Famous

Twitter is the Wilderness

Famous by Kanye West

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, then you realize there's been some drama between Taylor Swift and the West family. I mean, Kanye and Swift have been feuding since the 2009 Grammys, but there's a new thing. You can find a synopsis of the situation here.

Whether you side with Kim K. or Tay - or if you've just set up a hammock in the shade - you should probably know this song. Even the music video (not embedded because it's NSFW) is controversial.

Plus, I got a lengthy and beautifully dramatic description from the Anon who recommended it. I'm putting their thoughts in italics instead of quotation marks to make it easier to differentiate between their words and mine.

Famous is really the perfect song encapsulating Kanye's career. It is also Kanye's best storytelling song.

I assume you're not talking about Snapchat storytelling.

Throughout Kanye's career, he has been broken and wounded by pain related to fame (his mom's death, etc.) which has hardened him. When we think back at early Kanye, though, there are a ton of people who wish he would return to that innocence and earnestness, but Kanye knows that he can't.

:(

When Rihanna sings the chorus, it is actually Kanye.

The perspective, they mean. When Rihanna sings, it is actually Rihanna. Even Kanye cannot mimic Riri's vocals.

It touches on his understanding of the public disliking him (Man, I can understand why it might be kinda hard to love a girl like me.) because of his actions, but I think the point that he's trying to get across is that fame (get it haha Famous) has yanked that innocence out.

And then out of nowhere, this insane claustrophobic but also mesmerizing and seductive beat comes out (fame) and snatches that innocence. We're thrown off guard by the beat, just as Kanye was with fame.

I love the idea of fame itself being represented in the song as a certain sound. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on exactly when that part begins. Are you referring to the beat that jumps in directly after Rihanna's sections?

If so, I think there's poetry there. After Rihanna's second verse, it starts up after the line Wake up, Mister West, which would be appropriate. That also fits with your narrative of Rihanna's chorus representing Kanye before fame.

We, the audience, see Kanye trying to reach higher and higher in his lyrics to overcome fame's flashing lights, and he's touched on this before with Forever, etc. (What did Kanye want forever that he'd become dejected by in that song? Fame.)

Okay, true. This might not be as accessible for those of us who aren't super familiar with all of Kanye's discography, but the point is that Kanye's storytelling does not end when the song ends. His story is cohesive because it's the story of his life.

One overarching theme is fame. It's the paradox of craving it but also suffering from its consequences. It's the mystery of something intangible yet powerful. He's jaded yet insatiable.

The fame has turned him into this monster because there's so much pressure. (The pressure is why Swizz Beatz is on the sidelines, commanding Kanye to reach up and overcome.)

It's also Kanye's consciousness, the thing that has always driven him to go against all odds and succeed when nobody believed in him. (Wake up, Mr. West.)

Then boom, the beautiful sample.

This man is the king of sampling.

Kanye has overcome this fame, and Swizz is now celebratory (Can't stop us now.) - Insanely mesmerizing and uplifting sample. This is the reward of fame, getting through the struggle has eventually given him a wife and children.

I would argue, though, that his wife and children aren't the reward of fame. I think he's still struggle with fame is continuing, but he has figured out to deal with it in a way that allows him to also do things - such as start a family - that allow him to feel fulfilled.

This also relates to the music video. The sample is when everything comes into focus with beautiful colors, etc. after being disturbing and unsettling.

But the part that ties everything together and is truly one of the best moments of Kanye's career is that ****ing Nina Simpone sample at the end. The graveled, beautiful voice at the end. Older, knowing. It harkens to Rihanna's original chorus immediately, and you can't help but compare the two.

This works two ways. In one, you can see that the young, innocent, clean side (voice) is gone, but you also see that through the struggle and the journey, there has arisen true greatness that will be arried over the years (Nina's voice).

Then the end: I just wanted you to know. It's to the audience again but also to the people who despise him, to those who Kanye had previously addressed in Black Skinhead.

Except now, instead of anger and lashing out and posturing (a lot of Yeezus), there is a deeper honesty that Kanye has found. True confidcnce is knowing that you have the ability to overcome. 

While Yeezus felt like Kanye making dangerous music because he was worried that he wouldn't be able to ride his Truman show goat through the wall, now things are different. He (Nina) has that deeper knowledge that everything will turn out alright, and I felt that there is a contentedness in it.

Honestly, like, I felt a lot of this when I originally heard the song at MSG. Absolutely blew me away.