14 DAY TRIAL // Kanye West spent most of 2014 working on a new album, to the point where he would even miss out on important family events (like Thanksgiving dinner, most recently) so that he could be in the studio recording.
Judging by the first release from the yet-to-be-titled record, the single “Only One,” he will be doing his best to bridge the gap between his work and his family through this labor of love.
“Only One” is a collaboration with Sir Paul McCartney (on keyboards) and was made available online on the rapper’s website. You can also find it embedded in full below.
A tribute to his mother and daughter
On it, a heavily Autotuned Kanye raps his mother’s words about how she never left him and how she would always be there for him and his new family, wife Kim Kardashian and daughter Nori (North West). Donda West died in 2007 from surgery complications and it was the single most difficult moment in Kanye’s life.
Fans see in “Only One” his final act of accepting his mother’s passing. Critics find the song too rough and unpolished to be an actual single, saying it sounds like a demo that would have been best saved for a B-track.
Still, “Only One” is already number 3 on iTunes charts and fans’ reactions are positive: Kanye is a lot of things but he’s rarely before been this honest, this painfully open about his biggest loss so far. Even if the Autotune on the song ends up grating, it’s not enough to take anything from his beautiful words.
“Only One” is Kanye’s loving tribute to a mother who is no longer there with him and to a daughter whom he loves more than anything else, and his declaration that he will try to find a way for both these worlds to meet, somehow.
Secret album
No word yet on the sound that Kanye might bring with the new album, but considering he’s now at his happiest, we should probably expect fewer infuriating ego-trips and a more toned down sound.
Kanye has said before that his working relationship with McCartney was “prolific,” so perhaps the material will include more than just one collaboration, the one he offered to fans with the New Year.
Listen to “Only One” below and see for yourself how that worked out.