Kanye West: "See Me Now (f/ Beyoncé and Charlie Wilson)"

“See Me Now” sounds like the unholy love child of Boyz II Men and Vampire Weekend. Which is not a good thing, in case that clarification was necessary. Here’s the thing: I love Kanye West. I am really into cheesy old soul records; I think the man is a genius, straight up; I am even an 808s and Heartbreak (2008) apologist. Kanye West, for me, revolutionized the face of hip hop and popular music. So it hurts my heart a little to admit how much I hate this song.

Lyrically, Yeezy is on top of his game. Because I am a sad fangirl, I recognize his rhymes from the weird spoken word performance he gave at Facebook headquarters. As spoken word, it was pretty damn great, dropping references to Socrates, Nobu, Whole Foods, and giving fashion advice. It all works: “All my homies GDs, but I am lord / Rap god, Greek mythology / And this life too crazy to think logically.” Here’s classic Ye: a little bit of social commentary; a lot of boasting. And there are a lot of great lines: “I’m Socrates, but my skin more chocolately.” Genius, and delicious! On the other hand, we get groaners: “If you pass on a Kan beat, that’s your last fault.”

It’s even worse because the production on this particular Kan beat is whack attack. I like Beyoncé okay, I guess. And as someone who milked the Taylor Swift VMA debacle joke for all it was worth, “Uncle Charlie, I’mma let you finish, but I got Beyoncé on this track” tickled me pink. And I guess the song is supposed to have an “old R. Kelly joint” feel, since Kanye, you know, says that, but it just falls flat. And the weird syncopation, man—I just can’t get behind it. And I want to, so bad. I am sort of hoping that the YouTube community is right (I never thought I would say those words) and this song is not finished yet. Because it has the potential to be great. And “Power” was just so perfectly on point. So I guess I still have faith in you, Kanye West. To quote your twitter feed, #ITSAPROCESS. I am waiting on pins and needles, with bated breath, for September. Here’s hoping that Dark Twisted Fantasy (or whatever its name ends up being; at least Good Ass Job is out) is as good as it should be.

In conclusion, FREE WEEZY #RANDOMKANYEWESTINTERJECTIONS.