Kanye West-Black Skinhead

Ward van Elk 4vd

Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLx11xq6X7Q

Preparation
Kanye Omari West, born in Atlanta on the 8th of June 1977, is an American
producer, rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur and fashion-designer. He is among
the most successful and acclaimed musicians of the 21st century, and has
attracted both praise and controversy for his outspoken public persona. He
started of producing hit singles in the early 2000s for artists like Jay-Z and Janet
Jackson before pursuing his solo career as a rapper. In this review I will
investigate his song Black Skinhead which was the first single of the album
Yeezus which he released in 2013. The song is a mix between hip-hop R&B and
a little bit of funk. I think this song is a perfect example of what is characteristic
about Kanye West. You could possibly dance on the song but instead you just
experience a huge rush. When people listen to the song on their earplugs they
are most likely to feel empowered and confident, which is probably how Kanye
feels when he is performing the song on stage. Also when people see Kanye
perform live on stage I think they just get a lot of adrenaline which they will let
out by rapping, singing and screaming along with him.

First Impressions

Confident
Screaming
Superior
Jumping
Excitement

Description
Black Skinhead mostly plays at a rather fast tempo, indicated with drums, with
some slower parts without drums in it. The introduction of the song is a kind of
low zooming noise followed by the sound of drums being played loudly which is
then followed by more of a beat with breathing noises added to it. This is the beat
that keep playing during the majority of the song in combination with the other
two elements of the intro. Later also some scream sounding vocals add to the
beat. The intro is a very important part of the song because almost all of the
element of the song are being shown one by one. 26 seconds into the song (so
not into the video) Kanye starts rapping. The elements from the introduction
come by in the background and so build up the feeling you get from the song.
After 56 seconds a new element is introduced under Kanyes vocals: An
extremely low pounding builds up tension. This tension is being helped to an
even higher level by the loud drums and is finally released after Kanye screams:
And you know it! All of the elements of the song are combined and edited in a
lot of different ways along with Kanyes rapping.

Analysis
In Black Skinhead there is quite some repetition, lyrically and instrumentally.
Lyrically the hook is being repeated three times and the bridge twice.
Instrumentally the elements are being repeated together with the part of the
song it is. For instance with all of the hooks, the music builds up with the low
pounding noises. The variety created in the song is mainly done not quite by
lyrics or the instruments, but by Kanyes voice. Mainly in the verses he uses
many different pitches and melodies which ensure that these verses are actually

very different. I personally feel like the hooks and bridges, which are being
repeated several times, are nice parts especially because sometimes the verses
are so diverse and chaotic that they are a nice part to pause and hold on to. Like I
already said the hooks are parts of the song where the tension rises. Parts like
these and the verses are very intriguing because of both the beat and the artists
vocals. The song is pretty upbeat, it has 130 beats per minute to be exact, which
means slightly more than two beats per second. Also this song is in major.
Harmony and syncopation are both not present in this song.
The introduction exists of the first 26 seconds of the song and is followed by the
first verse until 0.55, there the first hook begins. On 1.10 the first bridge is
introduced which goes until 1.30 where the second hook starts. 1 minute and 47
seconds into the song the second verse begins which ends again at 2.16. Here
the last hook starts which takes to the beginning of the second bridge on 2.30
which lasts for fifteen seconds before the outro starts playing until 3.08.
I think two major characteristics of a Kanye West song are the use of samples,
and his own, very typical voice. Kanye made the use of samples very popular in
21st century pop music. Good examples of what he does with his samples can be
found in for instance Gold Digger or Stronger. It is also a common known fact
that Kanyes voice is unlike any other. This is something which is very hard to
explain but when you listen to one of his songs you will know exactly what I
mean.

Interpretation
When I tell people I like Kanye West, often they are surprised. This might be
because I enjoy a lot of very different styles and genres as well but I think it is
also because I am simply white. Kanye Wests music and Hip-hop in general are
often referred to as black music. By this people mean to say that only black or
black-acting people like these songs. I obviously do not agree with that simply
because there is no such thing as black-acting. It is true that there are
stereotypes of what black people are like and it is also true that some people of
other races fit in pretty well with that stereotype, but just the fact that I like this
music as well means that it is not just for them. This song makes me feel
confident, empowered and cool. When I walk through the school with this song
blasting through my earplugs I feel like I am ready to take on the world and the
music is just background music for me like I am in a film. At home when I am
playing the song out loud and I am home alone I like to dance very wildly on it,
sometimes I even pretend to be a professional ballet dancer dancing on the song.
This might sound strange but I really deeply appreciate that music is able to
make me feel that way.

Gathering Background Information

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, United States, on the 8 th of June 1977. He first
became known as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s,
producing hit singles for musical artists such as Jay-Z before pursuing a solo
career as a rapper. He released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to
widespread commercial and critical success. He collaborated with Jay-Z on Watch
the Throne in 2011 and pursued several projects surrounding his GOOD Music
label. In 2013, he released his sixth album, Yeezus. Kanye is one of the bestselling artists of all time, having sold more than 32 million albums and 100 million

digital downloads worldwide. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making

him one of the most awarded artists of all time and the most Grammy-awarded
artist of his age. Time also named him one of the 100 most influential people in
the world in 2005 and 2015. Black skinhead is mostly a song about things that
bother Kanye and what he thinks are important matters in the world at the
moment. For example in the song he claims that the media has too little attention
for poor black kids as for dead Iraqis in this part: "If I don't get ran out by
Catholics - Here come some conservative Baptists - Saying he overreacting - Like
them black kids in Chiraq bitch." He also has strong words for the mainstream
media's portrayal of him, especially those who criticize his relationship with his
wife Kim Kardashian. "Enter the kingdom - But watch who you bring home. You
see a black man with a white woman. At the top floor they gone come to kill King
Kong."