Paramo 1

Kanye Wests Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy:

Yeezus vs. the Culture Industry

Kanye West exists in the interstices of American popular culture. Hes the first musical

artist to earn a Billboard number one album on streams alone, 1 has released seven number one

(and two number two) albums,2 is one of the most awarded artists of all time, 3 and is one of the

best digital-selling artists of the modern era.4 Nonetheless, there is a stark disconnect between his

commercial success, critical adulation, and white Americas opinion of him. Although his albums

consistently top critics year-end lists, West is more broadly known for his controversial antics at

award shows. From his interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs to his faux-interruption of

Beck at the 2014 Grammys, West is widely scorned for what are perceived as manifestations of

narcissism. What is regularly obscured in this discussion, however, is the ways that these actions

(paired with his musical releases) forward a political revolt against late capitalism and a

pernicious institutionalized racism.

While West has been theorized as radical by scholars before this, little to no work has

been done since his 2013 release, Yeezus5. This dearth of work is notable as his seventh solo

release, The Life of Pablo, saw him embrace an anti-commercial release strategy that challenges

the culture industry Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer first theorized in their seminal 1944

essay The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Wests challenge to todays

neoliberal order has defined his work for as long as he has been active, but it is a challenge that

is regularly discredited due to his social location as a black man. The racism that has so far

1 2016s The Life of Pablo, released exclusively on TIDAL for six weeks before spreading to Google Play, Apple
Music, and Spotify on April 1.
2 Every one of Wests albums has debuted at number one except for his 2004 debut, The College Dropout, and his
2012 label compilation Cruel Summer.
3 West has sold 45,000,000 digital singles, tied for seventh place overall.
4 West has been awarded 21 Grammy awards, the 10th most of all time; he has also earned 58 nominations, landing
him in 6th place.
5 For notable prior work on West, see Bradley, Carson, Houston, and Miller, all in Bailey (2014).
 Paramo 2

refused to entertain Wests radical politics must thus be contended with before he will be able to

leverage a successful attack on a music industry that thrives on the commercialization of black

bodies and the production of low-quality hip-hop music.6

The blueprint for Wests revolt has been laid out by those who came before him. Russell

A. Potters History-Spectacle-Resistance posits hip hop as a radical challenge to late

capitalism, one that subverts conventionally capitalistic concepts (notably, production) as a way

to resist the American culture of consumerism. West carries on in this tradition, one that,

although mitigated in many ways by the rapid spread of transnational corporatism, still wields

radical potential when deployed correctly.7 I will argue that West is uniquely poised to front this

challenge, as few hip hop artists have been as central to the genre as him, a man who is near

single-handedly responsible for re-inventing hip-hop with each of his first 6 albums. 8 Wests

career has seen him perform challenges to a dominant cultural industry that regularly

commodifies and co-opts revolutionary art. This does not, however, deny that he himself has at

times operated as an iteration of this cultural industry: namely, through his co-signs of up-

coming artists which oftentimes sees him co-opt their work while they remain incapable of

breaking into the mainstream. Finally, Wests radicalness is defined by a misogynistic undertone

that has tainted his seemingly revolutionary acts for the whole of his career, in the process

fracturing the potential for coalitions and underscoring his place as a hyper-controversial artist

turned political activist.9 A brief history of Wests career is central to understanding how his

radical political orientation has developed over the 12+ years he has spent in the public eye.

6 Houston, Kanye West: Asterisk Genius? 21-22.

7 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 70.
8 Bradley, Kanye Wests Sonic [Hip-hop] Cosmopolitanism, 101.
9 See Curry in Bailey (2014). Although Curry focuses on Wests interpretation of black manhood, he briefly details
critiques of Wests misogyny.
 Paramo 3

Wests debut, 2004s The College Dropout, is conventionally understood as a turning

point in the genre a shift from the gangsta rap that held a monopoly on commercial success

and cross-over appeal towards backpack rap, which challenged hyper-masculine

understandings of black men and gave credibility to rappers interested in traditionally nerdy

sub-genres. In short, TCD challenged dominant depictions of black men and provided them with

a new option if they sought commercial success in the hip hop realm. Importantly, it included a

retort to the materialism that had defined hip-hop (and largely continues to today). This

manifested itself prominently in All Falls Down, Through the Wire, and Family Business.

The first of these in particular has been highlighted by scholars as central to Wests critique of

the capitalist order.10 Each of his 6 succeeding albums engaged in a similar re-conceptualization

of the genre, both thematically and sonically.

2005s Late Registration saw West craft a baroque-inspired sonic landscape that

globalized his critique of oppressive systems. Dawn Boeck has periodized Wests work, and

highlights Registrations Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix) as central to Kanyes politics.

She argues that it extends Wests recognition of historical and contemporary systems of

oppression within the United States to the global and interconnected system of blood

diamonds.11 West is aware of the status his persona and music hold in a globalized world, and

utilizes his celebrity to leverage the transnational commodity that he embodies in as radical a

way as possible. Although Wests first two albums both achieved moderate commercial success,

it was 2007s Graduation that proved the blockbuster and stadium potential of rap music, the

closest West has ever come to embracing a shallow commercial output and perhaps the least

political of his albums. 2008s 808s & Heartbreak eschewed all rap conventions, a synth-pop

10 Boeck, Kanye Omari West: Visions of Modernity, 217.

11 Boeck, Kanye Omari West: Visions of Modernity, 219.
 Paramo 4

album that was widely derided at the time of its release and is now hailed as one of the most

influential albums of the 21st century; similar to Graduation, it focused primarily on West, doing

little to engage in the political critique of his first two albums. West withdrew from public life in

September of 2009, shortly after interrupting Taylor Swifts acceptance speech at the 2009

VMAs. Wests interruption was meant as a defense of black artistry in a music industry that

continuously rewards white artists over their black counterparts. Yet, media coverage

immediately following the event painted West a thug and Swift a victim, perpetuating a

centuries old logic that forces black men into a hyper-masculine mold. 12 This cultural response to

a black man willing to challenge macro cultural structures has mitigated Wests political

message, silencing an artist perceived as stepping out of his bounds.

Following the VMA incident, West spent 2 years recording 2010s My Beautiful Dark

Twisted Fantasy (from here, MBDTF). The bulk of the albums recording occurred in Hawaii,

with West flying out dozens of collaborators to take part in what he would later call a public

apology to Swift (and more broadly, the mainstream). MBDTF was widely hailed as one of the

best albums of all time, and re-established Wests place at the top of the hip-hop hierarchy. It is

worth noting that in the lead-up to the release of this project, Kanye and his team began what

they termed the Rosewood Movement, an experiment in respectability politics that emphasized

not cursing loud in public, pulling out chairs for your lady, opening up doors. 13 In short, West

recognized that he needed access to the industry for his revolt to be successful, and thus

mimicked the behaviors of the socially accepted rich and powerful, hoping to re-join their ranks.

While Wests Rosewood Movement was successful, his foray into respectability politics was

short-lived. After both MBDTF and his 2011 collaboration with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, were

12 Leonard, You Got Kanyed: Seen but Not Heard, 46.

13 http://www.rap-up.com/2010/08/14/kanye-west-explains-rosewood-movement/
 Paramo 5

snubbed for Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammys, West publicly expressed his discontent

with the Grammys, setting the stage for 2013s Yeezus rollout. Given its status as a collaborative

project, Watch the Throne is not counted amongst Kanyes solo output nonetheless, it includes

a mainstream embracing of black opulence that is explicitly political and celebratory, imbuing

black male subjects with a power that has historically been denied to them.

The period between MBDTF and Yeezus is notable as the longest break between Wests

albums, a three-year period during which West regularly teased the impending release of his next

LP. In May of 2013, West began projecting his face on buildings around the world, accompanied

by the albums first single, New Slaves. While his previous releases had subtly challenged the

materialism that defined hip hop culture writ large, New Slaves is unique for how brashly it

takes on larger cultural institutions. Ill return to the lyrical content of New Slaves later, but

first want to highlight the radical nature of the songs distribution strategy. West hired private

contractors across the globe to project his video on public buildings, leading to face-offs with

municipal governments. Across the world, local police departments shut down screenings,

threatening spectators with arrests for trespassing. Kanyes attempts to engage in a guerrilla-style

politics detached from a global capitalist order was valiant, but ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Although a few screenings did proceed as planned, the few YouTube videos documenting it were

quickly taken down by Wests label, making it clear that they exerted ultimate control over their

artists music. Soon after the projections, West premiered New Slaves and BLKKK

SKKKNHD on Saturday Night Live, leading up to the release of his sixth solo album, Yeezus,

an experiment in minimalism which targeted capitalism and the prison-industrial complex as

cultural artifacts in need of criticism.14

14 Wests critique of the prison-industrial complex in particular was notable, and garnered approval from the
ACLU. See Takei (2013).
 Paramo 6

Wests seventh album was, like Yeezus, teased months (and years) ahead of its arrival.

Originally announced for fall of 2014, then summer of 2015, and ultimately released in February

of 2016, The Life of Pablo and the lead up to it is significant among Kanyes work due in large

part to the way it challenges the music industrys traditional release schedule. Adorno &

Horkheimers depiction of the culture industry places heavy emphasis on an industry where that

which is expressed is subsumed through style into the dominant forms of generality, into the

language of music, painting, or words, in the hope that it will be reconciled thus with the idea of

true generality.15 Yet, Adorno and Horkheimers analysis necessarily could not account for the

wide democratization that technology would produce with the rise of the Internet and social

media, nor could it adequately account for the antagonistic relationship that would develop

between hip-hop culture and the culture industry, especially in the context of global music labels.

The relationship between the culture industry and hip-hop is noteworthy in large part due

to hip-hops connection to marginalized populations. Julius Bailey, philosopher and editor of the

only anthology focused on Kanye West, has furthered Adorno & Horkheimers analysis to extend

to contemporary musical moments. Central to this is the realization that more than anything, it

was the predictability of the American singers and songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s that drew

Adorno and Horkheimers ire.16 Hip-hop provides a unique opportunity to confront the

monotonous drone of the culture industry head on. 17 Bailey underscores that, while significant

portions of mainstream culture lack the mechanism of reply that Adorno & Horkheimer regarded

central to the flourishing of a culture, hip-hop uniquely includes it. In large part this is due to a

historic trend of revolutionary hip hop artists: individuals like KRS-ONE, Talib Kweli,

15 Adorno & Horkheimer, The Culture Industry, 411.

16 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 64.
17 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 65.
 Paramo 7

Common, Sarah Jones, and Mos Def.18 Baileys analysis proves the potential viability of a West-

fronted revolution, a radical practice in the vein of similar revolutions across the world. Here I

refer to the recent trend of global democratizing efforts that have unfolded across the Arabic

world. The Arab Spring made prolific use of hip-hop music as a means of dual expression, both

as a genre to connect with fellow pro-liberty activists and to send out a plea for aid and solidarity

among liberals throughout the world.19 In short, the hip-hop revolution that West has worked to

spread throughout the Western world is one that was portended by similar movements in even

less democratic portions of the world. This is largely true because the spirit of revolution is at

once a global yet deeply personal/contextual/situational response of a people, a community, and

a nation in search of recognition, justice, or inclusion.20 The musical revolt capable of being

packaged into hip hop music thus taps into an international sentiment, the manifestation of a

global discontent with the worlds economy.

These concurrent global movements are notable because they highlight the transnational

potential for revolution in todays technologized world. In fact, they are directly tied to a global

structure/ideology that embodies much of what West has been fighting against for the majority of

his career: a global neoliberalism that promises equal opportunity while perpetuating economic

inequity. David Harveys Brief History of Neoliberalism provides an explanation of how

neoliberalism manifests itself that is worth quoting from at length here. He explains that

Neoliberalism is in the first instance a theory of political economic practices that proposes that
human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and
skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free
markets, and free trade. The role of the state is to create and preserve an institutional framework
appropriate to such practices. The state has to guarantee, for example, the quality and integrity of
money. It must also set up those military, defence, police, and legal structures and functions
required to secure private property rights and to guarantee, by force if need be, the proper
functioning of markets. Furthermore, if markets do not exist (in areas such as land, water,

18 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 65.

19 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 110.
20 Bailey, Philosophy and Hip-Hop, 122.
 Paramo 8

education, health care, social security, or environmental pollution) then they must be created, by
state action if necessary. But beyond these tasks the state should not venture. State interventions in
markets (once created) must be kept to a bare minimum because, according to the theory, the state
cannot possibly possess enough information to second-guess market signals (prices) and because
powerful interest groups will inevitably distort and bias state interventions (particularly in
democracies) for their own benefit.21

Harveys explanation of neoliberalism is crucial to understanding the dominance that the cultural

industry wields today. Todays musical artists are packaged in a way that works to make them

more palatable to foreign markets. This manifests itself in a few different ways. The most

prominent example is that the European and Japanese markets often receive their own individual

bonus tracks.22 Similarly, pop artists will often release remixes aimed at particular markets: in

2015, Justin Bieber released a Latino Remix of his hit song Sorry in an attempt to garner

international attention. In short, todays musical acts are expected to exert control over their

status as transnational commodities, a control that manifests itself in album sales and streaming

counts.

Kanye West has consistently bucked this demand to make himself palatable to global

capitalism. In fact, he has shown himself radically unwilling to engage in this international

system, utilizing guerrilla tactics and taking advantage of the music industrys own laws to

ensure that he can not be commodified like those who came before him. While his second and

third albums were released in a conventional manner that attempted to appeal to international

markets, every one of his releases since 2007 has bucked that trend. In part, this is due to the

transitional stage his career existed in when Graduation was released. During the roll-out of the

album, West and rapper 50 Cent engaged in a public competition over whose album would sell

more units (both were slated to release on September 11, 2007). 50 Cent pledged to end his solo

career if he lost, and while he never fulfilled that promise, it is significant that it was made in the

21 Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, 2.

22 Sometimes this can go even further Carly Rae Jepsens 2015 album EMOTION was re-released exclusively
in the Japanese market with 10 new tracks.
 Paramo 9

first place. West would go on to out-sell 50 by more than 300,000 units, a global event that has

been hailed as a turning point in the genre, a moment that saw Kanye earn global adulation and,

in turn, access to halls of power from which he could begin his revolt against music labels. A

music critic has summarized its impact thusly:

Graduation isnt Kanye's best, it's very few people's favorite, but its an incredible body of art.
Hes literally transitioning into stardom right before our very eyes and attempting to embody that
moment in time. Kanye's victory over 50 is the bookmark for when rap changed, it was no longer
ran by the gangsters, the doors opened for Drake, Kid Cudi and J. Cole. Graduation is a
monument, a hip-hop treasure, a Kanye classic.23

Graduation marked a seismic shift in the way that the music industry approached hip hop,

proving that rappers could move significant units while still moving away from the gangsta rap

that had dominated the market for much of the late twentieth century. Further, it launched Wests

career as a global superstar, cementing his ability to self-direct his future artistic endeavors and

challenge industry norms in terms of conventional release schedules.

Wests high-profile in American culture has further been validated due to the rise of the Internet.

Anthony B. Pinns study of religion in hip hop highlights Wests unique cultural cachet. In 2013,

Wests fans launched an online religion, Yeezianity, centered on West as a pop culture figure. 24

The devotion that his fans have demonstrated is unique even in todays social media dominated

age, which proves that a movement headed by West is ripe for achieving the consciousness

central to radical liberatory theories. This is a common position among scholars who have

worked on West. One such scholar, Tommy J. Curry, highlights the political nature of Wests

music, implicitly tying it to the larger economic structures discussed earlier: Wests work is an

attempt to articulate the continuation of Black enslavement despite the artificial political and

23 See Nathan S. (2015).

24 See Pinn in Miller, Pinn, & Freeman, 91-3.
 Paramo 10

social changes that are attributed to racial progress and social equality. 25 Currys analysis

functions as a valuable starting-point for my analysis of Kanyes music.

Yeezus provides a nexus point for Kanyes liberatory politics, the album which most clearly

fulfills the requirements that Russell A. Potter outlined in Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop

and the Politics of Postmodernism. Potters seminal text highlighted hip-hops ability to

challenge the culture industry, but was also written in a pre-Kanye world. Thus, his work cannot

fully capture the extent to which West has challenged dominant American culture. It can,

however, provide a valuable lens through which to understand Wests attempt at shifting the

American paradigm. Ill briefly cover some of the elements Potter deems central to any attempt

on the part of hip-hop artists to engage with the culture industry. He indicates that hip-hop

necessitates both a fundamental oppositional stance, one which is not looking for redemption

from anybody26 and a counter-hegemonic value system, enacted through music, lyrics, and

style. Its local [] and yet its global, connecting with other black diasporic structures. 27

Further, Potter isolates the need for intellectual collaboration between rappers and academics,

forwarding an epistemological orientation that sees a full-fledged alliance and interchange

between vernacular cultural expressions [hip-hop] and academics committed to expanding our

understanding the contemporary moment.28 The final element that Potter outlines, which is

especially crucial in the context of West, is that in order to be seen at all, one must invoke a

character in the official narratives.29 In other words, artists must be willing to engage in

tropes/stereotypes that have historically been wielded by those in power. They must also have

earned access to the levers of power, a task which West completed with his 2007 break into the

25 Curry, Pessimistic Themes, 19.

26 Potter, Spectacular Vernaculars, 153.
27 Potter, Spectacular Vernaculars, 153.
28 Potter, Spectacular Vernaculars, 154.
29 Potter, Spectacular Vernaculars, 134.
 Paramo 11

mainstream, discussed above. Wests musical output since Graduation (most notably Yeezus and

The Life of Pablo) fulfills each of these requirements. Further, his political activism dating back

to 200530 demonstrates the ways that he has constructed an oppositional stance to pop culture,

one which situates his revolution as uniquely aimed at black liberation.

Scholars who have worked on West have alternatingly highlighted different elements of his

output to demonstrate his political goals. I include here a few of the ways that scholars have

described his revolution:

West had provided a level of agency amid a cloud of powerless. For activists, his comments were
not disrespectful but one based in love and respect for the black community. He was a rallying cry;
where his words would be the catalysts for people to share their pain and anger, for people to
mobilize and demand accountability and justice.31
Kanye has conscientiously or not, disrupted traditional notions around, not just sound, but fashion
and culture [] Its the blending of old and new, couture and street, black power and post-black,
street and bourgie, in order to imagine something I believe is more transgressive than any of our
categorical imperatives: FREEDOM.32
West seized power over the cultural/musical productions under review and interjected a culturally
conscious discourse of resistance into the neoliberal cultural celebration at hand. 33
Wests mastery over various software applications allows him to understand just how mutable the
perception of reality truly is [] Identity is just another software package that we can shift and
upgrade to fit the perceptions of the public.34

This dialogic exchange between academics and West highlights the ways that Potters call to

expand our understanding of the cultural moment has been fulfilled. Although West still operates

in opposition to significant portions of mainstream society, he has also tapped into the

problematic that has been theorized by cultural studies scholars throughout his career.

Understanding the ways that this manifests in his music is only possible through a close reading

of the lyrics on Yeezus and The Life of Pablo. Kanyes oppositional stance manifests itself from

the first lyrics on Yeezus opener On Sight. Wests verse begins by proclaiming Yeezy season

30 In 2005, West proclaimed George Bush doesnt care about black people on a telethon aimed at fundraising for
Katrina relief. This moment is widely regarded as the beginning of his stigmatization by the mainstream, a refusal to
allow the black artist a voice with which to challenge the Bush regime.
31 Leonard, You Got Kanyed, 58-59.
32 West, Hard to Get Straight, 123.
33 Krebs, Confidently (Non)cognizant of Neoliberalism, 195.
34 Anderson & Jennings, Afrofuturism, 43.
 Paramo 12

approaching, fuck whatever yall been hearing, fuck what fuck whatever yall been wearing, the

monster about to come alive again.35 These lyrics are performed over an electronic beat that

stands in stark contrast to all of Wests previous releases, one that refuses to accommodate the

audience and in fact asserts the artist as single-handedly knowing what is best for his listeners.

On Sight furthers this narrative through its sampling of a church choir singing Oh, hell give

us what we need. Though it may not be what we want. 36 West asserts himself as the only voice

that matters, disregarding his audiences desires in the name of his self-serving performance. On

Sight thus represents the oppositional stance that does not expect a response from his audience,

setting in motion the orientation that is necessary for a successful revolt.

Fittingly, Yeezus second and third tracks depict West embodying the counter-hegemonic value

system that is necessary for an effective revolt in Potters model. BLKKK SKKKN HEAD and

I Am a God present versions of West that are decidedly antagonistic to conventional cultural

values. The latter track finds West literally equating himself with a Judeo-Christian God, a

comparison that drew significant ire from the public at large and that situated Wests inflated

sense of self within an existing social hierarchy.37 This is a theme thats introduced on Black

Skinhead, which closes with West shouting God repeatedly, before seguing into the next

track. Before that, however, West highlights the ways that black men are exploited for

entertainment by mainstream audiences as he raps:

They see a black man with a white woman

At the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong
Middle America packed in (black)
Came to see me in my black skin (black)
Number one question they're askin'
Fuck every question you askin' (black)38

35 West, On Sight.
36 West, On Sight.
37 West, I Am a God.
38 West, BLKKK SKKKN HEAD.
 Paramo 13

These lyrics reveal Wests fulfillment of two of Potters requirements: he is performing the trope

of hyper-masculinized black men that has been used to control African-Americans since the days

of slavery, while also articulating the ways that the mainstream attempts to exert control over

black performers. These three tracks have not, however, yet articulated Kanyes message in the

context of economic relationships.

Outside of his songs, West has articulated that class divisions have bifurcated society in a

way similar to racism in the days of slavery/ Jim Crow. This emphasis on classism as a new form

of identitarian divisions is highlighted on New Slaves, and while Kanye never invokes

neoliberalism qua neoliberalism, his target is made quite clear. I include here a lengthy excerpt

from the second verse of the song, a verse that West himself has called one of the best verses in

hip-hop history:

Fuck you and your corporation

Y'all niggas can't control me
[]
I'll move my family out the country
So you can't see where I stay
So go and grab the reporters
So I can smash their recorders
See they'll confuse us with some bullshit
Like the New World Order
Meanwhile the DEA
Teamed up with the CCA
They tryna lock niggas up
They tryna make new slaves
See that's that privately owned prison
Get your piece today
They prolly all in the Hamptons
Braggin' 'bout what they made
Fuck you and your Hampton house
I'll fuck your Hampton spouse
Came on her Hampton blouse
And in her Hampton mouth
Y'all 'bout to turn shit up
I'm 'bout to tear shit down
I'm 'bout to air shit out
Now what the fuck they gon' say now?39

39 West, New Slaves.

 Paramo 14

This excerpt is notable as one of the most political moments on any of Wests albums. He begins

it with an indict of the corporate entities that have come to dominate the American culture

industry. West refuses to exist as a tool to be exploited by corporations, and is well aware of the

ways that a consumptive and profit-driven American orientation has culminated in the

development of for-profit private prisons that work to lock new slaves up. West juxtaposes his

discussion of private prisons with his mention of a conspiracy theory like the New World

Order, in the process underscoring just how grave a threat private prisons pose to black

America.

The second half of the verse accrued significant amounts of controversy, as it seemed to

confirm Wests critics belief that he perpetuates misogyny for little more than shock value. Quite

the contrary however, I believe that this verse is West engaging in the character in the official

narratives that Potter earlier highlighted as necessary for political revolt to be heard. The

portions of the verse that discuss West having sex with a Hampton spouse are iterations of

West co-opting the stereotype of black masculinity in order to more effectively leverage his own

identity.40 In this way, West claims the faade of a monster as a contested space for strategic

satire.41 When attempting to come to terms with Wests perceived misogyny, it is thus prudent to

question the historic tradition that insists on constructing black men as necessarily violent and

sexually threatening. Failing to take this into account makes it impossible to understand the

socialization process that has informed the formation of Wests identity and, more broadly, his

political stances.

40 Such a reading of Wests music as an attempt to re-claim and repair the image of black masculinity is supported
by other scholars. Tommy J. Curry has argued that Wests music is centrally pre-occupied with the trope of black
masculinity. See Curry in Bailey (2014). Further, see Ciccariello-Maher (2009), which situates West in a larger
historical tradition of Black revolutionary thought.
41 Krebs, Confidently (Non)cognizant, 201-2.
 Paramo 15

The final way that West leverages his revolt against capitalism manifests itself in the

unique release strategies that he has adopted for the roll-out of his last two albums. When West

premiered the physical packaging for Yeezus in 2013, fans were shocked to discover that it

included no cover art. While such a move would be surprising from any major label release, it

was especially shocking coming from West, who had in the past commissioned art works from

George Condo and Takashi Murakami, famed contemporary artists who in many ways served to

validate Wests artistic output. The simple jewel case for Yeezus was meant to represent the death

of the CD, a recognition that conventional releases were no longer possible in a technological

world.

Figure 1. Kanye Wests Yeezus packaging

Further, the live performances that West did while promoting the album were starkly presented in

front of a projection that proclaimed West was proudly NOT FOR SALE. West is aware of his

status as a commodity, and willing to utilize his commercial value to ensure that his label will

back his message. This is what portended his 2016 album release and its frenetic nature.
 Paramo 16

The Life of Pablos roll-out was fairly unique in that it provided Wests fans with unprecedented

access to the recording process. For the three weeks leading up to the albums completion and

release, West gathered his collaborators in a Los Angeles studio. During this period, West and his

collaborators would regularly send fans updates on the status of the album via different social

media sites. 2 Chainz posted snippets of unreleased music on his Snapchat, West tweeted out a

handwritten tracklist, and Chance the Rapper tweeted lyrics as they were being written. Such

insight is notable for two reasons: a) following Beyoncs surprise release of her visual album

BEYONC in December of 2013, music labels wanted to capitalize on surprise album releases,

which Kanyes constant social media updates precluded; and b) Wests regular updates provided

his fans with unprecedented input into the creative process that shattered the class barriers that

had previously defined the music industry.42 West then premiered the album in a public event at

Madison Square Garden, an event that was simulcast into movie theaters around the globe.

Following this event, West would release the album on streaming platform TIDAL, vowing

never to put the album up for sale or on competing streaming platforms. While Wests label

ultimately forced him to release it on competitors Apple Music and Spotify, the album is still not

available for purchase except through Wests own online store. This reclamation of the

mechanisms of production is one of the few ways that West can exert power over the industry

writ large, setting a standard that has the chance to radically change the industry as a whole.

Pablos most lasting legacy however, will likely be its status as an unfinished art object West

has continually updated the album since its release, re-defining what it means for an artist to

release an album and in the process challenging decades of existing precedence.

42 Perhaps the clearest example of this is the uproar that occurred when West removed two featured vocalists, Vic
Mensa and Sia, from album track Wolves. Fans protested so loudly that a week after releasing the album, West re-
uploaded an updated version of the track that placated his fans concerns.
 Paramo 17

West is by no means the perfect revolutionary his power is still often impeded by his music

labels need to turn a profit, and he is far too marred in controversy to be particularly successful

at fostering the class consciousness that would be necessary to truly overthrow the culture

industry. Nonetheless, his willingness to stake out a position that is defined by its antagonism to

existing power structures provides a valuable footprint for future revolutionary movements

within the genre. Wests music, political activism, and unconventional release schedules situate

him as uniquely aware of the intersections between race, class, and access to power. It is this

knowledge that he is working to utilize, in an attempt to overturn the neoliberalism that

perpetuates identitarian hierarchies.

 Paramo 18

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 Paramo 19

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 Paramo 20

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