I Love Kanye

"I Love Kanye"
Song by Kanye West
from the album The Life of Pablo
Released February 14, 2016
Recorded 2016
Genre Spoken word
Length 0:44
Label
Songwriter(s) Kanye West
Producer(s) West

"I Love Kanye" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West from his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016).

Background

West mocked himself on Saturday Night Live the very day before his seventh studio album was released by using the track for a rap battle with Kyle Mooney.[1] In March 2016, the rapper took to Twitter and sent out lyrics from "I Love Kanye" in separate tweets for each line.[2]

Composition

When asked by a young child about how he wrote the song, Kanye said he did it by just thinking about what he loved.[3] There is no backing beat for the track, with the entirety of it being West rapping an acappella - this is not the only time that there's no backing beat for a track on the featuring album, since "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission" has no instrumental either.[4]

When changes were made to The Life of Pablo in June 2016, "I Love Kanye" wasn't subject to any.[5]

There had been a running meme for quite a while about how much Kanye loves himself, which West was clearly aware of and successfully capitalized on with this song, since fans were obsessing over it (mainly via Twitter) following The Life of Pablo being released.[6] The inspiration behind this meme was egotistical quotes from West, like when he once said: "Come on now! How could you be me and want to be someone else?".[7]

Jay-Z referenced "I Love Kanye" when speaking of West himself in October 2016, saying: "I miss the old Kanye".[8] Meek Mill posted a similar quote, with the same theme, to his Instagram in May 2018.[9]

Remixes

On 15th February 2016, a remix of the track by Stefan Ponce was released.[10] It was also remixed by DJ Premier on 25th of the very same month.[11]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone felt highly positively about "I Love Kanye", writing that it: 'stings, especially the punch line "I love you like Kanye loves Kanye" – Kanye knows he always f**ks over the one he loves, even the one he loves most, himself.'[12] The Guardian wrote of the very same line that it is an example of: 'self-awareness occasionally suggested by TLOP’s lyrics'.[13]

Live performances

Every time that the song has been recorded as performed live, West has performed it before "Waves", which is the track after it on the album's tracklist.[14][15]

Commercial performance

"I Love Kanye" made its debut at number 14 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 in the same week that The Life of Pablo was released, which remains its peak to date.[16] Within the same week, it debuted at number 48 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[17]

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[18] 123
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[19] 35
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[20] 14
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[21] 48

References

  1. ↑ "Watch Kanye West Bring The Life Of Pablo And Lose A Rap Battle To Kyle Mooney On SNL". Stereogum. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  2. ↑ "I miss the old Kanye - We Saved Some Classic Kanye West Tweets Before He Just Deleted Them Forever". PigeonsandPlanes. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Kanye tells little kid how he wrote 'I Love Kanye'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo': Every Song Ranked Worst to Best". Highsnobiety. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Every Change Kanye West Made to 'The Life of Pablo'". XXL. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Kanye West's I Love Kanye track sends fans into meltdown as he finally releases The Life Of Pablo". Mirror Online. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Kanye West Is the Best Interview Subject of All Time — A Quote Compilation". Vulture. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Jay Z: I miss the old Kanye". The Independent. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Meek Mill's Kanye West Post On Instagram: 'We Miss You Bro'". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Listen To This Soulful Remix Of "I Love Kanye" As Soon As Possible". THE FADER. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Kanye West's "I Love Kanye" Remixed by DJ Premier". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Life of Pablo". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Kanye West: The Life of Pablo review – 'You can see why his immodesty rubs people up the wrong way'". The Guardian. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  14. ↑ "I love kanye/ WAVES, kanye dancing". YouTube. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Saint Pablo Tour I LOVE KANYE/WAVES/TOUCH THE SKY/ALL OF THE LIGHTS LIVE Las Vegas". YouTube. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  18. ↑ "CHART: CLUK Update 9.04.2016 (wk14)". Zobbel.de. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.