By Dan Cho
Copy Editor
After two years of the abstract and potent minimalist beats of “Yeezus,” Kanye West bursts into the scene, while in the midst of a series of controversies, of his seventh studio album, “Waves.”
Long awaited by fans and admirers, they paused with bated breath for the final debut of the album for two years. With what many considered a disappointment with “Yeezus”, they hoped that “Waves” will be able to satisfy their cravings for the old Yeezy beets.
Originally named “So Help Me God,” and, later on, “Swish,” it recently has been changed to “Waves.” Also, some of the tracks on the album had a similar modification. “Nina Chop,” the first song on the tracklist, was changed to “Famous” while the last song of the list, “Wolves,” was replaced with the addition of a new song, “Ultra Light Beam,” that was not originally on the album.
“Waves” bears more expectations from listeners to be a step-up. Like all of West’s albums, they all shattered stereotypical rap images and reached new heights in the rap industry. “I like it when he pushes boundaries and I hope he continues to do so,” Joshua Stoner, AP U.S. history teacher, said. “It seemed like he kind of backed off Yeezus when it didn’t sell as well.”
Defined by three acts, similarly like “The College Dropout,” “Late Registration,” and “Graduation,” “Waves” is expected to be more of his older style. With the fallen expectations from “Yeezus,” people thirst for the man that had humbled himself when he had once won his first Grammy’s. “Hopefully Kanye will create more self-aware songs,” David Tilli, junior, said. “I wasn’t much of a fan of him saying ‘I’m awesome’ and ‘I’m a god’. He needs to be less self-absorbed.”
Expected to drop on Feb. 11, music enthusiasts contain themselves, with barely-contained excitement, for his upcoming studio album. With his direct proclamation, “This is not album of the year. This is album of the life,” the world watches for his confident, border-line arrogant, assertion to come into fruition or fall short flat on its face, again.
