The Other Side to Kanye West and Lil Pump’s New Single “I Love It”

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Kanye’s newest release has a lot more depth than it’s given credit for.

Kanye West’s new song with hip-hop newcomer Lil Pump is, at first listen, less than impressive. It’s minimal beat and misogynistic lyrics make it easily forgettable in the over-saturated hip-hop pop culture we live in today. The song also may seem like just another tally on Kanye’s scoreboard of a downward spiral, as many would argue this past year has been highlighted by his release of countless lazily produced EPs and joke songs (not to mention, his prideful allegiance to Trump’s brand this summer). But Kanye isn’t an idiot, he knows exactly what he’s doing, but his point might be easily missed. “I Love It” is not as low-brow as one would assume, it is actually a highly crafted self-critique on both Kanye’s current brand and the rap industry as a whole, and, quite simply, I love it.

The track begins with a sample from comedian Adele Givens’ stand up routine where she explicitly says “’cause you know in the old days they couldn’t say the s**t they wanted to say, they had the fake orgasms and s**t, we can tell n**gas today: ‘hey, I wanna c*m, mothaf**ka.’” Lil Pump immediately begins with the main verse of the song “you’re such a f**king h*e, I love it.” Kanye is accomplishing two different things here: first, he is beginning his song with a voice of liberated female sexuality which is immediately juxtaposed by Lil Pump’s verse which represents the voice of ignorance and misogyny. Then, by including Lil Pump, an artist often regarded as mindless and moronic, Kanye is appropriating that shallow and insensible aspect of rap music for his own benefit so that it can reflect back as a self-awareness and possibly a mockery or criticism of the industry.

Photo courtesy of Billboard

But Kanye doesn’t stop there. While Lil Pump is responsible for the chorus, Kanye has his own memorable lyrics. He proclaims proudly on the track “I’m a sick f*ck, I like a quick f*ck,” which can be interpreted as Kanye embracing that female sexuality addressed at the beginning by saying that the men who sleep around aren’t very admirable either. He is also very explicitly making fun of himself. In the visuals for this song, Kanye wears his fashion brand’s newest shoes, the Yeezy Slides, except the shoes are unnecessarily oversized and his clothes are large and cartoonish to match. This is a joke on a Twitter moment that went viral a few weeks prior where Kanye was bashed for wearing his new shoes a few sizes too small, so he exaggerated it to poke fun at his internet viral status.

Essentially, Kanye is one of the most self-aware artists in the industry today. His song “I Love It” is a catchy critique on the industry and he uses to it appropriate hip-hop’s ignorance and liberate women’s sexuality. If that’s not to be considered truly artistic and worthy of praise, then I resign.

The post The Other Side to Kanye West and Lil Pump’s New Single “I Love It” appeared first on Verge Campus.

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