Kanye West’s New Single, “Power” Review

Is there a more polarizing rapper than Kanye West?  There’s a large portion of mainstream music fans that hate him, which is unusual for an artist of his popularity, and magazine writers (who usually praise his albums) continually berate him for his egotistical attitude.  Here on Nick Reviews, however, I like to focus on solely the musical aspect, because I really don’t know Mr. West personally at all, and never will, so I could care less if he interrupts Taylor Swift at any award show.  Despite all his critics and haters, West continues to put out good music, and “Power” is no exception.

The beat to “Power,” which, in my opinion, is the integral part of rap music, is excellent.  While the “ohh”‘s that repeat over and over throughout the song may seem repetitive, West and producer Symbolic One manage to layer enough over it – a dirty as hell drum beat, a sweet bassline, a really cool guitar line, and beautiful piano – to make it sound fresh.  After West’s last album, 808s and Heartbreak, which was full of sparse beats and little to no rapping, “Power” sounds triumphant, like (fingers crossed) he is ready to return with what may be his best work yet.  The beat reaches its most emotional moment with a fantastic synthesizer interlude, which allows the song to slowly build up to an exciting climax.

While Kanye’s flow and delivery are pleasing enough, the lyrics don’t reach the level of the beat.   Some of them are excellent – “Takin’ my inner child, I’m fighting for custody” – but some just don’t reach the level of his past works.  Was the verse about the cast of Saturday Night Live needing to kiss his ass necessary?  Probably not.  But in the end, it doesn’t matter.  The beat is so excellent and West raps over it with such confidence that the lyrics don’t manage to ruin the song.

Whether West will release an entire album of this quality, however, remains to be seen.  Be on the watch for West’s fifth album (rumored to be called “A Good Ass Job”, as his fourth album was originally going to be called) in the next couple months.