Entertainment

Kanye West Drops A New Song On A Monday, NBD

by Kadeen Griffiths

We should have seen Kanye West releasing the full version of "No More Parties In LA" coming for two reasons, really. In the first place, Kanye did not, in fact, release a new song last Friday, even though Kim Kardashian West promised we'd be getting new Kanye every Friday. In the second place, the last time that Kanye released a new song, he also released a bonus snippet of another upcoming song. Thus, we should have all been glued to Kanye's SoundCloud just on the off chance he, oh, say, decided to drop a new song on a Monday. Which he did. And now, because I've listened to the song on repeat several times and managed to get past the sheer joy of Kendrick Lamar and Kanye being on the same track, it's time to do what we do best: analyze the "No More Parties In LA" lyrics.

The song, which is a grand total of six minutes long, features Lamar and Kanye getting very, very real about the shallow and hyper-sexualized Hollywood lifestyle. Their fast rhymes discuss those eponymous parties, groupies, and LA itself, not always in the most positive of light. In fact, much of the song takes a wry look at the culture. For example, Lamar's verse, which we got to hear the first few lines of in the snippet, is expanded with such anecdotes as:

A country girl that love Hollywood Mama used to cook red beans and rice Now it's Denny's, four in the morning, spoil your appetite Liquor pouring and n*ggas swarming your section with erectionsSmoke in every direction, middle finger pedestrians R&B singers and lesbians, rappers and managers Music and not phone cameras This sh*t unanimous for you, it's damaging for you

When Kanye takes over again, he gets reflective about his place in the industry — especially how he started from the bottom and now he's here, to borrow a quote from Drake.

Thinking back to how I got here in the first placeSecond place b*tches wouldn't let me on first baseA backpack n*gga with luxury taste budsAnd a Louis Vuitton, still got all of my pay stubsGot p*ssy for piece I did for n*ggas more famousWhen did I become A-List? I wasn't even on A-List

Of course, Kanye's family was going to warrant a mention eventually. And, to be honest, it's hard to go into a Kanye song (or, indeed, any rap song) without finding some misogyny present, and it reaches a strange sort of peak when he discusses his family. During these immortal lines:

I be worried bout my daughter, I be worried bout KimBut Saint is baby 'Ye, I ain't worried about him

During the first line, I found myself melting that, in the midst of all the concerns that Kanye had been laying out in the song, one of the biggest was his concern for the family. But the line about Saint makes it rather clear that Kanye worries about North and Kim K because they're women, rather than because he wants to protect his family as a whole from the dangers of the world around them. For two women that Kanye holds in such high regard, I found the idea that they would need more protection and concern than, you know, a newborn baby boy imore than a little insulting.

But, overall, the message that comes through clearly from the "No More Parties In LA" lyrics is that Kanye (and Lamar) are incredibly self-aware when it comes to the shallowness and danger of the Hollywood lifestyle and buying into their own hype. It's an amazing song, but, then, with two such great rappers on the track, that was just to be expected.

Listen to the song below.