• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What the fuck happened to Kanye's lyrical ability?

P

PixelatedBookake

Junior Member
This thread is somewhat inspired by the song Wolves off of the Kanye West album "The Life of Pablo" The production on this song is amazing, as expected of Kanye. Even Sia's feature is dope on it. The instrumental is so on point, but I feel it was wasted on Kanye's shitty-ass lyrics on the track, and better yet, most of the album. Like come on. Lemme give you a snippet.

You tried to play nice, everybody just took advantage
You left your fridge open, somebody just took a sandwich
I said baby what if you was clubbin'
Thuggin', hustlin' before you met your husband?
Then I said, "What if Mary was in the club
'Fore she met Joseph around hella thugs?
Cover Nori in lambs' wool
We surrounded by the fuckin' wolves"

And I love Pablo, but I can't deny how shitty Kanye's lyrics have gotten. Anyone who has listened to the album can attest to this.

My favorite songs by Yeezy would have to be Family Business, All Falls Down, and Through the Wire.
Guess my favorite album of his lol
These songs resonate with me on a personal level due to how well Yeezy's lyrics resonate with me. I really, REALLY don't want this to end up being a thread about ranking best Yeezy albums or "I miss the old Kanye" shit, although that might be unavoidable but none the less...
I lowkey enjoy them tho

When did this happen? How did this happen? Any why do you think it happened? I want to hear what you guys think.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
If you think you're a genius artist gifted from the heavens, how hard do you have to work on your skills, really?
 
S

sinkfla87

Member
As a music fan of several genres, I feel like the longer artists are around and the more prominent they remain the lyrics in the later years eventually don't live up to the lyrics of the earlier years. I write music myself and have noticed this in my own works :(. There are many contributing factors I'm sure, but the key ones are kind of a mystery.

BocoDragon said:
If you think you're a genius artist gifted from the heavens, how hard do you have to work on your skills, really?
Click to expand...

This is a big one. If you get overly confident and you aren't questioning your own works, they may end up taking an artistic hit.
 
I

Ivan 3414

Member
He's always been a lackluster lyricist, he's lazier than ever now and in today's mumble rap era and the cult of personality surrounding him there's really no incentive for him to improve
 
F

Feel the Swift

Member
Yeezus lyrics are more or less the same but don't bother me as much because the production was top notch. Enjoyed Pablo when it came out but looking back it's definitely my least favorite project of his.
 
K

Kusagari

Member
I've never thought Ye was a great lyricist, so I'm fine with him just fully embracing these dumbass lyrics.

The sweet and sour sauce, keep it 300 like the Romans, that sandwich line.

Give me more.
 
K

kikiribu

Member
Now if I fuck this model
And she just bleached her asshole
And I get bleach on my T-shirt
I'ma feel like an asshole

Sums up Kanye entirely. Good music, utterly shit lyrics.
 
A

a916

Member
Well he spent like what, 4 years writing College Dropout?

But yeah, he's definitely dropped off... every now and then he drops a Saint Pablo/Real Friends
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
One of my all time favorites of his is Homecoming. Making the song seem like it’s about a girl, when really it’s his hometown is peak Yeezy.

For sure gone down.
 
D

Dali

Member
He's had a few gems lyrically since his old stuff but honestly I'm not sure with me personally he's ever effected me as much as through the wire. It's like just so real and heart felt and he's literally mush mouthing the lyrics while his mouth is wired shut.

Deadly Cyclone said:
One of my all time favorites of his is Homecoming. Making the song seem like it’s about a girl, when really it’s his hometown is peak Yeezy.

For sure gone down.
Click to expand...

Please tell me you've heard the original mixtape version "Home." Another very real and heart felt song of his.

https://youtu.be/VhvVKdF4Nwk

Iirc that's John legend with the vocals. So good.

Edit: of course I had to listen to it again. This version is just so much better than the album version it's ridiculous. No interruptions by some shitty ass chorus, better beat, and the soulful crooning of John throughout the song just fills it with sadness, regret, and maybe longing. The final lines always bring a smile though:

Any interview I'm representing you, making you proud/shoot for the stars so if you fall, you land on the clouds/jump in the crowd, spark your lighters, wave 'em around/if you don't know by now, I'm talkin bout chi town.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
I just care about those hot beats in hip hop and they've gotten better for Kanye. Never cared for verses, even in a lyrically centered genre like hip hop. I know I'm an extreme outlier as a hip hop fan. I feel totally out of place in hip hop discussion on this board because of it lol.
 
S

Spoiled Milk

Banned
I miss the old Kanye, straight from the Go Kanye
Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye
I hate the new Kanye, the bad mood Kanye
The always rude Kanye, spaz in the news Kanye
I miss the sweet Kanye, chop up the beats Kanye
I gotta say, at that time I'd like to meet Kanye
See, I invented Kanye, it wasn't any Kanyes
And now I look and look around and there's so many Kanyes
I used to love Kanye, I used to love Kanye
I even had the pink polo, I thought I was Kanye
What if Kanye made a song about Kanye
Called "I Miss The Old Kanye"? Man, that'd be so Kanye
That's all it was Kanye, we still love Kanye
And I love you like Kanye loves Kanye
 
ThisGuy

ThisGuy

Member
Blastoise said:
Eatin' Asian pussy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce
Click to expand...
When I ever I hear that line I feel like I'm hearing some old racist with a fetish. Lol, can't believe it came from kanye.

I really love Pablo, and I like the lyrics more than his older work. There's something about it that I can't put my finger on about that album. He's just gotten better over time. I've said it before, I'll gladly say it again. He's the best active artist.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Never existed. Every verse is written the same way, ghostwriter throws him one clever line, he sandwiches it between a bunch stupid shit.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
It's not really a function of much besides a stylistic choice.

Ye had different ghost writers at his lyrical heights (TCD/MBDTF), but some of those guys were around at the same time as his lows (Graduation, Yeezus, Pablo), but also at some of his better verses like Go Hard and WTT were all Ye.

It's just a stylistic choice, Ye trying to make punchlines and not always succeeding.
 
L

Lkr

Member
Blastoise said:
Eatin' Asian pussy, all I need was sweet and sour sauce
Click to expand...

lmao

i forgot whose verse it is but i think its on new god flow where someone spits the line "i got soccer moms payin for cock, asians get it from behind while they're cleaning their wok" it makes me laugh every time
 
L

Linkura

Member
Dali said:
He's had a few gems lyrically since his old stuff but honestly I'm not sure with me personally he's ever effected me as much as through the wire. It's like just so real and heart felt and he's literally mush mouthing the lyrics while his mouth is wired shut.
Click to expand...

When I first heard Through the Wire, I knew we were getting something special.

He doesn't do that anymore.
 
D

dafinezt

Banned
Lkr said:
lmao

i forgot whose verse it is but i think its on new god flow where someone spits the line "i got soccer moms payin for cock, asians get it from behind while they're cleaning their wok" it makes me laugh every time
Click to expand...

That was Ghost I think lol

I liked his verse on No More Parties in LA. All his other verses on TLOP were trash though.
 
R

rec0ded1

Member
For me personally the weakest shit was:

I just talked to Jesus, he said, "What up Yeezus?"
I said, "Shit I'm chilling.
Click to expand...

At least the other lines are laughs but this made me feel like I should just repeat what my toddler nephew says and rap it.
 
D

Doctor Decimate

Member
Djuro said:
Now if I fuck this model
And she just bleached her asshole
And I get bleach on my T-shirt
I'ma feel like an asshole

Sums up Kanye entirely. Good music, utterly shit lyrics.
Click to expand...

this one's just funny, too.

like, the actual bad part of the OP's excerpt from Wolves is the Mary and Joseph stuff. Kanye's for sure fallen off lyrically barring a few good ones here and there but a lot can still be appreciated for its silliness.

which is probably not the intended effect but it works for me so
 
P

PG2G

Member
Hip Hop hasn't gotten more simple over the years and guys like Kanye and Drake have done a pretty decent job adjusting to the times.
 
V

Vicetrailia

Member
I think the biggest problem with Kanye is that his ego is so much in the stratosphere and he will ruin everything he touches due to it.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
Yep. Ye surrounded himself with a lot of talented/witty ghostwriters back then. And he was motivated/had something to say.

But no one is ever going to Kanye for great bars, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We'll always have Gone/Primetime at least.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
Dali said:
Please tell me you've heard the original mixtape version "Home." Another very real and heart felt song of his.

https://youtu.be/VhvVKdF4Nwk

Iirc that's John legend with the vocals. So good.
Click to expand...

It's hard to listen to that and imagine people that loved it, and still love his current stuff. The contrast is so.... blinding. I love his early stuff but his newer stuff after MBDTF is just loony. Shit he was already leaning into it in MBDTF but I just ignored it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The story behind the unreleased 2nd Control Denied album: When Man and Machine Collide.
11
3K
Scotty W replied
Kanye West reportedly pitched a game to Shigeru Miyamoto: ‘He couldn’t believe it’
2
58
5K
64bitmodels replied
2021 Album of the Year
Social 2
51
4K
e0n replied
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is 100 hours long
News 2 3
135
11K
TrebleShot replied
Fear Inoculum at ~200 days.
31
2K
Thaedolus replied
Top Bottom