Dissect - S2E9 – So Appalled by Kanye West

Episode Date: October 3, 2017

We continue our serialized analysis of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by dissecting "So Appalled." Follow Dissect on social media @dissectpodcast. Purchase Dissect merch at dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushna. Today, we continue our serialized examination of my beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West. We're currently in the midst of the album's second act, which you'll remember is titled Dark. On our last episode, we heard Monster as Kanye's best attempt at wearing the villain's clothes given to him by the public post-VMAs. However, the song's outro signals an exhausted resignation of this villain role, as Kanye heads home from the imaginary show that's centered in the song's hook.

Monster's resignation transitions directly into a track that is in many ways a continuation of Monster. Like Monster, it's also set at a concert, with a narrator asking us to see our hands. But where Monster is a phantasmagoric display of antagonism, the track that follows is a dreary, smoke-filled hangover, a meditation on the absurdity of success. We're talking about Twisted Fantasy's seventh track, the second track of Act 2, and the subject of today's episode, Soapalde. Soapald. Soapald is produced by Kanye West, No ID, and Mike Dean, with guest appearances by Swiss Beats, J. Z, Pusha T, Sci High the Prince, and the Rizzo. The track in many ways

exemplifies Connie's collective approach to making twisted fantasy. Indeed, Kanye appears on the beginning of Soapal to recite his verse and hook, but by the 1 minute 40 mark he exits for good, leaving the songs remaining 5 minutes to his guests. Because Soapald characterizes Kanye's art by committee approach to Twisted Fantasy, before diving into the track, I want to take this opportunity to detail the album's work environment and creative process. As you know, Kanye fled the country after the backlash of the VMAs in 2009. After stops in Japan and Rome, Kanye finally settled in Hawaii.

rented a home and indefinitely blockbook all three rooms at the Avex recording studio in Oahu. Kanye kept engineers at the boards 24 hours a day. On the main studio's wall were a handful of Kanye commandments, his version of studio rules, which included things like no tweeting, no pictures, no hipster hats, and just shut the fuck up sometimes. Kanye invited a slew of artists and producers to Hawaii to contribute to the album, including Rayquan, Rizza, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Charlie Wood. Wilson, Big Sean, Sioux The Prince, Swiss Beats, Dwele, Nikki Minaj, T.I., Drake, Common, J-Z, John Legend, Fergie, Rihanna, The Dream, Ryan Leslie, Elton John, MIA, Justin Vernon, Seal, Beyonce, Kid Cuddy,

Most Deaf, Santa Gold, Alicia Keys, Ellie Jackson, Tony Williams, Q-Tip, Rizza, DJ Premier, S-1, Madlib, and Pete Rock. Connie reportedly spent over $3 million in expenses from his record label Def Chim recording the album, making it one of the most expensive albums ever made. According to Complex Magazine's Noah Callahan Bever, who had the opportunity to briefly stay with Kanye in Hawaii, said there was a daily routine established during the twisted fantasy sessions. Beginning around 10 a.m., breakfast took place at Kanye's rented mansion, prepared by his personal chefs. Mind you, while Kanye's guest slept at the house, Kanye himself rarely did. Instead, he took 90-minute power naps throughout the night in the studio,

and would continue working in between these naps. During breakfast, music was the only topic of conversation, and mostly it revolved around Kanye's album. In his complex article, Callahan Beaver said, quote, it's never explicitly discussed, but everyone here knows that good music is the key to Kanye's redemption. With the right songs of the right album, he can overcome any and all controversy,

and we are here to contribute, challenge, and inspire, unquote. After breakfast, most of the guys headed to the YMCA to play basketball against locals before heading into the studio for the day. This commuter routine impressed the Riza of the Wu-Tang Clan, who found inspiration in his Hawaiian experience. I'm going to tell you something this young man does, y'all. They get up every morning and eat breakfast together, his whole crew. They talk about yesterday and the next day, and the day, and the present.

They plan on over breakfasts. They sit there and they talk about what they're going to do, what they did, and how to make the music better. Then they go exercise together. Okay, go to the YMCA, they play basketball, lift weights, focus, get the energy out, get the the chi up. And then they hit the studio around 4 o'clock. Well, first you can do some charity work.

You know what I mean? Like invite all these kids and do some charity shit. So therefore he's doing a good deed of the day as well. Good karma. And then he goes to the studio. And he stays there from four. And when I was there, we left it four. So 12 hours of in the studio work.

Then go to bed, get up, and do it again the next day. The way everything happened, though, was like focus energy, you know. And actually, I never seen that from a rapper before. I come from Wu-Chang Clan. You know, y'all know, it's five a show for the concert. Other three late. Some ain't doing it. Some are sleeping.

You know what I mean? And it's not only his talent that took him to the top, I got to say it's his focus, y'all. In the studio, Connie established a communal approach to song crafting. He'd often fixate on a verse or align from a verse and ask everyone in the room their opinion. He'd have multiple producers and artists working simultaneously in different rooms, and he moved between rooms giving feedback. Rapper Pusha T said of the Twisted Fantasy sessions, quote, The Guy's the Maestro.

It's a totally unorthodox way. Well, it's unorthodox to me, because I've never seen anyone work in pieces like that. We could easily be working on one song, thinking we're in a mode, and he'll hear a sound from someone like Jeff Basker, and immediately turn his whole attention to that sound, and go through his mental rolodex to where that sound belongs on his album, and then goes straight to that song immediately, unquote. Q-tip of a tribe called Quest said of his experience,

quote, I'd never worked the way Kanye was working in Hawaii. everybody's opinions mattered and counted. And there's consequence and push a tea, and everybody is sitting in there, and he's playing music and everyone is weighing in. It was like music by committee. It was fresh that everyone cared like that. If the delivery guy comes in the studio and Kanye likes him,

and they strike up a conversation, he'll go, check this out, tell me what you think, which speaks volumes to who he is and how he sees and views people. Every person has a voice and an idea, so he's sincerely looking to hear what you have to say. good, bad, or whatever. By the end of the sessions, you see how he integrates and transforms everyone's contributions, so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

He's a real wizard at it. What he does is alchemy, really, unquote. And so here we can return to Soapald, a track that features a handful of the collective guest artists that attended rap camp in Hawaii. As we noted, the production was handled by Kanye No ID and Mike Dean. The beat is centered around a sample from the 1979 song, U.R. I.N. by the Manford Man's Earth Band. That excerpt is then chopped up and a kick and snare pattern is added to sound like this.

This hypnotic instrumental provides a perfect landscape for the bleak accounts of fame by the song's Sluwis featured MCs, Kanye Swiss Beats, JZ, Pusha T, Sighi the Prince, and the Rizza. The amount of features on the song makes it a quote unquote posse cut. A posse cut is a track that contains verses from four or more rappers. The form was developed in the 1980s as a way for a rapper to show off their crew or posse. As an example, let's use Marley Marr's 1989 track, The Symphony, widely considered a classic posse cut.

It features the verse from Master Ace. Listen closely to your attention's undivided. Many in the past have tried to do what I did. A verse from Craig G. A verse by Keevigieg A verse by Cool G Rap And finally a verse by Big Daddy Kaine. And finally a verse by Big Daddy Kaine.

The symphony is a blueprint for posse cuts because it contains no hook. Rather, the emcees go in one after another with little break in between. While some posse cuts have hooks, they're usually brief and not the center of the song. The verses, the bars, the lyricism takes center stage. This often creates a kind of competition element within the track, with each MC spitting his or her best verse in order to stand out among the pack. We can find posse cuts throughout hip-hop history, including well-known tracks like Wu-Tang Clan's triumph, a tribe called Quest scenario, ASAP Rockies One Train, and

and a slew of others. While often in a posse cut you'll find MC's showboating, using the opportunity to promote themselves and their skill set, in Connie's version of a posse cut, he uses the opportunity to coax his features into speaking on the same theme, adding a variety of perspectives on a single subject. Like we saw on the album's previous track Monster, which technically falls under the posse cut category, each MC gave their version of what it means to be a monster. On so appalled, each MC will more or less expound upon the ridiculousness of the successful life they live. The track opens with producer Swiss beats performing the song's introduction, the hypnotic timbre of his voice complimenting the dreary production

and establishing the song's dreamlike setting. One hand in the air, if you don't really care, two hands in the air, if you don't really care, it's like that sometimes I mean ridiculous. It's like that sometimes it's shit ridiculous. One hand in the air, if you don't really care, middle finger in the air. the air if you don't really care. It's like that sometimes, man, ridiculous. Life can be sometimes ridiculous.

The track begins by asking us to put one hand in the air, a cliche of hip-hop live shows. Things quickly take a strange turn when he asks us to see two hands in the air, which conjures up a somewhat bizarre, zombie-like image of a crowd with both of their arms extended skyward. There's a certain lifelessness to the action, and a kind of going through the motions. This is accentuated by the next line.

It's like that sometimes, I mean ridiculous. It seems to be commentary on the preposterousness of the influence and power granted to a performer on stage. This section then repeats with a few subtle but thematically telling changes. Instead of two hands in the air, he asks us to put our middle fingers in the air, which confirms the somewhat nihilistic overtones of the introduction. Finally, the introduction closes with the line,

life can be sometimes ridiculous. This opening section sets the stage for the verses that follow, with each MC outlining the ridiculousness of the life they live. First up to the plate is our protagonist Kanye West, who opens his verse with a somewhat foreboding reference to Donald Trump. Life can be sometimes ridiculous. I'm so appal Trump taking dollars from y'all. Baby you're a fire, your girlfriend higher, but if you don't mind, don't live a fuck by y'all

like a dog said that you a fucking hole through the wall. But since they all lovers, I'm a-ha-law. Kanye And if I don't use rubbers Need more covers Housekeeping I mean goddamn One that know we get

O's like tirios That know because they seen us in the videos That know The day that you play me It be the same day MTV play videos That was a little joke

Kanye begins I'm so appalled Spalding Ball Balding Donald Trump Taking dollars from y'all Its wordplay is centered around Trump's balding head an artificial golden glow of a tan resembling a spalding basketball.

Connie then quotes Trump's You're Fired catchphrase from a show The Apprentice, saying, baby you're fired, your girlfriend hired, but if you don't mind, I'm going to keep you on call. It's a crude line, followed only by more crudeness, saying, We above the law, we don't give a fuck about y'all, I got dogs that'll chew a fucking hole through the wall. It would seem that Connie is aligning himself with Trump's notorious womanizing and heartlessness. His antagonism only worsens as the verse continues. He's frustrated by the looks of the housekeepers at Tend his hotel room, wishing instead for an attractive woman that desires them because he's famous. He's embodying the mindset of the extremely privileged, a Donald Trump, so engulfed in narcissism that he views people and things exclusively through the lens of his own pleasure system.

As his verse continues, Kanye shows no signs of backing off his brashness. Praise is due to the most fly proud I. Baby, I'm magic. Tada. Address me as your highness. High as your night and 30,000 feet up and you are not invited. Niggas be writing bullshit like they gotta work. Nickers going through real shit, man, they out of work.

That's why another goddamn dance track got a hurt. That's why I'd rather spit something that got a perk champagne with you. One of the more memorable couplets from Connie's verses in lines. Praises due to the most high Allah. praises due to the most fly Prada. It's a very uniquely Kanye West juxtaposition. From day one, Kanye has shown comfort in juxtaposing religious entities with high-fashioned contour and memorable, often comical ways.

Connie concludes the verse, venting his frustration with the lack of integrity he sees in other artists. He says, Enwards be right and bullshit like they gotta work. Endward's going through real shit, man, they out of work. That's why another goddamn dance track got a hurt. That's why I'd rather spit something that's got a perp. Connie seems to be implying that pumping out dance tracks is akin to factory work, what one does simply for a paycheck, while Connie's music has purpose and integrity. The dance tracks he speaks of are likely the chart-topping rap-slash-dance songs

made popular in the 2009-2010 era from artists like Pitbull and Flowrider. On Twisted Fantasy, Connie was consciously avoiding the floor-in-the-floor rap mentality, trying to bring hip-hop back to its roots. Farc Fantasy was all about it. It was just like no fool on the floor. Because it was, like, your favorite rappers was duchbagging out and shit. And it was like, we had to like live in the legacy of like Mobb, D, Wu-Tang. Just period, man. Fuck everything else. Connie's claim to authenticity is a somewhat contradictory way to end a verse that largely

propagates the exclusivity of his lifestyle. But Connie's performance of the song's brief hook forces us to re-examine those sentiments. Connie begins Champagne wishes 30 white bitches This line is the playoff the TV show The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and the tagline Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams Thank you for joining us I'm Robin Leach with those champagne wishes and caviar dreams

We all look forward to joining you on the next edition of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Connie's version replaces caviar dreams with 30 white bitches, which is followed by the line, I mean this shit is fucking ridiculous. We can interpret the word ridiculous two ways, one meaning absurd or irrational, and the other more modernly informal meaning of ridiculously good. This double meaning can be applied equally to the sentiments of Kanye's verse. On the surface, it would appear to be a defiant assertion and exploitative use of Kanye's elite

social status, but just beneath the surface, there's a kind of depressive quality. to these claims that is accentuated by the track's somber, somewhat ominous musical material. Connie uses his life to exemplify the ridiculousness and hollowness of the lifestyle of the rich and famous. There's a kind of desperation and loneliness of a man who, for example, is alone in a hotel room, lusting after a housemaid, looking for intimacy in all the wrong places. Before moving on, I do want to address something strange that you may have noticed about this verse, Kanye's voice. I've heard many accounts from people confused.

by what's going on with Kanye's voice on this track. It's different from the voice we're accustomed to hearing from Kanye, to the point of being unrecognizable to some. With this in mind, let's listen again to another clip of his verse, paying attention to his voice. I'll first tell you I spent way too long investigating this unsolved mystery. My initial hypothesis was that Connie's voice is pitched slightly lower, and I based this hypothesis on a passing comment made by Noah Callahan Bever in the complex article I cited earlier.

At breakfast in Hawaii, Bever witnessed producer the Rizza telling the group how he alters the frequency of ghost-faced killer's voice to regulate its whiningness. A whiny voice would imply nasally and high, so I assume Rizza pitched it down slightly to regulate this. And seeing how Rizza was present during the recording of Soapald, and he was present during the recording of Soapald, and he was a voice. He even performs a hook at the end of the track, I thought perhaps he had something to do with altering Kanye's voice. While however logical these steps might be, I'm pretty sure this hypothesis is wrong.

I endlessly fiddled with the pitch of Kanye's voice on Soapalde, trying to make it sound more, Kanye. I couldn't. After some more digging, I came across an early leaked version of Soapalb. It's a rough, unmixed version of the track with just Kanye's verse and an early version of the beat. This version to me, bald and Donald Trump taking dollars from y'all. Baby, you'll fire, your girlfriend, hire. But if you don't mind, I'm going to keep you on call. We're but a lot.

We don't give a fun. This version to me sounds like a demo or reference track, especially because the quality of the vocal recording is rough and scratchy. But after playing the album version of So Appalled in this early version simultaneously, I discovered both versions contained the same performance of the verse. I'm going to play them simultaneously for you now, the leaked version in the left channel. and the final version in the right.

It's hard to tell there's even two vocal tracks, right? If they are pitched differently or different takes, you'd hear it right away. As an example, here's the same passage, this time with the early version pitched up just slightly. You can clearly I'm so appalled I'm trying to take a dollar for y'all Baby you're a fire

your girlfriend higher but if you don't mind it. It would seem unlikely that because the two versions line up so perfectly in the first example

I played you it means that the leaked version of Kanye's so appalled verse is the same performance of the verse that ended up on the album. It would seem unlikely that Kanye would alter

the pitch of his voice at such an early stage and it would debunk by Riza Hawaiian an influence theory as well. After even more digging, I discovered a quote by producer Plain Pat that may solve the mystery once and for all. It's a quote from a story he told about the creation of Kid Cutty song Wild and Cause I'm

Young, a song that began at the studio sessions in Hawaii. Regarding the recording of this track, Plain Pat said, quote, when we recorded it, we didn't use a booth, we just recorded it right in the room on M-57. That's the mic you used live, like an open microphone. Cutty was recording in the booth, but he said it sounded too clean, given that the beat was so unorthodox and fucked up. Cutty recorded it the same way Kanye did so appalled, unquote. The microphone plain Pat referred to, the M-57, is a $100 microphone made by sure. It's an extremely common entry-level microphone. According to Pat's quote, Connie recorded his verse on Soapal, not in an isolated recording booth, but in an open room.

These two elements together, a cheap mic in an open room, would produce a rougher, less polished sound. We can hear this most clearly when Connie's vocals are soloed on the track, which happens during the Allah-Prada lines. As we listen, pay close attention to the P sound on the word Prada. You can hear that distortion, right? It would seem more than anything the cheap cheap microphone in the lack of recording booth is responsible for Kanye's altered voice. And since Plain Pat and Cuddy deliberately used this technique to alter the tone of Cuddy's voice, it would then be logical to conclude that Connie deliberately used the technique to create that tone as well, perhaps wanting to match the murky character of Soapald's beat.

So, cheap microphone, open room, mystery solved, I think. Soapald continues with verses by Jay-Z, Push a T, and Sci-Hie the Prince. While we don't have time to dissect every line of every verse, I would like to cherry pick a few exemplary lines from each and examine how they tie into the song's loose overarching theme of embodying the darker side of success. Jay-Z's verse begins by venting his frustration about the constant slander on his name.

Midway through the verse, he recites his most memorable line, quoting the recent Batman film, The Dark Night. Jay Z. Quote from the favorite to the most hated. Would you rather be underpaid or overrated? More victories is for minor league coaches. And yeah, Reddy told you we made. Jay Z quotes the character Harvey Dent in the Dark Night film, who transforms into Two-Face after a tragic accident leaves half his face disfigured.

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Look, whoever the Batman is, he doesn't want to do this for the rest of his life. How could he? Batman is looking for someone to take up his mantle. Jay uses Two-Face as a metaphor for the public perception of celebrities. It's along the same thematic lines that we discussed in our power episode about tearing down the same statues we help erect. Harvey Dent was a well-intentioned politician beloved by the public who was turned into a monster.

Likewise, we often witness celebrities fall from grace and often revel in their downfall. Jay-Z elaborates and embraces this notion, and went from the favorite to the most hated, but would you rather be underpaid or overrated? He's outlining public hatred as an inherent quality of success, and he's able to somewhat casually brush it off as part of the job, because it's a job that pays very, very well. He'd rather do what's in his own best interest than attempt to keep a favored public perception, as he's all too aware of the fickleness of such a thing. Jay's verse concludes with more elaboration about his wealth mixed with clever wordplay.

Spent another 30 because unlike Hammer, 30 million can't hurt me. Fucking insane. The fuck am I saying. That only am I fly, I'm fucking not playing. All these little bitches too big for their britches. Jay says, and Hammer went broke so you know I'm more focused. I lost 30 mil, so I spent another 30 because unlike Hammer, 30 million can't hurt me. These lines are in reference to MC Hammer, a hip-hop star in the 1990s whose net worth was

valued around 30 million according to Forbes magazine. Hammer ultimately mismanaged his fortune and filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Jay's lines don't seem to be a shot. Rather, he used Hammer's rags to riches to rags story as a cautionary tell, of course mixed with a fair amount of braggadocio. Hammer himself took offense to the lines and released a Jay Z disc track title Better Run Run, in which he claims Jay sold his soul to the devil. Let's go where the lights is hot, where a rapper got a back of all the sheep pop.

I can see it in his eyes, I'm the boy, so the soul. Devil said, I'm gonna give you the wall. I take it plus give me a girl. Mr. Devil, can you give me a sign and said, throw the rock up. That's one of mine, let's go. That's fine. That's fine. That's a pie.

Jayze's verse. Pusha T. Pusha T was originally supposed to spend just a weekend in Hawaii, but ended up staying a month and left sign to Kanye's label Good Music. Pusha waste no time addressing Soapald's theme of the darker side of. success. 20s is like a billion where I'm from. He's alluding to his success as crack dealer in the streets of Norfolk, Virginia.

A half a million and $20 bills implies that the money came from drug dealing and accruing that much money no matter how you did is an achievement in his neighborhood. Push then uses CNN as proxy for the nation at large, who highlight the high probability that someone like him, a black male drug dealer in the projects, would be dead by age 21. But Push flips the script, likening 21 to Blackjack. a game whose goal is to get 21 using a series of cards. Push pulls an ace, whose value is 11 in Blackjack, and compares himself to a king, whose card value is 10.

Added together and of course you get 21, Blackjack. This clever wordplay represents his against-the-odd's story of escaping the projects and fulfilling his dream of success through music. Hence the line, everything I dream, I'm watching it take shape, while to you I'm just a young rich N-word that lacks faith. Even though Push embodies the American dream, and his success is a true ragged-to-richest story, he's still perceived as and reduced to a delinquent juvenile with money. Again, it touches on the juxtaposition of success, and the negative perception we often

bestow on those with success. After Push's verse comes an appearance by good music artist Syhii the Prince, a talented but not extremely well-known rapper, who literally snuck his way onto so appalled. He told rap-up.com, quote, I wasn't supposed to be on it so appalled. People don't know that. I kind of cheated. Kanye said, can you think of something to ride on the hook?

I peeped he was kind of sleepy at the time. So he went to sleep. I stayed in the studio and I said I'm not just going to do no hook. I'm going to do my verse. I did a verse and I didn't tell him the verse was on there and I hit it. He was playing the album for some very important musicians and he played the song. He didn't know my verse was going to come on and everybody in the room goes bananas. He said, I got to keep it.

Knowing Sai Hai's verse wasn't planned or preface by Kanye makes sense. Because while Sai Hai contributes a solid, lyrically crafty verse with memorable lines such as If God had an iPod, I'd be on his playlist. His verse doesn't really contribute to the song's loose semantic thread insofar as revealing the problematic side of success. For that reason, and no disrespect to Sai Hai, we're not going to dive into his verse as we did the others. Following Sai Hai, the Rizzo performs an aggressive rendition of the song's brief hook, while

A repredition of the song's bridge performed by Swiss beats brings the song to a close. Conclusions. While Kanye, Jay, and Push all loosely touch on the ridiculousness of success and the life they live, it's perhaps a musical setting of so appalled that contributes most to the overall narrative, twisted fantasy. It's somber, smoke-filled, and bleak, adding to the slow decay we've been experiencing since Kanye's imagined suicide on power, and the bridge into his fantasy world on all the lights. On Monster, we heard Kanye and friends expressing their inner villain, while Soapalde gives

us a glimpse into the absurdity of a villain's lush but problematic lifestyle. Jay-Z said, Die and be a hero, but live long enough and see yourself become the villain. It would seem Kanye is doing exactly that, seeing himself become the villain. Once on top of the musical world, post-VMA Kanye was instantly vilified by the general public. On Monster and so appalled, Kanye is in some ways documenting what it feels like to become a villain. He's grappling with the idea, he's trying it on, and is not pretty. At the top of the show, we documented Kanye's music-by-committee approach, how he surrounded himself with a slew of his favorite artists and musicians in Hawaii.

We also noted how Kanye rarely, if ever, slept in a bed. Rather, he took short naps in the studio, often working through the night and into morning. While this certainly displays Kanye's work ethic and dedication to his art, I can't help but think these actions are also indicative of a man in real pain and turmoil. We know the VMAs combined with the lasting grief over his mother's death sent Connie into an emotional crisis of sorts. And typically, what do we do when we're hurt after a breakup or go through a traumatic experience or death?

We surround ourselves with people, with friends as much as possible. We certainly don't like being alone. And what's typically the hardest time of day when grieving or when going through a bad breakup? At night, in bed, alone. Our mind wanders. It's tough to sleep. and we get extremely lonely.

Connie's unique approach to the creation of twisted fantasy was certainly an ambitious attempt to create a redemptive masterpiece unlike we've ever heard. But the approach may have equally been the result of the unconscious actions of a man coping with a considerable amount of stress, anguish, and depression. Indeed, while so appalled finds Connie surrounded by friends, all expressing the absurdity of their lives, as the album continues,

Connie will go searching for something more intimate, something real, something like, well, love. Put your hands to the constellations. The way you look should be your sin. You my sensation. I know I'm preaching to the congregation. We love Jesus, but you don't learn the life of Satan. This romantic sunset of the song is the album's next track, Devil in a New Dress,

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