West's music needs to be more original

I’ve figured out Kanye West’s songwriting formula: Ego + catchy, well-mixed beats + someone else’s material + more ego/over-the-top showboating.

In his latest single, “Homecoming,” featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay fame, West calls back to his hometown of Chicago.

I can’t say I don’t admire some parts of what West does. For example the girl Wendy, that he mentions in “Homecoming,” represents the Windy City — they met when he was 3 years old (the same time he moved to the city with his mother).

West’s lyrics lean bawdy in the sense that they appear to be about a girl; they only reveal their true intentions on close inspection.

See, subtlety is something I appreciate in music and West does it better than a good many hip-hop artists whose lyrics I do my best to ignore because they’re generally empty and self-congratulatory. Artists across all genres do that, of course, but it seems like rappers, in my mind at least, are a bit more in love with their own baller-ness than their guitar-strumming counterparts are.

In “Homecoming,” West sounds a little bit guilty about his constant absence from ‘Chi-town,’ but, sorry, baby, he’s gotta go “reach for the stars so if (he falls, he’ll) land on a cloud.”

Oh, the tribulations of selling millions of albums, touring the world. Woe is West: “I can’t come back home,” he lyricizes, “and guess when I heard that — when I was back home.”

Martin’s vocals stand out melodically in their sung style, even in dismantled-and-reassembled-sounding samples used in the song, against West’s trademark clipped chirps.

I guess I’m just sick of West’s attitude. Yeah, on his blog he rants about things that at least have something to do with his performances or personal efforts, and I’m sure he tries to deliver good shows and all that. But. He just comes off as a whiny brat that learned a trick or two in sound editing.

I’d suggest West try making music that wasn’t comprised of other musicians’ sound bits, but, since that is his forte — well, that and catering to the basest of human sexy pomp-and-flash interests, like a great ad campaign-turned-philosophy — I’d encourage him to go deeper into things like the light symbolism he draws in “Homecoming;” maybe expand his vocabulary.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the wistful nature of the track. It’s at least minimally introspective, which scores it some points in my book. I respect the unlikely collaboration with Martin, which is on par with West’s appearance at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, where I unfortunately saw him botch an opportunity to melt into diverse listeners’ hearts and music libraries.