‘Can’t tell Me Nothing.’ That title alone sums up why people love and hate Kanye West in equal measures. To his fans, his grand self-assurance is justified, given the amount of hit records he has produced. To his detractors, he’s an arrogant loudmouth. On this mixtape, an acutely aware Kanyeezy sounds like he’s struggling to change his well-known, brash persona.
Never does he sound more conflicted than on the DJ Toomp helmed title track. Over Toomp’s gasping production, complete with the requisite female harmonizing, ‘Ye does his best to admit to his more questionable behavior. ‘I feel the pressure, I’m under more scrutiny/And what I do? Act more stupidly,’ the artist bravely admits. Before he can be commended, however, Kanye brings in the hardheaded chorus. ‘Excuse me? Was you saying something?’ a familiarly cocksure West quips. ‘Uh uh, you can’t tell me nothing!’ It is this Kanye West that dominates tracks like the teasingly snippet-ed single, ‘Stronger.’ Over an ingeniously flipped Daft Punk sample – ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,’ naturally – Kanye takes a moment to pat himself on the back. ‘Man, they don’t make ‘em like this any more,’ the artist proudly announces.
Nonetheless, ‘Ye is humble enough to take a backseat on several standout offerings. A defiant Common shines solo over the muffled drums and swirling jazz of ‘The Game.’ ‘They tried to box me in like Cassius Clay/Hey, I’m like Muhammed when he fasted,’ notes the Chicago MC. Although Com’s Good Music boss pops up briefly on Kid Sister’s ‘Pro Nails,’ his verse moves along swiftly. As a result, Kanye leaves it to URB favorite Sister to hijack the limelight. She flows with ease over the skittish crunk, snappily proclaiming, ‘I’m looking sharp, you can’t compete.’ With statements like that, listeners could be forgiven for thinking that Sister has taken some lessons in confidence from this mixtapes host. Kanye isn’t prepared to take a backseat for too long, and it’s only a matter of time until he returns to his self-assured ways. The latter half of this project includes the Chi-city representative’s remix to Ne-Yo’s ‘Because Of You.’ Name-checking Mercedez, Gucci, and, of course, Louis Vutton, Kanye’s verse is a tired exercise in shallow, materialistic boasting.
Although the scatterbrained way Kanye chooses to present himself will continue to face scrutiny and divide opinion, any critic would be hard pressed to deny his talent. Whatever persona he adopts, whether relatively restrained or unsurprisingly in your face, the artist rarely fails to engage. When the music is this good, and as it’s apparent that the renowned producers egocentricity will probably never cease, maybe Kanye’s right – we can’t tell him nothing.
It’s Kanye…what more can I say?