It’s been at least several hours since we’ve written about Kanye West in this 17th week of the Year of Our Lord 2018, which means there is another development in the Yeezus-turned-#MAGA hat-loving-Trump supporter saga to dissect.
This time, the rapper-mogul-cultural provocateur dropped “Ye vs. the People,” his second song to be released since he began tweeting enthusiastically in support of President Trump last week, sending both his longtime fans and detractors into a frenzy.
The track was played for the first time Friday night on Power 106, a Los Angeles hip-hop radio station, and features Kanye and the rapper T.I. engaged in a back-and-forth political debate. Presumably, T.I. represents “the People” as he answers “Ye,” who puts to verse more or less what he had been tweeting about for the last several days. (It’s unclear what the Power 106 DJs, who periodically shout and blow air horns over the track, are supposed to represent.)
Kanye opens with a nod to his one-time support of President Barack Obama and a reference to his own rumored presidential ambitions:
I know Obama was Heaven-sent / But ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be President
T.I. responds:
Yeah you can, at what cost though? Don’t that go against the teachings that Ye taught for?
The two battle it out, couplet by couplet, touching on everything from police brutality to Kanye’s recent flaunting of his signature red “Make America Great Again” cap, autographed by Trump. Throughout, there are enough open-ended questions (“Is it better if I rap about crack? Huh? ‘Cause it’s cultural?”) to make Socrates proud.
[Trump offers more praise for rapper Kanye West, cites other African Americans who’ve said to give him a chance]
“You just readin’ the headlines, you don’t see the fine print / You on some choosin’-side s—, I’m on some unified s—,” Kanye raps.
T.I. responds: “It’s bigger than your selfish agenda / If you election ain’t gon’ stop police from murderin’ n—-s.”
Kanye: “Bruh, I never ever stopped fightin’ for the people / Actually wearin’ the hat’ll show people that we equal.”
The lyrics eventually move on from couplets to longer verses in which each rapper makes his case. Much as he had done in a text debate with John Legend, Kanye once again defended himself by saying he was simply engaging in “free thought” and encouraging “new ideas,” while T.I. encouraged him to reconsider, given his influence.
YE:
I feel an obligation to show people new ideas
And if you wanna hear ’em, there go two right hereMake America Great Again had a negative reception
I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new directionAdded empathy, care and love and affection
And y’all simply questionin’ my methodsT.I.:
What you willin’ to lose for the point to be proved?
This shit is stubborn, selfish, bullheaded, even for youYou wore a dusty-a — hat to represent the same views
As white supremacy, man, we expect better from youNot just to be let down when we depend on you, homie
That’s why it’s important to know what direction you’re goin’ now
To clear up any confusion, “Ye vs. the People” is not the same as “Lift Yourself,” a track Kanye had dropped hours earlier that was seen as a coded response to Hot 97 radio station DJ Ebro Darden, a longtime friend West who said he had called the rapper and tried to intervene in the midst of his bizarre tweetstorms last week.
Confused? No matter. All you need to know is that the upbeat ditty “Lift Yourself” included such head-scratching lyrics as:
Poopy-di scoop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop
Poop-di-scoopty
Scoopty-whoop
Whoopity-scoop, whoop-poop
Poop-Diddy, whoop-scoop
Poop, poop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-diddy-scoop
Whoop-diddy-scoop, poop
In conclusion: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Read more:
The Kanye West-Chance saga shows how the pro-Trump Internet looks for celebrity converts
Chance the Rapper apologizes for defending Kanye West’s pro-Trump tweets
Kanye West’s Trump-supportive tweets were probably unrelated to unemployment data
Kim and Kanye named their new baby girl Chicago West, and the city is loving the attention
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