“Flashing Lights”
by Kanye West ft. Dwele
(Roc-a-Fella)
“Stronger,” Graduation‘s first single, was slow-mo
Euro-techno sourced from the most beloved group in the style. It was
also a bit turgid, though that hasn’t stopped it from garnering
acclaim, and it does improve in the album’s context. “Flashing Lights”
is where Kanye takes the same basic idea to the bank. The jetliner
synth line evokes both strings (even though those are already on the
track) and the rave riffs of other post–Daft Punks like Justice.
(Anyone else want to start calling this stuff ‘botsploitation?) The
words are appropriately full of jet-set ennui, too, which is both
appropriate and (!) actually interesting.
“I Still Love H.E.R.”
by Teriyaki Boyz ft. Kanye West
(Def Jam/BAPE, Japan)
“Pro Nails”
by Kid Sister ft. Kanye West
(Fool’s Gold)
He rhymed over “Young Folks” on a mixtape. He enlisted Zach
Galifianakis and Will Oldham for a viral video. Based on what he tells
interviewers, the new music he likes most essentially amounts to the
KEXP playlist. Forget battling 50 Cent for sales domination or his
repeated vow to become the biggest music star in the universe: Kanye
West’s 2007 was most memorable for his shameless courting of blog cred.
That was also pretty much the deal with these year-bracketing guest
spots—the one with Yokohama quintet Teriyaki Boyz released in
January, the cameo with fellow Chicagoan Kid Sister in December. Both
feature West having fun on small-budgeted videos; he also looped the
airy MFSB strings of “I Still Love H.E.R.” as well as throwing in some
words he probably scribbled on the plane trip to Japan. It didn’t break
the Boyz in the U.S. the way its label hoped it might, because one
Jurassic 5 is enough. Kid Sister rides a fairly ace, Pong-bouncy
track, and if West is mostly there for moral support, he doesn’t get in
the way, either.
“Us Placers”
by CRS
(Self-released)
This, on the other hand, is probably my favorite of West’s nonalbum
work this year. Like “Flashing Lights,” it’s star griping, but here the
tone is reflective, which helps. So does the track, a shrewd flip of
Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser” with nicely offhanded verses from Lupe Fiasco
(new acquisitions include “A 50-foot yacht with an anchor/A young
supermodel that shall remain nameless”), Kanye (“How many people almost
famous/You almost remember what they name is”—kinda humble
there), and Pharrell Williams (seen-it-all: “Young, dumb, high-strung,
who can handle us?”). With Yorke moaning “The more you try to erase me,
the more that I appear,” this could have been Smug City; instead, both
music and MCs sound appropriately dazed by their newfound place in the
sun. 