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Kanye West, incest and Twitter's First Amendment conundrum
NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts. On Nov. 11th, 2014, Kim Kardashian's ass broke the internet. Her iconic posterior, photographed by Jean-Paul Goude, graced the cover of Paper magazine and became an instant meme. Like a pillow-y flesh bomb, Kardashian's butt exploded into a firestorm of praise and disgust. The New York Times warned of the perils of a massive ass, while social networks and daytime talk shows teemed with hot takes about the young mother's butt.
Kanye West wants Apple and Tidal to stop fighting over exclusives
Kanye West may be best known on Twitter for starting feuds, but now he's trying to end one... and it's even a rivalry he helped create. In a flurry of four tweets, the rapper griped that the competition between Apple and Tidal over streaming music exclusives is nothing but a "dick swinging contest" that's "fucking up the music game." Yes, that's right -- the man who released his latest album as a Tidal exclusive (if only temporarily) now wants peace. He's even suggesting a meeting with Jay-Z, Tim Cook and other bigwigs to make it happen, and wishes that Apple would just buy Tidal to end the fighting once and for all.
Kanye West adds 'Saint Pablo' track to his living album
Whether you love, hate or have been pushed to piracy by either the artist or his unconventional release strategy, Kanye West will continue meddling with his The Life of Pablo album. After announcing the Saint Pablo tour early in the day, the album disappeared from its listing on Tidal before reappearing with an extra song. The 20th track on the ever changing album is also titled Saint Pablo and features Sampha. It's live on Tidal and iTunes/Apple Music so far, although we haven't heard about any other changes to the album. Saint Pablo isn't an entirely new piece however, as the track leaked online around the same time TLOP stopped being a Tidal-exclusive. Of course, while the lack of exclusivity could be a downer, West is still pushing Tidal with the new tour, promising its members will have early pre-sale access to tickets tomorrow on the 16th.
Kanye West releases game trailer for 'Only One'
Producer, hip-hop artist, fashion designer and famous husband Kanye West has been busy lately. When he wasn't working to put the not-so-final touches on The Life of Pablo or debuting Yeezy Season Three at Madison Square Garden, Kanye was also working on an interactive video-game companion for Only One — his 2014 single of the same name.
Adidas brings its Yeezy reservation app to some European cities
It's Yeezy Season yet again. Today, following weeks of speculation, Adidas made the release date for Kanye West's new sneaker official: June 11th. In preparation for that, the company has updated its Confirmed app with a new look and, most importantly, expanded availability. The application, which lets iOS and Android users reserve Yeezys for in-store pick up, will work in Europe for the first time, starting with Berlin, Milan and London.
Kanye West album will top charts after Tidal exclusive ends
If you guessed that Kanye West's short-lived decision to make The Life of Pablo a Tidal exclusive would hurt the album's chances... you guessed correctly. Music industry forecasters now expect Kanye's latest to top the Billboard charts for April 23rd, which will include the first results from other streaming music services as well as purchases from both Tidal as well as the star's own website. The data suggests that Tidal just isn't big enough to support a major album at this point, even if it did lead to many people signing up (however temporarily) when they wouldn't have otherwise.
Adidas tries to make buying Yeezys fair but misses the mark
Buying Yeezy Boost sneakers online is tough. It comes down to this: Supply cannot meet demand. The shortage is so acute that if you don't buy them at launch for retail price -- between $200 and $350, depending on the model -- you'll have to pay upwards of $2,000 on eBay or another site to get your hands on a pair. Reselling Yeezys has become a business, and both Adidas and Nike (with its retro Jordans) are turning to tech to make the shopping experience fair and safe for everyone.
Producer recreates 'The Life of Pablo' without ever hearing it
If you didn't know, Kanye West's latest album was a Tidal exclusive for a pretty long time. Tidal isn't available in Japan, and pirating music is a criminal offence with penalties as harsh as up to two years prison time for downloading and ten (yes, ten) for uploading. With no way to listen to the album, producer Toyomu decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided to make his own The Life of Pablo (TLOP).
Kanye West's new album arrives on Spotify and Apple Music
You can finally listen to Kanye West's new album, The Life of Pablo, on a streaming service that isn't Tidal, including Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music. The much-anticipated record has been a Tidal exclusive since February, although since then the rapper has been quietly tweaking and refining many of the headline tracks. It's rare for an artist, especially one as big as Kanye, to fine-tune an album in such a public manner. Notably, The Life of Pablo is also available to purchase now -- something the broke superstar had previously promised would never happen.
Kanye West's new album may hit Apple Music, Spotify tomorrow (update)
Anyone who's familiar with Kanye's antics knows to always take his words with a grain of salt. Back in February, after releasing The Life of Pablo exclusively on Tidal (a music service he owns a stake in), West tweeted that the album would "never never never be on Apple [Music]." But, thankfully for some of his fans, it looks like that statement won't hold true. According to reports from Mashable and Recode, citing sources familiar with the matter, TLOP will be released on Apple Music and Spotify this Friday, April 1st. Shocker.
Tidal extends free trial for the updated version of Kanye's album
By now you've likely heard all about how Kanye West's The Life of Pablo will always be a Tidal exclusive. When the album first dropped, West mentioned on Twitter that he would "fix" the song "Wolves." To make sure users who flocked to the service for the album are able to stream the new version, Tidal is extending its free trial for another 30 days. The service sent out an email to temporary users today, explaining that the updated song and a new track "Fade" were added to Pablo. However, "Fade" was already available as a part of the initial release.
Kanye West vows 'no more CDs'
Kanye West's recent trend toward tech-related diatribes isn't over yet. In one of his signature tweetstorms, the star has declared that there will be "no more CDs" coming from him -- if you want his music going forward, you'll likely have to download or stream it. The Yeezus album cover was an "open casket" at the CD's funeral, he says. The concept of a musician going online-only isn't that groundbreaking (just ask indies that can't justify producing CDs), but it's still rare to see a major artist swear off disc-based album sales.
Kanye caught on Pirate Bay while his album streams on Pornhub (update)
In the picture above, you'll spot Joel Zimmerman's alter ego, Deadmau5, standing side by side with Kanye West. Last night, the rodent-headed musician was putting a little distance between him and his Tidal buddy, for apparently using Pirate Bay to download a software synthesiser called Xfer Serum (a $190 purchase). Deadmau5 was responding to a tweet from West that simply read "Day 3," along with a screen shot of what he was listening to (Sufjan Stevens' "Death with Dignity"). Zimmerman noticed West's other browser tabs in view, which included one for Xfer Records' Serum, one for "Pirate Bay Torrent Xfe..." and another for "The 50 best VSTs" (software instruments). Oh, and the surest giveaway you're browsing something dodgy: MacKeeper.
Kanye West's Tidal exclusive could hurt both him and his fans
Kanye West spent the weeks leading up to the release of his long-awaited new album going wild on Twitter. He simultaneously reaffirmed his runaway ego and also gave an inside look at his thought process as he finalized The Life of Pablo before its Valentine's Day launch. Album titles changed at will and West continually added and dropped songs. He took so long to finish things up that he missed the promised February 12th release date. Whatever you think of West, he's an artist. Even if his personality or songs turn you off, he's one of the most creative and successful musicians of the last decade. That makes his stubborn insistence on making The Life of Pablo a Tidal exclusive even more puzzling, because he's putting his stake in the music streaming service over his art. Both West and his fans will likely suffer for the decision.
Pirates prove Kanye's new album isn't really Tidal-exclusive
Kanye West's anticipated album had a bizarre launch, but once the album was finally released early Sunday morning, we hoped the drama would be over. We were wrong. Shortly after putting up The Life of Pablo as a Tidal streaming exclusive that you could also buy outright, West decided to pull the album from standard sales entirely. In one of his increasingly-commonplace Twitter rants, West practically begged followers to sign up to Tidal and proclaimed The Life of Pablo will "never never never be on Apple" and would never be for sale.
Kanye West's new album is streaming exclusively on Tidal
Music icon (and owner of perhaps the weirdest account on Twitter) Kanye West has finally delivered his highly-anticipated new album, The Life of Pablo. West has been teasing the album on Twitter for weeks now, changing the title and adding tracks at will. But now the full album (18 tracks, with four of those considered "bonus tracks, if you're keeping count) is streaming exclusively on Tidal for the next week. If you don't want to sign up for Tidal, you can also purchase a digital version for the eye-raising price of $20.
Twitter's week of beef is something we need more of
Despite rapper beefs being an unofficial feature of Twitter practically since it launched, this week alone has taken things to a new level. Less than 24 hours after Neil deGrasse-Tyson tangled with B.o.B over (of all things) whether or not the Earth is round, Kanye West decided to call out Wiz Khalifa over criticizing the title of his upcoming album and his usage of "kk." ( Hit the link for a recap, but if you missed it: Kanye decided the letters were a shot at his wife when Wiz was just pushing his own Khalifa Kush. Things have now been settled after intervention by their ex-in-common Amber Rose.) At turns hilarious ("I went to look at your twitter and you were wearing cool pants ... #Wizwearscoolpants"); dismissive ("You have distracted from my creative process"); and incredibly disappointing ("you let a stripper trap you"); it was a moment that not only belongs on Twitter, it belongs to Twitter. It's time to embrace that.
Kanye West hates in-app purchases on kids games
When Kanye West runs for president, we know what at least one item on his platform will be -- and there will probably be plenty of parents agreeing. We guess he doesn't consider his wife's app a "kid's game," though, considering it's using the same in-app purchasing scheme, and she advised parents just last year to make sure their purchasing controls were set. Fuck any game company that puts in-app purchases on kids games!!! — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
Kanye West is afraid 3D printers will ruin the fashion industry
Kanye West has a way with words. He's not known for often, if ever, holding back on whatever thoughts cross his mind. In a recent episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the musician-turned-self-proclaimed-designer had an interesting thing to say about 3D printers: He believes they will ruin the fashion industry. During a visit to the Tumo Centre for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, Armenia, Kanye was shown a 3D printer and said, "This is what I'm afraid of here, 3D printing, because the internet destroyed the music industry and now this is what we're afraid of right now with the textile industry." The school guide tried to defend the machine by telling him it doesn't print designs on its own, pointing out that you need someone to bring those to life in the first place. "Yeah. What I'm saying [is] there will come a time where it's, like, people are making the shoes at home," he replied.
'Minecraft' meets 'Grand Theft Auto V' in space
Imagine: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, reclines behind a desk built out of spare rocket ship parts. A gleaming saber rests to his right. Sean Murray, founder of the independent development studio Hello Games, sits across from him, chatting about Hello's new title, No Man's Sky. There's a break in the conversation and an awkward silence threatens to stretch between the two, but then: "What do you think is the percentage chance that we're living in a simulation?" Musk asks. Murray hardly has time to answer -- he's running late for an appointment with Steven Spielberg and his communications director is getting antsy. At this rate, they won't have time to meet up with Kanye.
