when you shout “FUCK!!!!😡😡” after hitting your toe on furniture, it helps ease the pain? it’s like that. so while saying something taboo on the record is such an edgy angsty teenage thing to do, but also reflects lorde’s release from her pain. or maybe i’m reading too much into it.

the album ends as it begins, with ella’s bare vocals, reminding us that she is once again the Queen of Indie Pop. overall, melodrama gets a

9/10

for being really cool. peace out bitches. 🤠

[kidseesgoats-blog]

Kanye West

I was recently lucky enough to watch the Kanye-Kimmel interview, and as always really listened to what he had to say.

I’ve watched a lot of Ye interviews as his music has always been a great source of inspiration to me, from the powerful melody in Devil in a New Dress to the soul-grabbing hook on Ghost Town. I think the first time I saw was when he spoke with Zane Lowe on the BBC, and I first discovered his philosophies away from the music. I think the thing that most resonated with me from this interview was when they discussed the song I Am A God from Yeezus. The misconception in this song seems a perfect metaphor for peoples mislaid opinions on Ye. Everyone thought he was being arrogant as usual by this massive ego he displayed, but his actual ambition was to have everyone singing along to it to be saying to themselves “I am a God!” – yes, he has self-confidence, but he’s doing it for the people, building everyone else’s self-confidence to his level.

I next saw his interview on the Ellen show. Though there was a lot of generic chat-show humor, he had a five-minute soliloquy. Here he discussed being likeable, and how he had the ideas to change the world from his own creative ability. You never see his haters quote this interview because of how selfless he is actually being. I finally understood why he was venturing into the apparel industry – it’s not just to make money, it’s to end bullying. The only reason his clothes are expensive now is so that he has enough capital to bring the price down himself, he wants to be able to sell Yeezy’s for $20 a pair, so everyone can feel fresh wearing them.

The TMZ meeting was interesting, I had never seen this side of Kanye. An employee famously argued with him from across the room about him not being real, so Ye waked off the interview and went and spoke to him, apologizing for disappointing him – not real? Sure, he said some questionable things which I personally don’t agree with, but I understood the message behind it. In my opinion he is a futurist, he said hate has been tried in the past, but it didn’t work, so why not try love with someone like Donald Trump? He wasn’t agreeing with Trump’s policies, just giving him a chance so that he would be able to change him in a different way, saying Fuck Donald trump isn’t doing anything – why not try love? This is the outside-the-box thinking that puts Kanye up there with people like Jobs and Einstein, he is our modern-day answer to game-changing philosophy.

Next came his interview with Charlamagne tha God. The premise was to shed light on everything that’s been happening to him, and sort of explain where he is coming from, as well as his plans to create a community in Wyoming. If I were in a powerful position somewhere, I like to think I would try and get Ye to design for me – his sneakers changed the footwear industry, his songs changed the music industry, and I’m sure his architecture is going to change the world in a similar way. From this interview I have drawn so much inspiration. He talks about his mental illness being a superpower, and because of my own history of mental illness it brought light on it in a whole new way for me. I now see what happened as defining of my character, it has brought me out of the dark to total self-awareness. If I’d never been through this stuff I wouldn’t be where I am now.

Now on the recent Kimmel interview, one thing really struck me as profound. He talks about a little boy jumping on top of a coffee table. Everyone in the restaurant yells “teach that kid how to act” – so from a young age you’re already trying to calculate how to act in a world where we strive for freedom – how backwards is that? A kid can go from feeling like a superhero to being told to sit down and following suit. And now as he grows up he is in a world of coffee tables, constantly doing what is expected of him, what if we let kids do what they wanted? How much would they change the world? If you’re ‘crazy’ you get the most people hating on you – but the crazy ones are the people that change the world.

The media constantly shows him as a fairly smart, but definitely crazy person. Search for the Kimmel-Kanye interview on YouTube, you’ll see the third or fourth result being “Kanye is STUMPED when Kimmel asks him about Trump.” When you actually watch the interview or any other, he perfectly explains his reasoning for supporting what Trump stands for. His thinking is so revolutionary and different to what everyone is safe with that the people that don’t understand write him off as crazy, or looking for attention. Can you imagine what he’d be capable of if we all supported him? Choose love over fear.

“People always tell you, 'Be humble. Be humble.' When was the last time someone told you to be amazing? Be great! Be great! Be awesome! Be awesome!”

[whatwouldyeezuswear]

Hold up ⛩

#kanyewest

#yeezus

#yeezy

#kim kardashian

#northwest

#lacma

#style

#fashion

#what would yeezus wear

[angeliquee-indigo]

Que difícil cuando tienes ansiedad y las personas saben que lo tienes y estar muerto de miedos e inseguridades y que no puedan entenderte, que hasta se enojan contigo y se arriba otra inseguridad y otro miedo más...

[whatwouldyeezuswear-blog2]

[womenofcolor15]

Kanye West Proudly Admits In GQ His First Presidential Vote Will Be For Trump + 'Ye Says Kobe Bryant Was The Basketball Version Of Himself

Take a deep sigh, y'alls problematic fave is talking again.  Kanye West covers GQ magazine and he opens up about casting his first ever presidential vote for Trump and his close relationship with late NBA icon Kobe Bryant. Highlights inside…

          View this post on Instagram

                  Presenting GQ's May cover star: Kanye West. Hit the link in bio to read the story by @WillWelch. Photographs by @Tylersphotos.

A post shared by GQ (@gq) on Apr 15, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

  Kanye West is the cover star for GQ’s May 2020 issue where he offers up a series of interviews that spans across five weeks and three countries with GQ editor-in-chief Will Welch.

The 42-year-old has never voted in his life. However, that’s all going to change when the 2020 presidential election comes around. Remember in 2015 when he was telling the masses he would run for president in 2020?

Ye didn't put a bid in for 2020, however, he did say last year he plans on running for president in 2024.

So, since Kanye can’t vote for himself in the upcoming election, the Jesus Is King rapper will be casting his first ever presidential vote for his homie Donald Trump, who will be up for re-election. Lord, help us.

“So look, I’m not telling anybody who they should vote on, what they should wear, where they should live. I’m doing me,” he told GQ magazine.

We see he still only likes to flaunt and admit to his influence when it benefits him.

Peep the highlights from a conversation he had with GQ on January 30th on a jet from Cody to Los Angeles below:

GQ: So this is an election year, and I’m curious how your faith plays into your thoughts on politics. To go back to when you put on the MAGA hat, how do you see that moment from where we are now, sitting on this plane, in January of 2020?

Kanye West: Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from. They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on. [laughs]

What do you make of how that moment reverberated? Did it have the effect that you intended?

I didn’t intend for anything except to speak my mind and express how I felt. I have no intention other than to be free, and I don’t intend to be free—I just simply am.

What was at odds to me about you wearing the hat is that “Make America Great Again” is about looking back. Whereas, to me, you are a perpetual forward thinker.

I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office. They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property.

For the election ahead, do you plan to speak more about it, or are your interests elsewhere?

No, I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on. And I’m not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over. Because guess what: I’m still here! Jesus Is King was No. 1! I was told my career would end if I wasn’t with her [Hillary Clinton]. What kind of campaign is that, anyway? That’s like if Obama’s campaign was “I’m with black.” What’s the point of being a celebrity if you can’t have an opinion? Everybody make their own opinion! You know?

  Ye just continues to prove he's all about self and not the greater good of the people. And frankly, we're over him.

          View this post on Instagram

                  For the May issue of GQ, @WillWelch spoke with Kanye West in a series of interviews that took place over three months and across three different countries. Head to the link in bio for the full story. Photographs by @Tylersphotos.

A post shared by GQ (@gq) on Apr 15, 2020 at 6:48am PDT

  In a separate conversation for the cover story, the Grammy Award winning rapper talked about his close relationship with late NBA icon Kobe Bryant. This interview went down days (72 hours to be exact) after Kobe died in a helicopter crash (Jan. 26th), and he admitted he was taking it hard. When asked how he was doing he said "not good." When asked what was wrong, he responded, "Kobe was one of my best friends.”

He got candid about his feelings and how Kobe "was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him."

West: One thing I thought was really amazing is that we were able to find a groove with the photographs today even as out of it as I was with the loss of Kobe. We were able to just go to the court and play ball. There’s one street that I drive to go from either my office or my home to the property where the domes were built. [Editor’s note: The street is Las Virgenes Road, the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people just four days prior.] So now there’s no way for me not to be as determined as Kobe every time I drive down that street. It’s game time. There’s no move that we can’t make, or that we’ll wait to make. Everyone in our life is now a member of the Lakers on one of Kobe’s championship teams. The way that Kobe would say that we all have to come together and win this championship is the way I look at life now. To an infinite, other level.

This is a game changer for me. He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts! We got the commercials that prove it. No one else can say this. We came up at the same time, together. And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things—but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now. We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.

The Yeezy designer also talked about a time he felt his late mother - Donda West - talking through him.

You seem really focused on architecture right now—developing and building these domes.

When I visited the Tadao Ando Art Island [in 2018], there were three James Turrells next to each other and I said, “We need to live in a Turrell.” The funny thing is, the first time I ever talked to Turrell on the phone was the night I ended the Saint Pablo Tour. And the last thing I ever said on that tour was, “The show’s over.” Which felt like my mom talking through me.

How so? Like she was telling you through your own voice to stop?

Yeah, and telling everyone else. Like, “My son is not just here to fill up these sports arenas. My son’s got something else to do.”

          View this post on Instagram

                  “Life is a song that's already been written, that takes your entire life to hear.” At the link in bio, @WillWelch spoke to Kanye West about the Yeezy campus he's developing in Wyoming, his next album, his “altered ego,” and his renewed faith in God. Photographs by @Tylersphotos.

A post shared by GQ (@gq) on Apr 15, 2020 at 9:45am PDT

  The YEEZUS rapper opened up about wanting to retire from rap and the moment he realized he was a functioning alcoholic:

Let’s talk about the music you’re making.

I was thinking of not rapping again, because I rapped for the devil so long that I didn’t even know how to rap for God. Then one of my pastors told me, “My son just said that he would want a rap album about Jesus from Kanye West.” He didn’t say, “Kanye West, you should do this,” or “you need to do this.” He just told me something that a child said. And that one thing made the difference.

One day I was in my office working on the couture collection, and there was some Grey Goose in the fridge and I was just going to get a daytime drink, and I looked and thought, “Devil, you’re not going to beat me today.” That one statement is like a tattoo. I haven’t had a drink since I realized I needed to take it day by day, but I never owned up, or was even told, “Hey, you’re a functioning alcoholic.” People have called me a crazy person, people have called me everything—but not a functioning alcoholic. And I would be drinking orange juice and Grey Goose in the morning.

There was never a public perception of you as an alcoholic. Of course everybody knows the Hennessy-on-the-red-carpet moment, but there wasn’t a perception of “Kanye West has a drinking problem.”

Right? I really grabbed the drink to be able to even go to the awards show due to the information that everyone knows now. To say, “Okay, I can handle this.”

Ye also shared his journey to becoming a born again Christian:

I want to understand the timeline of your rebirth as a Christian. Did it evolve out of Sunday Service—and can you tell me the story of the moment where you accepted Jesus?

I surrounded myself with the healing—the highest-level healing possible: singing about Jesus with my friends and family surrounding me [at Sunday Service] every single week. This was a place, contrary to popular belief about Christianity, of no judgment. I feel that the church that most people grew up on as kids had a negative environment. The greatest thing for me, as someone who’s given their life to Christ, is knowing that other people have that as an anchor and a form of healing, because you’re talking to a person that went to the hospital and back. Now you see the measured nature—being able to let the child take the driver’s seat but still be measured.

Do you attribute that to the anchor of faith?

Yes, because when you’re not in service to God, you can end up being in service to everything else. To live inside of sin, it’s going to cost you more than you can pay. You don’t want to continue to sin with no repentance. I understand that people feel that I’ve made some cultural sins. But the only real sins are the sins against God, and you don’t want to continue to sin against God.

Do you conceptualize yourself as having been born again?

I’m definitely born again.

You can read the rest of his lengthy interview here.

  Photos: Instar/Getty

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