New Slaves — KanYe West

When Kanye West’s 2013 album, Yeezus came out, I tried to listen to it and remember feeling both underwhelmed and overwhelmed. Either way, I did not like it. And his arrogant attitude did not help. A few years later, it was his following album, the Life of Pablo that got me into him as an artist. In hindsight, I see Yeezus as one of those experimental albums that musicians make when they are at a certain level of fame and are in need of personal discovery instead of public opinions.

One of the songs from the album, “New Slaves” really stood out to me. It begins with a hard bass line that builds up to a stop, and then Kanye starts to rap about different types of racism people of color face. The entire verse of the song conveys his message of anti-corporal and anti-privatized services as well as how we are addicted to these seemingly necessary goods and products in life. It is an overall letter to our society asking questions such as why are prisons privatized and why are we so addicted to the desire to have a Maybach, wear Alexander Wang, or live in high-end places like the Hamptons.

The beat is so refreshingly simple with a bassline beat and some effects coming in at the right time. It just goes to show that you do not need much to make a great song, in fact, many of my favorite songs carry simple chords or beats.