Spoofs & Satire

From “Prairie Pop: The Iowa Roots of the ‘Paul Is Dead’ Hoax“ (View larger image)

Is Rapper Kanye West Dead?

Suspicious lyrics and other clues suggest something may be amiss among the hip-hop royalty.

Lately on the internet there has been much conjecturing on the present state of rapper Kanye West. An amazing series of photos and lyrics on the rapper’s albums point to a distinct possibility that West may indeed be insane, freaked out, even dead.

The Graduation album, obviously, signified the “death” of the old rapper who made girls scream when he said “get down girl, go ’head get down.” The new Kanye guzzled Hennessey and stunted, criticized awards shows, studied under T-Pain in Tallahassee, and had a new sound.

This album also started the hints that all was not right with the rapper. On the front cover an illustrated teddy bear is ejected into outer space, a sign many believe is an ancient death symbol of either the Greeks or the American Indians.

In the centerfold of the album the teddy bear is pursued by a fanged, demonic cloud.

See You in My Nightmares?

The rapper’s next release, “Love Lockdown,” displayed a major idiosyncrasy. No rapping is audible, only auto-tuned singing, which is supposedly the Viking symbol of death.

Then came the rapper’s latest album: 808s and Heartbreak, with even more auto-tune. With this record the whole mystery became even more spooky. When the tune “Heartless” is played backwards a voice quotes “Lord save this nigga,” and there are many sound effects.

In another song on the record, “Real Bad News,” the rapper sings “My face turned to stone when I heard the news.”


 

A hidden message?

In an introductory verse to the top tune on Jay-Z’s new record, “This Town,” “Black cards, black cars, all black everything” is mentioned. Why? They’re attending a funeral, as Kanye confirms in his verse: “Next time I’m in church, please no photos.”

So much for the clues, even though these are only a few of the many people are pointing at. There is a good deal of circumstantial “evidence” available. For instance, Kanye used to be the most flamboyant of the rappers; lately Drake has had the spotlight.

Inner Demon?

Sure, people point to Kanye’s recent collaboration with Jay-Z and appearance on Jay Leno, but there’s a kicker: Lil Wayne could possibly be helping to carry on the hoax.

Another thing: In a video shot by Spike Jonze, Kayne is depicted disemboweling himself.

Now the discrepancies arise. Why, if something is wrong with Kanye, are these clues dropped? It would be just like the rapper to perpetrate a huge put-on like this, but there just seems to be more to it

Credit: Steven Cloud

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Andrew Womack is a founding editor of The Morning News. He is always working on the next installment of the Albums of the Year series at TMN. More by Andrew Womack