Waiting for Pablo

It's Saturday morning, two days later than So Help Me God was supposed to drop, and still Kanye will not take my money. So as I sit here and think about the last couple days, I can't help but reflect on the brilliant marketing that is taking place. Infuriating, but brilliant.

It is all about suspense. The constant checking of Twitter, Tidal, iTunes, the blogs and his website. Looking for that new bit of info, or dare I say it, the album itself. The anticipation is now building and he is generating even more interest in Swish than before (this post is proof in itself). "When will it drop, what will the artwork look like, what will the name be, what songs will be on it, who are the features and what will he say next?" Losing a little momentum? Say something controversial on Twitter. Rekindle that Taylor Swift beef and lash out at your exes ex. On the surface it looks like another foot in his mouth comment, but it is more calculated than that. Keep interest peaked and watch your audience grow. At this point in his career everyone knows Kanye says crazy shit. What could he say that would be worse than anything he said in the past? Not much, so take advantage of that...

I don't think he ever intended to release Waves on February 11th. That was just our invitation to Yeezy Season 3. Up until Thursday, when I started following the frenzy of the album release, I didn't know Yeezy Season 3 was happening, I know now though. He also used it to give us a look at his album, then proceeded to tell us "wait, but there's more", adding more songs to the track listing. Now you have grown your audience even further by integrating fashion. People who otherwise never fain interest, are now attracted to the event. Whether that attraction is positive or negative is beside the point. On the other side of the spectrum, YS3 is getting the same boost.

Yesterday the album was being mastered but today he is adding one... more... track. Not to mention the re-launch of "Good Fridays" announced yesterday. This has become the equivalent of dangling a carrot. A big brother holding your favorite toy an inch too high to grasp, how ironic. I found myself asking whether or not I even wanted to buy it anymore. Do I want to support the music of someone who lies to his fans so blatantly as a promotional tactic? Or is he really trying to make the perfect album? I have to say, I feel like the little brother here though.

Who am I kidding though? When The Life of Pablo drops, I will buy it. The people who hate Kanye will still stream it so they can criticize it and the stans will herald it as the greatest thing since College Dropout. The media will keep the fires roaring and continue to generate interest. The songs will be dissected and analyzed, the meaning misconstrued into something that was never intended. And in the end, the majority will fade and never press play again, while the real fans are left to finally listen in peace.

Daniel Szura is a writer for burgerbeatz.com.

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