Blood on the Leaves

I See You, Kim

Blood on the Leaves by Kanye West

Recommended by Kim K.

"Yeezy demands that you listen."

This song is a lot.

It's almost six minutes long, and it's full of these crazy sounds.

So the first of these "crazy" sounds is the sample of Nina Simone's version of Strange Fruit. On the first listen of Blood on the Leaves, it was kind of painful and gave me a headache. After going back to the source and listening to Strange Fruit, it's more tolerable. (That song is incredibly powerful, by the way. Real stuff.) Still piercing and strident, but I've got a new sense of respect.

Having heard the original Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday and the version by Nina Simone, both raw and emotional, dealing with lynchings and the general oppression of black Americans throughout U.S. history...I have to question why Kanye decided to sample this song and feature it so prominently. As far as I can tell, Blood on the Leaves is...not that deep? It's a break-up song, isn't it? Maybe you could take it to betrayal.

Still not sure if it warrants the use of Strange Fruit, but you do you Kanye. He also compares the separation of your wife and side pieces to apartheid, so...

Anyway, I like the general sound of this track. The beat that kicks in at we coulda been somebody is solid. Plus, I've always been a fan of that synthetic filter thing on Kanye's voice that you can hear in the outro that starts at That summer night. The outro is actually so good.

Unlike my outro...uh, bye. Until tomorrow.

Overview:

Genre:
Hip Hop

Favorite Lyrics:
She Instagram herself like #BadBitchAlert.
He Instagram his watch like #MadRichAlert.

Verdict:
It's a lot.