Yet another damn Kanye thread, this one on "Gone"

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Does anyone else feel conned by Kanye West's "Gone?"

The song is incredibly well-produced, and I've been moved nearly to tears by the gorgeous Jon Brion-led musical shift at the end the first several times I've heard it. It's wonderfully subtle and even groundbreaking ...

... and then you realize that it's all a set-up for Kanye to rap about how he's pulling a fast one on you and that he's the shit and can't nobody beat me ... Cam'Ron and Consequence and Brion and even Otis Redding ultimately have all served as pawns to homeboy's ego.

What an asshole -- and what a genius for pulling a stunt like that.

― Chris O., Friday, 9 September 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

how is that a con? if you're "moved nearly to tears" by a pop song, does it bother you that much for the guy to take a little credit? artists who think they're the shit are clearly more interesting (for the most part) than unassuming wallflowers anyway.

― swvl (vozick), Friday, 9 September 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

artists who think they're the shit are clearly more interesting (for the most part) than unassuming wallflowers anyway.
-- swvl (vozic...), September 9th, 2005.

fact?

― N_RQ, Friday, 9 September 2005 13:54 (twenty years ago)

Probably my favourite song on the album, which isn't saying much necessarily - it's either this, 'Drive Slow' or either version of 'Diamonds'. The Cam verse really makes you see what all the fuss around him is about.

The last verse would be annoying were it not for a) the Jennifer Aniston line, b) the fact that "the powers that be won't let me get my ideas out" seems less stupid and annoying post-GBDCABP.

― Flyboy (Flyboy), Friday, 9 September 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, this is a great one. This, "Hey Mama", "Gold Digger" and "Diamonds..." are pretty much the only tracks I dug off this CD.

5 stars in Rolling Stone ? Instant classic stuatus ? Fuck that, it's decent, but not gods gift to hip hop.

Get "K-OS - Joyful Rebellion" if you want the album Kanye WISHES he could make. Hell, get K-OS' "Exit" album while you're at it.

― Erock LAzron, Friday, 9 September 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

I like his ego, as long as he continues to not take it too seriously.

― Yejoon (Yejoon), Friday, 9 September 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Pointing out that you're the shit and that nobody can beat you is, uhm, rather a common thing to do in a Hip-Hop song; doing so to a background of gorgeous/bittersweet music isn't all that uncommon, either. Why not try to see Kanye's verses as comedy? Or, you could pretend that he's *you*, and feel badass. Mix and match, even!

(I didn't think much of his verses on that track fwiw, Flyboy OTM about Cam'ron bringing much more awesomeness to it. It's just the complaint strikes me as kinda odd.)

artists who think they're the shit are clearly more interesting (for the most part) than unassuming wallflowers anyway.
-- swvl (vozic...), September 9th, 2005.

fact?

Nah. Much fun to be had in both camps.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 9 September 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

Get "K-OS - Joyful Rebellion" if you want the album Kanye WISHES he could make. Hell, get K-OS' "Exit" album while you're at it.

Um, K-Os to Kanye doesn't really make a good comparison. K-Os to Black Eyed Peas, however, would.

Also, K-Os is a horrible, horrible rapper.

― Jeff Reguilon (Talent Explosion), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:09 (twenty years ago)

K-Os' horridness is part of his appeal though. It's like Wyclef discovered he had talent. I love that album.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:13 (twenty years ago)

Dom OTM.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

Of course the boasting is akin to hip-hop, and as such, Late Registration is a great hip-hop record. It's just kind of frustrating for it to emerge at the end of "Gone" like that, that's all ... the music takes you to another place ... and it takes you to hip-hop orthodoxy. Again, a clever con ...

― Chris O., Friday, 9 September 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

Akon is to hip hop?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

FWIW -- must say, some people on this board have to learn to carefully read the actual posts they're rebutting. I constantly see shit-talking on here accusing folks of positions they clearly didn't state in the *actual* post.

― Chris O., Friday, 9 September 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

Who gives a shit about Akon?

― Chris O., Friday, 9 September 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

You brought him up.

the boasting is AKON to hip-hop

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 9 September 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

*akin* to hip-hop ... as in a-k-i-n

Ornery time: Read the fucking posts, please! :-)

― Chris O., Friday, 9 September 2005 19:25 (twenty years ago)

Anakin is to hip-hop?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 9 September 2005 19:28 (twenty years ago)

Akon is Lonely?

― deej.., Friday, 9 September 2005 19:31 (twenty years ago)

this shit is BONANZA, B-O-N-A-N-Z-A

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 9 September 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

Kanye West's "Gone?" Thank God!

― Presidon't Bush, Friday, 9 September 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

If you think that K-OS album is horrible, you've listened to it with the wrong ears. I'd take "Crabbuckit", "The Love Song", "Man I used to Be" ANY day over that fuckin "My Humps" shit or "Where is the love"

K-OS at least has talent and credibility

― Erock LAzron, Friday, 9 September 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)

I don't think the album is horrible at all. I quite liked it in fact. His rapping, however, is horrible. Way worse than Kanye, anyway.

― Jeff Reguilon (Talent Explosion), Friday, 9 September 2005 22:20 (twenty years ago)

"Gone" would be much much better if he dropped the last two verses. As it stands its still one of the best hiphop tracks of the year. Much better, IMO, than anything k-os has ever produced (not that he's horrible, I like "joyful rebellion"). The whole "gone" theme would've been a lot more effective, though, if he had left us after Cams fuckin insane abstract genius verse.... But come on, even on some recalcitrant "lets hate on kanye cuz everyone else loves him" shit, the k-os comparison is tenuous. at least i think... whats similar about the two?

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Friday, 9 September 2005 22:39 (twenty years ago)

I like cam'ron but 'insane abstract genius verse' = he's being weird therefore good and i don't buy it.

― deej.., Friday, 9 September 2005 23:17 (twenty years ago)

REEET I DID THUS FOOKIN SONG TO FOOK WITH YA HEADS LIKE YA FOOKIN SPANNER MAKE YA THINK LIKE ITS ABOUT ME BEING A FOOKIN DON YA CUNT COS I AM A FOOKIN DON YA GET MEEEEE

― KAYNEE WEST, Friday, 9 September 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

I don't see the song as a con, the lyrics are pretty good, especially the ones by Consequence, and it's probably one of my top ten favorite songs of the year right now.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:04 (twenty years ago)

I FOOKIN WROTE THE SONG ON ME ACOUSTIC GUITAR IN A ROOM THAT ONLY HAD A LIGHTBULB IN IT AND NOTHING ELSE IM A FOOKIN GENIUS ME

― KAYNEE WEST, Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:07 (twenty years ago)

its not a koool keith kinda thang im tryin to hit at, and i didnt word it the best way, but theres something, a kind of slant to cams delivery on the verses that i think makes them have a 'weird' feel and evoke some kinda 'weird' imagery that almost belies the actual lyrical content... because yeah, hes not being weird and therefore good, or at least doesn't seem to be trying to... with all of dipset i think there is something, some sort of dichotomy between how they intend things to come out and how they can be perceived that makes em really interesting. imean im kinda swilled by this point in the evening, it being a friday an all, but deej what do you like about camron specifically?

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Matthew, Consequence's lyrics are good on "Gone." It reminds me of his verse on "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly."

― Jeff Reguilon (Talent Explosion), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

i think his verse is kinda cheezy, forced and simple (and not in the way ye can pull off all of those 'qualities')
regardless... the production on this so stellar, i think it couldve been a great song without all the jon brion embellishment

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Saturday, 10 September 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ashersarlin.com/cartoons/hermitcrabs.gif

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 10 September 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

what is the backing track to "gone", it sounds like ray charles. I could care less about kanye's gone, i just want the background song.

― wayfastwhitey, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)

a) its not ray charles
b) its too late for you, if you dont like kanYEEZY, sucka ass white boy

if you genuinely, truly CARED about kanye, and his "gone," then I would tell you.... but since you don't care about our lord and savior jesus fucking kanye christ, it will forever be a mystery....
or you could, I don't know, possibly BUY THE CD or something.... or find a friend that has? or maybe a google search? or maybe just listen to, oh, the top 5 most famous soul singers and it would probably show up..

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

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