Kanye West Debuts Dark New Songs on 'SNL'
Kanye West hasn't exactly been the rosiest person as of late. So, it's probably safe to say that his highly anticipated Saturday Night Live performance was not going to be sunshine and roses. But when West unleashed what was possibly his darkest performance to date last night, I doubt anyone in the audience left without residual goose bumps.
Containing the world premiere of "Black Skinhead" and the live debut of "New Slaves," the SNL performance marked a very different sound... and perhaps a very different Kanye West?
The tracks are from Ye's upcoming album Yeezus. "New Slaves" premiered Friday via projection (onto a handful of buildings around the world). But while the Chicago-born rapper was certainly promoting his album last night, he made it very clear during a performance last week that he was not interested in doing anything more than rapping on SNL.
"It's so funny, this guy asked me, 'When you do SNL, are you going to do a skit about the paparazzi and humanize yourself?'" West said. "At what point did I become un-human and have to turn myself back? I ain't runnin' for office. I ain't kissing nobody's mother--king babies. I'll drop your baby and you'll sue me and sh-t. I'm trying to make some music that inspires people to be the best they can be."
Yowza.
So, maybe now you can understand Yeezy's probable mood during last night's performance. First up was "Black Skinhead," which he performed with a backdrop of flashing images including the words "NOT FOR SALE" and the shadow of rabid dogs. The industrial sounds (think hydraulic lifts and steam) and the dim lighting feel like a waking nightmare.
21m
3m
21m
45m
43m
45m
1m
55s
21m
7m
6m
13m
21m
20m
45m
56s
44m
1h 39m
44m
8m
21m
21m
46m
22m
10m
20m
22m
1m
20m
1h 13m
44m
20m
21m
43m
44m
44m
43s
6m
3m
22m
23m
46m
20m
22m
22m
2m
44m
20m
45m
41m
21m
46s
20m
1m
12m
2m
1m
4m
13m
14m
10m
3m
1m
21m
51s
5m
20m
3m
1m
10m
2m
7m
2m
1m
2m
3m
1m
14m
11m
2m
5m
9m
4m
1m
12m
7m
16m
3m
1m
10m
1m
9m
17m
1m
1m
4m
1m
10m
1m