In that instance, when Ye doesn’t know how to express himself - or when he leaves space for the inexpressible - he achieves one of the most beautiful, humbling moments in his discography. ” And then he moans, a sound that could either evoke an orgasm or an infant’s call for aid. West.Īt the end of the song, Ye’s language becomes almost inchoate, like scat or the communication attempts of a child just learning to use their words. What’s left unsaid is that now DMX is gone and so is Dr. By the end of the ride, DMX is boasting about his child’s courage. Attempting to defuse the crisis, he asks her to stop criticizing him and contribute “only something that will help.” I was reminded of that passage toward the end of “Life of the Party,” when it poignantly samples DMX, who is assuaging his daughter’s fear as they wait for a thrill ride to start. West’s 2007 memoir about parenting Ye, she writes of a moment when her son is 12 and she is panicking about getting him to the airport on time. Both men come across as lost - orphaned souls in search of some explanation for all that they’ve survived. If there’s a heaven you would think they’d let you speak to your son.” Later Ye comes in, describing an experiential spectrum, from cradle to grave: He references an art teacher from his childhood, the near-abortion of one of his kids, Tupac’s murder. Donda, you run into my mama please tell her I said, ‘Say something.’. ghost across the track.Īndré 3000 opens his verse by imagining the potential meeting, in the afterlife, of his own mother and Ye’s: “Hey Ms. The music swirls and doubles back ad-libs by the Notorious B.I.G. Stuttering piano keys and a strolling bass line recur. The Dramatics’ sample - “The life of the party, I laughed ’til I almost cried” - loops. It has a minor-key mood dark chord changes lyrics about “spirit-spinning” events, nature and the states of discombobulation both men find themselves in. This song finds both Ye and André 3000 in a liminal space, between versions of themselves, a kind of audio bardo. In “Life of the Party,” the grief is less specific and consequently feels more pervasive and overwhelming. In addition to the Dramatics tune, the song’s title references another “Donda” track, “Jesus Lord”: “Mama, you was the life of the party/I swear you brought life to the party/When you lost your life, it took the life out the party,” Ye raps, his voice hoarse. “Life of the Party” concerns a more multifaceted grief - for Ye’s mom, for his marriage, for dead rappers. Ye’s single incorporates the Dramatics’ 1975 song “I Was the Life of the Party,” about a man putting on a happy face after his romance ends. The DNA of hip-hop songs can often be found in their samples. Of all the songs on the album, this one, a collaboration with André 3000, shovels closest to both rappers’ psychic turmoil. “Life of the Party,” which didn’t appear on the original version of the album but on the extended “Donda Deluxe,” released in November, is drastically subdued. Three of Ye’s singles from this project - “Hurricane,” “Believe What I Say” and “Off the Grid” - are characterized by his trademark stadium thump, meant to fill arenas the size of their creator’s prodigious ego. Illustration by Darien Birks “Donda,” the album Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, released last August, is a product of grief it’s named in honor of the artist’s mother, Donda West, a former English professor who died in 2007, and also covers the aftermath of Ye’s separation from his wife, Kim Kardashian.
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