The hip-hop-minded got quite a treat this morning when they arose from their slumber: In the middle of the night, rapper Kanye West had shared his second new track of the year. It's the full version of "No Parties in L.A.," and it features fellow rap A-lister Kendrick Lamar.
I'm an admirer of the catalogs of both artists, so about an hour after running across the track on Twitter, it had already gotten double-digit plays through my headphones. You listen to a song that many times and certain things begin to stand out. Answers to lingering questions start to become clear.
So what'd we learn from "No More Parties in L.A." and what could it tell us about SWISH, the long-awaited Kanye album that's expected February 11?
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THE SAMPLES ARE SWEET: Kanye came to prominence early in his career as a masterful track producer whose manipulation of old-soul samples helped carve out a retro-yet-fresh aesthetic for hip-hop. So it's interesting, after years of him moving in more avant-garde directions, to hear the classic-sounding vocal and beat extractions in the new song. We get some mood-setting opening sounds from a '70s Johnny Guitar Watson song, a rap refrain from a Ghostface Killah track and a funky mid tempo foundation from Junie Morrison circa 1976. The total package, appropriately, sounds like a cousin to the G-funk style of Dr. Dre. No wonder Lamar sounds so natural on his extended verse.
BADU'S NAME POPS UP: A few bars into Lamar's lengthy section in the middle of the song, the rapper spits the line, "Uh, well cutie, I like your bougie booty/Come Erykah Badu me." He's inserting our hometown R&B legend's name into a wordplay-packed pickup line, mostly because it fits the rhyme and rhythm. It could also be considered a subtle reference to Badu's relationship past. Her history with rappers is well regarded at this point. She even joked about it when hosting the Soul Train Awards. Just don't take Kendrick's reference as any kind of diss -- he's performed with Badu before and, like anyone with good taste, celebrates her artistry.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Following Kendrick's verse would be daunting even for a lyricist of Kanye's status, but he raps even longer and packs in countless witty references -- to his own creative past, to the vampire-like atmosphere and urban sprawl of the song's namesake city, and to the prevalence of groupies and gold-diggers in the rap game. The groupie theme pops up in both rappers' verses on the song, to both comedic and pornographic effect. But the lyrical subject matter about West's family members is likely what will turn the most heads. The first reference roots from a superstar's paranoia: "I be worried 'bout my daughter, I be worried 'bout Kim/But Saint is baby Ye, I ain't worried 'bout him." And not even Kanye is immune to fascination with the unending Kardashian media blitz: "Whole family gettin' money, thank God for E!"
BACK TO THE OLD KANYE? Do "No More Parties in L.A." and the previously released new track "Real Friends" suggest that SWISH will reacquaint us with the lyrically expansive, sample-riding up-and-comer of The College Dropout? Probably, but considering Kanye West's willful avoidance of total predictability, we're more likely to get a new record that touches on all of the chapters of his career. Is it February yet?
