Kanye’s latest on the radio is “All of the Lights” featuring Rihanna, Fergie, Elton John and apparently countless others. Kind of dizzying to figure out who is singing what.
The lyrics are about making mistakes (something West is well acquainted with), a little bit about the recession, Michael Jackson, and of course, lights, all the spotlights that West is under. Nothing completely groundbreaking, but I appreciate how Kanye West has discussed the mistakes he’s made in his songs. Fergie also comes in talking about the recession and almost falling back into drugs.
I feel like most songs that are popular are usually about the “Me” generation. About how “I” will get through this, or everybody better watch out when “I” walk into a room or how “I” am amazing. A lot of delusional self-confidence flying around in pop music today. I think it’s more than ever that teenagers and women are losing their self-confidence because we compare so much to those in the media. Why do we compare so much? Because it’s thrown in our faces all the time. What is Lohan doing now? How many models a day is a girl subjected to see? And with instant updating of who is doing what, constant comparison is a bombardment on our everyday lives. It’s human nature to compare, it’s how we gauge who we are in contrast to others.
This self-reflecting mirror is getting so microscopic that we are constantly looking at what is wrong with ourselves. In this economy as well, people not being as successful as years past, um, yeah, there is a crisis of confidence and people want to listen to music to lift them up. Let them know that they are not alone. I think that’s why people are so forgiving of West. People are moving on and he’s the battered hero, he’s falling down and we want to see him rise up again. With his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, people have responded so well and the album mostly focuses on making mistakes. Oh yeah, and it’s quite catchy as well.
What do you think of Kanye West’s past mistakes? What do you think of his last album?
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