Genius Meanings
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Kanye West (Ft. JAY-Z) – Jail
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“Jail” is the triumphant return of Kanye West and JAY-Z, also known as The Throne. The duo has now made amends after their once brotherly relationship stood still. This is the
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Kanye West (Ft. DaBaby & Marilyn Manson) – Jail pt 2
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For a polarizing sequel to “Jail” with JAY-Z, Kanye West enlists DaBaby – fresh off the heels of controversy regarding homophobic statements made at Rolling Loud Miami – and
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Kanye West (Ft. Syleena Johnson) – All Falls Down
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“All Falls Down” is a self-reflection of Kanye’s personal battle with consumerism. The track was the third single from his debut album, The College Dropout. The song peaked at
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Kanye West – Family Business
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The stories in this song are not actually all about Kanye’s family. Per Complex, Tarrey Torae (who sings “they don’t mean a thang” toward the end) helped Kanye with the stories for
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Kanye West (Ft. Fivio Foreign & Playboi Carti) – Off The Grid
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A recording of the fourth track off of Kanye West’s Donda, “Off The Grid,” with vocals from American rapper Playboi Carti, played off of Kanye’s speakers in a Belgian hotel during
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JAY-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Otis Redding) – Otis
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The second single from Watch the Throne, “Otis” has Yeezus flipping a portion of a classic Otis Redding track into an entire instrumental. He formed the track after his mentor No I
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Kanye West (Ft. Chance the Rapper, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin & The-Dream) – Ultralight Beam
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“Ultralight Beam” is about Kanye’s faith in God. This track establishes strong parallels for The Life of Pablo with the life of Saint Paul the Apostle. Paul (Saul at the time) was
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Kanye West (Ft. The Boys Choir of Harlem, Freeway & Yasiin Bey) – Two Words
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Off of 2004’s The College Dropout, Kanye, Mos Def and Freeway drop this fast-paced track dedicated to the titular purpose: the verses are done with two words (or two stressed
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Kanye West (Ft. Bon Iver) – Lost In the World
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According to Kanye, the verse began as a poem he emailed to Kim Kardashian because he had the beat but no lyrics. He made the revelation at his Glastonbury 2015 headline set.
This
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Kanye West – Jail (June 2021 Demo)
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[Intro: Kanye West] / Take what you want / Take everything / Take what you want / Take what you want / [Verse 1: Kanye West] / Better that I change my number so you can't explain
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Kanye West – POWER
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Produced by Kanye and S1, “POWER” samples “21st Century Schizoid Man” by progressive British rock band King Crimson, the drums from the Cold Grits' rendition of “It’s Your Thing” (
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Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds
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“FourFiveSeconds” features vocals by Rihanna and Kanye West, and instrumentals by Sir Paul McCartney. It has earned praise for its minimalist instrumentals, which include acoustic
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Kanye West – Pinocchio Story
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On “Pinocchio Story,” Kanye takes a turn for the worse as he tears himself apart for his mistakes in this haunting song. He blames himself for his mother’s death and attacks his
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Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY
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Lil Nas X recruits Louisville native Jack Harlow for “INDUSTRY BABY,” a boisterous song where the duo rap about their fame and success, blowing up, and their newfound statuses in
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Frank Ocean – White Ferrari
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The heartbreaking “White Ferrari” features great emotional depth as the track speaks volumes about love and permanence.
In December 2015, Canadian DJ and producer A-Trak started
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Kanye West – New Slaves
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“New Slaves” was the first official offering of Kanye West’s most polarizing album, Yeezus. After teasing a June 18 date through Twitter, on May 12, 2013, and performing new music
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Playboi Carti – Control
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“Control” starts off by a sampled voice clip from the hip-hop media personality Akademiks. The clip is from a Twitch stream where Akademiks announced the release date of the album.
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Kanye West & The Weeknd (Ft. Lil Baby) – Hurricane
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“Hurricane” is the lead single from Donda, the song was highly expected after being one of the biggest leaks from the Yandhi era.
The song was first previewed by Kanye West in an
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Kanye West (Ft. JAY-Z) – Jail (Demo)
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“Jail (Demo)” serves as the original version of the song “Jail”, which is a collaboration between Kanye West and JAY-Z for the album Donda, released on August 29, 2021.
This
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KIDS SEE GHOSTS (Ft. Louis Prima) – 4th Dimension
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Sampling Louis Prima’s “What Will Santa Claus Say” to eerie effect, Ye and Cudi touch on everything from accidental anal sex, to Ric Flair and Lacoste.
The sample of “Someday” by
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KIDS SEE GHOSTS – Cudi Montage
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The melody of “Cudi Montage” is built around the grimy guitar riff from Kurt Cobain’s “Burn the Rain,” a track from the deceased Nirvana frontman’s Montage of Heck – a posthumous
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XXXTENTACION (Ft. Kanye West & Travis Barker) – One Minute
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“One Minute” is a collaboration between XXXTENTACION, Kanye West, and Travis Barker. Kanye provides an extensive verse while X simply handles the chorus and an interlude. Barker
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Kanye West – Yikes
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“Yikes” is a song about drugs, specifically about addiction and intoxication.
Ye alludes to hallucinogens and prescription opioids, and describes the highs that these can induce
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2Pac (Ft. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman) – California Love
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2Pac and Dr. Dre rap about the many facets that accompany living the California lifestyle.
Arguably his most famous song, it was the first track he released after his stint in
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Kanye West (Ft. Kid Cudi & Raekwon) – Gorgeous
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“Gorgeous” sees Kanye describing the ugly nature of social injustice in America, ironically calling the nation “gorgeous” because of it.
Recorded during his self-imposed exile in
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Kanye West (Ft. Playboi Carti) – Junya
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“Junya” is a tribute to elusive Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe.
Watanabe, a protégé of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo, is best known for his work with CDG as
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A$AP Rocky (Ft. Joe Fox & Kanye West) – Jukebox Joints
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This song is the first collaboration between two of hip-hop’s most fashion famous emcees.
The song samples an Indonesian song by Rasela, titled “Doa Untuk Kasih”, as well as “Much
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