Hip-hop has already conquered the board room, but Kanye West now has his sights set on the conference room. The Chicago rapper took the wraps off some new rhymes from his next album (rumored to be out Sept. 14), and delivered them without musical accompaniment to an audience of Facebook staffers in their Palo Alto, CA, office. Watch the videos below.
“I’ve been writing new stuff for the new album, and I’ve got a couple of raps I really like,” West said with a smile, standing on a conference table in his well-tailored suit, hoping he wasn’t “wearing out his welcome” at the social media company. But the biz-casual crowd egged him on, and West delivered, dropping verses in a freestyle manner that sounded more church preacher or poetry slammer than chart-topping MC.
“Let’s break out of this fake-ass party, turn this into a classic night,” West rhymed on one song, which blog 2DopeBoyz is calling “Lost in This World.” “If we die in each other’s arms, still get laid in the afterlife.”
On “Chain Heavy,” West unleashed this line: “They try to tell me aliens built the pyramids / I swear, life’s a bitch on her period.” And on another untitled song, West boasted about hanging on a speedboat, in his boat shoes, and walking into Nobu like it was Whole Foods.
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In a blog post on his official site, West enthused about the experience with his “friends from Facebook”: “Many times in life I’ve had to deal with moments of doubt. And as it’s been a minute since I’ve performed any fresh material in front of an audience, this could’ve been one of those moments… but it wasn’t. Your energy was a gift so electric, so genuine, that it really helped me give my best. The energy was so inspiring I had to keep going!”
So far, West has just released one new single from the new album, “Power,” which he immediately put up for sale via iTunes. Among the reported contributors: Q-Tip, RZA, Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Pete Rock, and many more. Meanwhile, Hype Williams just completed shooting on a video for “Power.”
While much of the world has yet to hear anything beyond “Power,” the praise for ‘Ye’s new music is already coming in hot and heavy, particularly from Rick Ross. “I was just like, Wow… It’s The Chronic all over,” the Florida rapper told MTV, referring to Dr. Dre’s classic album. “That’s exactly what I said when I walked into the room: This is The Chronic, this is how it had to be.”
West also joined Twitter today, in the midst of a slew of meetings in Silicon Valley, and tweeted that he’d scrapped Good Ass Job as the title of his new album.
WATCH: Kanye West Intro
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pQYi6RybLSI
WATCH: Kanye West, “Lost In This World” and “Chain Heavy”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/exNOyZ220jg
WATCH: Kanye West, “Mama’s Boyfriend”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Umjy314sQQ
What do you think of Kanye’s conference room sessions? Sound off below.
