She asked me what I wished for on my wishlist

Kanye West - 'Bound 2' (Yeezus - 2013)

In 2013, Kanye West released Yeezus, an album that defied many musical conventions of its time and West's career, navigating through abrasive industrial sounds, rap, and electronic music. The album reflects Kanye's artistic range, offering a melting pot of influences that include industrial hip-hop, electro, and experimental rap. While tracks like 'Black Skinhead' and 'New Slaves' push the envelope with their in-your-face production, the album closer 'Bound 2' is a surprising return to Kanye's older, soulful style.

In that sense 'Bound 2' serves as a musical palate cleanser, taking listeners back to a style reminiscent of Kanye's earlier work, especially the soulful sampling that marked his first three albums. It seems like a journey that comes full circle, suggesting that beneath all the avant-garde experimentation, Kanye's core aesthetic values remain. This song isn't just a nostalgic look back but purposefully uses its soulful, melodic backdrop to drive home its narrative—an exploration of love and the complexities surrounding it.

The song's placement at the album's end offers a tonal shift. Yeezus is an album characterised mainly by its audacity and aggressive energy. In that context, 'Bound 2' is a moment of reflection and resolution, like the calm after a storm. The song's departure from the raucous nature of preceding tracks might signify the evolution or progression of Kanye's persona across the album. By the end of this musical journey, listeners find themselves at a more reflective and somewhat softer landing spot, making 'Bound 2' a smoother conclusion to an otherwise turbulent project.

Musically, 'Bound 2' intertwines several elements, referring to Kanye's earlier productions that heavily relied on soulful samples. It samples the Ponderosa Twins Plus One's 'Bound', featuring the line "Bound to fall in love," which serves as the song's hook.

The production also samples 'Aeroplane (Reprise)' by Wee from 1977, providing the underlayer to the music.

Instrumentally, the song is minimalistic, especially compared to other Yeezus tracks, which often include heavy, industrial elements. Kanye utilises a drum machine to lay down a basic yet effective hip-hop beat, and the soulful sample essentially carries the melody.

Lyrically, 'Bound 2' explores love's complexities, contradictions, and tensions. The recurring phrase "I know you're tired of loving, of loving with nobody to love" underscores the loneliness and exhaustion that often accompany romantic pursuits. Kanye's self-referential lines also stand out, adding another layer of complexity to the narrative. For example, he mentions his infamous Taylor Swift incident at the MTV Video Music Awards: There's also some concern about getting stains on a mink - I assume this is a mink coat rather than a live mustelid.

While 'Bound 2' is a throwback to earlier stylistic choices, it's also a forward-looking piece that hints at Kanye's varied artistic paths in the years following Yeezus. It serves as a pivot point in his discography, encapsulating past sensibilities and pointing the way to future explorations, both musically and thematically.

After Yeezus, Kanye would go on to release albums like The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), and Jesus Is King (2019), among others. Each of these subsequent works showcases a different aspect of his musical and thematic interests, from the gospel influences in Jesus Is King to Ye's reflective and profoundly personal content. However, they also often include nods to his earlier styles, including soulful samples and more traditional hip-hop beats—elements that 'Bound 2' emphatically brings to the fore like the rest of Yeezus didn't.

'Bound 2' shows Kanye's ability to defy norms and expectations, offering a nuanced piece both a nod to his past and a glimpse into his future. It remains one of the more discussed tracks on Yeezus, partly because of its musical qualities but also because of its video and the significant cultural impact that it had.

Fashion photographer Nick Knight directed the music video featuring Kanye West and his then-wife Kim Kardashian. Kardashian is topless, and the couple ride a motorcycle against a series of surreal and romantic backdrops, including stylised versions of American landscapes. The video garnered attention for its over-the-top romanticism and green-screen effects, which some critics and fans found kitschy or laughable.

The 'Bound 2' video inspired numerous parodies and pastiches, the most famous of which is the one by actors James Franco and Seth Rogen. The duo recreated the music video shot-for-shot, with Rogen playing the role of Kim Kardashian. Their parody, titled 'Bound 3', went viral and was even acknowledged by West as being funny. No mean feat considering West's questionable engagement with satire and comedy to that point

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