OT: Kanye West and King Crimson

[Art Simon <simart@gmail.com>]

I'm out of touch with popular music, and I'd never listened to Kanye West until, well, two days ago.

On his latest album he has a song "Power" where he samples King Crimson. That got my interest. But there's more to it than just the sample. Here's a quote from a review:

"But more important is the hook that anchors the song. It sounds like a vocal re-creation of the King Crimson song's monster guitar hook; but as it's been transformed, it invokes another acute examiner of current cultural-political dramas: M.I.A. The hook's hand claps and feminine tone -- as well as the Symbolyc One-co-produced track's whole sound, much more redolent of global hip-hop than of electroclash, which West may have left behind -- sets West's verbal tirade within M.I.A.'s larger context of global oppression and resistance by people of color. Justified? Maybe not. But it's a typically bold Kanye leap."

I think it's great. Anybody else out there think anything of this song?
-- 
Art Simon
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