monster by ye: a monstrosity of a collaboration

by mattmcgotty

“I miss the old Kanye, straight from the Go Kanye, Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye, I hate the new Kanye, the bad mood Kanye, The always rude Kanye, spaz in the news Kanye.” If there’s one thing you can depend on with Kanye West is his ability to speak his mind. These lines from an interlude off his 2016 album feel especially pertinent in light of his recent unsolicited opinionss; opinionss with two s’s considering with every new day comes more discoveries of bullshit he decides to spew. Hell, it almost feels unnecessary to specify what he had said considering it’s bound to date itself come Monday. But seriously, antisemitism is a new low, even from the man who said abortion was unnatural after watching two of his child born from surrogates. But even after the rapper adopted a more electronic following the difficult death of his mother, this “New Kanye” that he speaks of had a prolific continuation of his career. Over time, his mental health clearly deteriorated and the public has gradually distanced themselves from him. Eventually, his eccentric little outbursts became concerning, not even able to be laughed at uncomfortably. Especially in the wake of Kim and Ye’s separation, controversy after controversy has dictated his life as a bachelor with an disheveled beard.

Regardless of the current horrors he calls his life, it can be nice to merely think of fic- tional abnormalities, like those rapped in his 2011 collaboration “Monster” featuring Rick Ross, Jay and Nicki. Now these three are not free of controversies themselves. We’ll spare Rick Ross considering the other three’s clowneries could fill the library of Alexandria #NeverForget. But above all, if you don’t listen to Nicki’s verse before the outro without forgetting all of life’s issues, then give Tracy Chapman a listen and find someplace to volunteer.

Regardless, Kanye comes in hot, talking about how tough he is despite still being Chi, using a double-entendre to reference his Chicago roots. This shyness, however, perfectly nails his introverted-leaning nature explaining why he can further his god-complex by calling himself a pharoah, while subsequently showing himself in public with the facial expression of a headphones kid sans headphones. He continues this Egyptian allegory when he suggests to the woman he is fucking to lay her pussy to rest by putting it in a sarcophagus, truly a man who worships a good vagine.

As Jay’s verse intrudes upon the listener’s ears, the only thing that listening to “Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, Loch Ness, Goblin, ghoul, a zombie with no conscience,” is a reminder that he also belongs on this list simply for simply thinking about pursuing Beyonce at 18 while he was 30, likely paying off his third mortgage and getting to bed at 930 every night. Now Nicki Minaj could have just said her line “You could be the king, but watch the queen conquer,” and Americans everywhere might have begun to reconsider that separation of Church and State. But as she threatens to eat her victims brains while “rocking gold teeth and fangs,” she can’t help but do what a monster do, all with her monster crew, almost predicting their subseuqent downfalls. But this is rookie Nicki, a bright future still gleamed upon her and only made itself more evident as she refutes any claims of her being inexperienced. With 50k for a verse before her first album, Minaj asserts that, just like her pockets, they are stuffed. After all, she’s got the “Pink wig, thick ass,” to “give ’em whiplash,” who do you think you’re playing with? As her verse comes to an end, Nicki channels her most primal, savage scream. As if her verse hadn’t scared them off already, the scream was her final warning. The song ends with an outro that allows the listener to truly digest what they’ve just experienced. Here they are, graced by four incredibly talented rappers singing about their impact, all with devilish allegories that up their threat level, like little porcupines showing their adorable, spiked backs. Unfortunately for them, it seems like some revisionist history is due; with a rewritten lyrics that call out Nicki’s sex offender husband. Congrats on the baby, girlie!



Categories: matt mcgotty, october 25, tunes

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