The New York based singer and songwriter Iman Europe reveals visuals for the MPtheGod-produced single, “Cold.” Europe showcases a dark, grittier scope of the creatives struggle with a warning chant set to an old-school NYC vibe. Pushing herself to the limit further proves that triumph will be inevitable for Iman Europe. “Cold” is the first visual – released through All Def Digital – offering off of Caterpillar EP.

“If you’ve never experienced any kind of struggle or breaking point in your life, you will not fuck with this project. This project is based on the Generation Y creative who dreams higher than they can reach, who wants more than they can handle, who is learning and hurting, yet pursuing. This project is the reality of our uncomfortable placement in the world right now; our limbo, our in-between, our cocoon.”
– Iman Europe

Check out the Wolph Creations-directed video below, and share your thoughts!

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The ultimate appeal of the EP is Briggs’  unrestricted willingness to explore different sounds. This openness isn’t equally rewarding on all songs, but when it works, it’s powerful. “Somebody,” for example, features  a heavy sample of Gotye‘s hit “Somebody That I Used to Know.” It’s surprising to hear a rapper appendaged to the poppy ballad, but after experiencing Briggs’ intervention, it feels perfectly natural. “Loser,” which samples Beck‘s “Loser,” isn’t as successful, but Briggs makes up for it on “Cold,” a menacing Sean Nathaniel-produced song that features Briggs at his most vitriolic and technically proficient.

Stream and/or download the EP below.

The post New EP: Tyrone Briggs – Scattered Thoughts appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo by Matt Salacuse

With all of the Kanye talk out there in response to Yeezus, it’s easy to lose track of history, especially as it relates to Kanye’s ego. Both fans and critics alike have claimed that Kanye has radically changed since the days of popped collars, teddy bears and backpacks. Those claims certainly have some merit, especially musically and stylistically, but in regard to Kanye’s ego, things have been relatively stable. Back in 2010, we interviewed photographer Matt Salacuse (RESPECT. Vol. 1 Issue 4) and referring to this photograph, he told us of his experience shooting Kanye back in 2004 during the promotion for College Dropout:

“This was for promotion of his first album, and even then he was egotistical. I shot this in seven frames, and this was the first frame. After I took it he was like, ‘What are you doing? I wasn’t ready!’ And unfortunately, during the other six frames, he wasn’t doing anything. They were just bland. And the record company used this one.”

And there you have it.  Kanye’s undergone a lot of change in 10 years, but his huge ego has been there since the beginning. Hell, on “Last Call,” Kanye brings it up himself: “They say you bougie, you big-headed/ Would you please stop talking’ bout how big my dickhead is.”

If you’re still not convinced, read the late Donda West’s book, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar. She dedicates an entire chapter to Kanye’s ego! So the next time someone laments (or praises) Kanye’s allegedly growing ego, tell them, “Shut the fuck up when you talk to me before Matt Salacuse embarrass you.”

P.S.

Read our Yeezus review.

And look out for our app. It’s coming soon to an iPad near you.

The post RESPECT. The Archive: College Dropout Era Kanye Gets Contextualized appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Kanye West’s sixth studio album, Yeezus, leaked four days before its official release on June 18^th, 2013. Guess who didn’t give a fuck? Kanye West. After months of anticipation, a star-studded listening party at NYC’s Milk Studios, and a brash and refreshing marketing strategy of public video projections, Yeezus reached the masses early and illegally, yet the world got almost no response from the Chicago MC.

This nonchalant reaction not only solidifies Mr. West’s opinion about the leak – as well as the album cover itself – but it also represents his approach to the new LP as a whole. “How much do I not give a fuck? Let me show you right now, ‘fore you give it up,” West raps in his exaggeratedly nasal voice, just one minute into the album’s opener, “On Sight“. ‘Ye is already letting everyone know that he’s going to do what he wants on this album, with no apologies. And as the above lyric cues “On Sight”‘s techno barrage to let up and reveal a sweeping soul-ish melody reminiscent of his past work, West’s brash aversion to convention pays off. Beautifully.

“On Sight” gives us a little taste of the Kanye we’ve known in the past, easing us into his new world with a head-nodding, futuristic-sounding banger à la “Stronger” that quickly changes directions as the track morphs into a sharp and warbled electronic shrill. Once this discomfort has slightly set in, “Black Skinhead”  comes at us full throttle. The track is the highlight of the album, effortlessly combining gut-wrenching electric guitars with militant, almost ceremonial drums.  Better yet, Kanye’s flow is in a rare double-time that makes his neurotic shrieks even more compelling. (Trivia: he probably hasn’t flowed that fast since “Get Em High“)

The third track, “I Am A God” continues with the same strength as “Black Skinhead“, with ‘Ye declaring himself a “close tie” to Jesus. Understandably, the song has raised a bit of controversy, with many opposed to Kanye presenting himself as a deity. But listening closely to his tone as he snarls those four words, it seems as though Kanye is declaring his status as a god to both the listeners and himself. Furthermore, beyond those four words, it’s important to note the line, “Until the day I get struck by lightning, I am a God.” Even when he’s elevating himself to the heavens, Kanye still seems to be wary of going too high because maybe there actually is someone above.

The production on the album is constantly complex and often schizophrenic, weaving both seamlessly and abruptly between dark House music, distorted dancehall and maximal EDM. This raging mixture of blown-out bass and disparate noises is honestly like nothing else we’ve ever heard from the Chicago rapper. It is not uncommon for rappers to attempt to cross genre-boundaries and it is very common for producers to violate these boundaries (if they even believe in them), but Kanye genuinely seems to have built this album’s soundscape with pure openness. The production credits for Yeezus are notably extensive for an album without live instrumentation. Moreover, artists with very loose hip-hop affiliations seem to have had significant roles.

Nevertheless, perhaps this openness should have been reined in a little bit. Take “Blood on the Leaves,” for instance. Sampling Nina Simone‘s cover of “Strange Fruit,” a song about lynchings of Black males in the South, Kanye samples TNGHT‘s “R U Ready” and creates a song that’s chilling, yet impossible not to dance to. It’s easy to view the sample as the work of a provocateur, but if nothing else, the album is absolutely a gesture in sincerity. In other words, Kanye actually does think it’s okay to conflate lynching with relationship problems. If that sounds absurd to you, that’s because it is. But how could Kanye think that comparison is okay?

That question brings us to Yeezus‘ lyrics. Lyrically, Yeezus isn’t particularly evocative.  Kanye familiarly raps about luxury life on songs like “Send It Up”, women on cuts like “I’m In It” and “Hold My Liquor”, and loss on “Guilt Trip.” Even when these familiar topics are paired with new interests like the youth of Chicago and the contradictions that come with being a black celebrity, the lyrics aren’t particularly rewarding. The real reward of the album is its affect. Even when Kanye is comparing lynching to relationship problems, despite the absurdity of this comparison, the atmosphere of the song, how it makes you feel, is overwhelming. In fact, Kanye seemingly makes the comparison because of how he feels. For him, affects, feelings, can be equated in ways that words (or realities) cannot. Thus, he doesn’t ask us or convince us to feel a certain way by using clever lyrics: he makes us feel a certain way by pairing two disparate sounds and forcing them to work. That is the strength of “Blood on the Leaves” and the overall strength of the album. Kanye has learned to use sound to command listeners to feel a certain affect regardless of how that affect was created.  A cynic might say he really is a God.

The last track on the LP, “Bound 2”, is a journey into nostalgia. From the moment the sample of Ponderosa Twins Plus One‘s song “Bound” begins playing, it’s like time- traveling into the 70’s. This final song is a true treat, because it takes us all the way back to ‘Ye’s College Dropout days, when he pulled samples from some of the greatest singers to bless our ears, including Chaka Khan and Luther Vandross.  Mr. West’s rhymes are what we’d expect from him, but the singing throughout the track is what makes it exceptional. To put the icing on the cake, ‘Ye lets Charlie Wilson belt out, “I know you’re tired of loving…with nobody to love.” It’s a very comforting ending, especially in comparison to the atmosphere that preceded it.

Yeezus lacks a teddy bear or anything closely resembling one, but Kanye West remains embraceable. In fact, Kanye has grown even colder since “Cold,” but perhaps that’s the point. Yeezus doesn’t have have to give a fuck about us for us to give a fuck about him. He’s a god.

The post Album Review: Kanye West – Yeezus appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

A few years ago we wrote about George Condo. His tight relationship with Kanye West propelling his rise to fame and two years later, Condo’s still making West’s album covers, and memorable art. This time for “Cold” ( both “Theraflu” and ” Way too Cold” have been dropped).

Condo is one of the most prominent contemporary artist of this time. He works with various techniques from painting to printmaking, and created the genre of Artificial Realism, “The realistic representation of that which is artificial,” he says.

Recently his work has become increasingly more abstract, but in a different way than you might expect. He challenges the definition of abstract by including faces and bodies, but Condo himself does not use that term to describe his work, scared of the negative connotation it often carries.

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