59
A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America
62
Taylor Doesn’t Speak Out Against Racism
64
It’s Hard Not to Be Moved
65
Hate Is for Hitler
67
Because Kanye Isn’t King Kong or Emmett Till or a N ****
69
DEAR KANYE
My Summer with Kanye
73
Watching Weeks
74
I Try Not to See Myself as a Mother Figure
76
Dear Kanye
77
After Donda Died, Kanye Dated Amber
78
Suge Knight
80
Kanye as a Quantum Particle Yet to Be Observed
82
HYBRID
God’s Face over Gold
85
Twilight: Starring Kanye
86
Hybrid
88
Gaze
89
Teeth
92
Kanye Raps, “ ” Part 1
94
Kanye Is Glamorous
95
I No Longer Have to Look Up Dates Like Your Birthday, June 8, 1977
98
Kanye Raps, “ ” Part 2
100
THE UNENDING WORLD THAT CONNECTS US: NOTES AND FURTHER READING
103
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
107
mr. west
“RUNAWAY” PREMIERES IN LOS ANGELES ON OCTOBER 18, 2010
MTV.com reported: At the end of his speech, West touched briefly on his mother’s death and how he isn’t scared of anything because he feels as though everything has been taken away from him. “I have no mother, no grandmothers, no girlfriend, no daughter, and I lived with a woman my whole life,” he said.
Kanye is 33. If he were Jesus, he would die this year,
and be resurrected.
I can’t unthink this thought.
He said he had considered suicide, but found his life to be that of a soldier’s,
“a soldier for culture.”
Some men are kept alive by fighting.
I don’t want this for you, Kanye.
To the right of the article is a video clip of an interview.
“… both me and George express ourselves with our truest, our truest vision …”
Kanye’s bottom teeth distract me.
If I ever questioned whether the diamonds were there,
they’re there.
You’re all kinds of beautiful.
And if that’s not a word I can use, you’re resplendent, numinous, healthy.
I am two months pregnant.
Monday this premiere, Tuesday this article, Wednesday
my first ultrasound, with my child’s boneless arms in motion.
A memory I didn’t know I could have.
Thursday I write—If I have a daughter, you can hold her. A son, too.
The two of you, tied to this week in my life.
jesus walks
KANYE WEST, “Jesus Walks,” line 6 of verse 1
HA HA HUM
In the chorus of one of my favorite songs are three throat-clearing sounds—
sometimes depicted as Ha Ha Hum
on lyrics websites such as azlyrics.com, lyricstime.com, and anysonglyrics.com.
A sound we make when we talk with the mouths of Jews.
Channukah, l’chaim, chutzpah.
Voiceless fricative.
Russians have a letter for it. In block, an x, in Cyrillic, two c’s back to back.
In the words, good, chorrosho, and bad, plocho.
They have other letters I love, for sh, tss, sht, szh, yoo.
The sound Kanye makes—it’s not unlike the French r.
How my name falls back into the mouth like it’s collapsing.
Sa-cha.
In Russian, the r would roll, as when my great-grandmother said her name,
as when my great-grandfather called to her.
My name means princess in Hebrew.
Kanye’s means the only one in Swahili.
A