By Odeisel

First he joined Twitter and got a nation of followers. Then impromptu live performances at the offices of Facebook and Twitter. He dumped his hot young baldilocks, got his swagger back with a noise making single (“Power”) and a high profile guest rap (Rauce’s “Live Fast Die Young”) and Kanye West has served his brief time in pop oblivion ready to shine again for all who would pay attention. He’s pulled out the big guns on his latest track with mentor NO I.D. ,Lex Luger (“MC Hammer”/”BMF), legendary singer Charlie Wilson and the biggest hen in the game, Beyonce for his latest salvo, “See Me Now.”

At a certain point in the song, Kanye seems to be talking to his mother above when he says, “you see me looking up cause I know she’s looking down right now.” It would be a charming sentiment if it rang true but West spends so much of the song with “look at me” pandering that it’s hard to accept his mother as the main audience for this song. The bragging and the label whoring are there as usual, but there is added arrogance brought on by emerging from the Taylor Swift debacle with everybody still on his dick.  He’s empowered like someone that survives a shootout or a car crash and a feeling invincible; even making light of his speech interruption snafu towards the end of the song.

You can see his allusions to Greek mythology and his notions of being Socrates and aristocracy that Kanye no longer believes himself to be normal. There are scraps of fake humility, with his now overwrought acceptance of being an asshole or being immature but that rings hollow when you’re in your thirties.

Mrs. Carter opens up with a short faux rapped intro and she does well enough with her vocal runs but there is too much of her in the same manner as there is too much Rihanna in “Run This Town.” There are some lines such as “My n***as is home, I guess I got everything I want” that are really beneath her at this point and she sounds silly singing that. Charlie Wilson is really just part of the backdrop with ancillary vocals but he serves his purpose. He attempts to go ham on the extended run, but his best days are behind him.

Production wise, this song is not well arranged. Beyonce’s extended chorus through the middle distorts the momentum, and does the drummer boy drum that buts heads with the low bottom. The strings are rudimentary and fight for attention with the periphery singing. You would think with Lex Luger and NO I.D. Kanye could have done better. It’s not wack, just not ambitious.

People will love it, and it will do well but Kanye has done loftier music than this. It’s a bit College Dropout era in feel with his corny punch line setups. Problem is that album is almost a decade old in evolution. “See Me Now.” Enjoy.

Kanye West Feat. Beyonce & Charlie Wilson- See Me Now See Me Now (Feat. Beyonce & Charlie Wilson)

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