Kanye West’s stream of consciousness is back in song form. The rapper, who recently re-wrote his place in the public eye through a series of controversial tweets, has collaborated on Travis Scott’s new song “Watch.” In his verse-long feature, West speaks about his past opioid addiction and listless feelings of being trapped.
Last week, West revealed to TMZ that he struggled with a dependency on painkillers after undergoing liposuction in November 2016 shortly before he was hospitalized for a mental breakdown. In the interview, he explains that fear of media criticism exasperated the issue. “Y'all had me scared of myself, of my vision. So I took some pills so I wouldn't go to the hospital and prove everyone right,” he told TMZ. His thoughts on those experiences come through clearly in his verse. “Wanna know how pain feels? I got off my main pills / Bet my wifey stay close, she know I'm on my benzos / Opioid addiction, pharmacy's the real trap,” West raps on Scott’s track.
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West elaborates on this external pressure saying that he feels trapped and directionless. “One year it’s Illuminati, next year it’s the sunken place,” he says referring to the Get Out reference used by fans to explain his sudden political ideology shift in line with Donald Trump. He expresses a feeling of being unable to change, not for lack of wanting to, but because he feels the public doesn’t want him to. Whether it is him interrupting Taylor Swift during her 2009 VMA speech, releasing a new album, or going on a MAGA-happy tweet spree, everything Kanye West does is subject to extreme examination. Whether you agree or disagree with him, that kind of intense criticism can have detrimental effects on a person. Sometimes even the most controversial people need a break from constant media coverage.
The rapper has a new album set to be released, according to his Twitter, on June 1 followed by another album with Kid Cudi on June 8. We know it will be seven songs, but it will be interesting to see how much of his thoughts on the last few weeks will be on the album or whether we will have to wait a couple years to hear about it.
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