New Slaves

"New Slaves" is a song performed by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West, taken from his sixth studio album Yeezus (2013). It was produced by West and Ben Bronfman, with additional production from Mike Dean, Travis Scott, Noah Goldstein, Sham Joseph and Che Pope. The song features vocals from American singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, whom West previously collaborated with on Watch the Throne (2011).^[1] The song discusses slavery and segregation as well as racism in general, materialism, and stereotypes of African Americans in the United States.^[2] The song, despite not having been released as a single, has charted in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The song's conclusion features Ocean singing over a sample of "Gyöngyhajú lány" (1969) by Hungarian rock band Omega.^[3]

Promotion

Prior to the song's release, it was played at 66 locations whilst a black-and-white video of West performing it was projected on various buildings in various countries. Locations where it was projected include Wrigley Field as well as the Royal Ontario Museum. Miriam Coleman said the simplicity of the video "provided a striking context for the rapper's searing lyrics on race and materialism".^[4] Two projections in Texas (including the Rothko Chapel) were dismissed by police prior to commencing due to a lack of permit.^[5][6] The song also generated early interest when it was performed multiple times by West at venues such as the Met Ball, the Governors Ball Music Festival,^[7] and Saturday Night Live.^[4]

Live performances

Projection of "New Slaves" on the W Hotel in Los Angeles.

On May 17, West unveiled the previously unreleased song through video projections in 66 assorted locations.^[8] "New Slaves" was performed along with "Black Skinhead" on May 18, 2013 on Saturday Night Live.^[9]

Critical reception

"New Slaves" received widespread acclaim from music critics. Farber of the Daily News said the song has a "heavy metal girth that still swings" and called the sampling of "Gyöngyhajú lány" by Omega "the most cool, and obscure, sample" on Yeezus.^[3] Robert Christgau cited "New Slaves", along with "Hold My Liquor", as the album's highlights.^[10]

On June 26, 2013, Time Magazine named "New Slaves" the "Best Song of 2013 (So Far)" and later on December 20, 2013 placed it first on its "The 25 Best Songs of 2013 (The Entire Year)." ^[11][12] On December 2, 2013, Complex named "New Slaves" the best song of 2013. Dave Bry commented saying, "Plenty of artists sold more records than Kanye West in 2013. No one did anything near to as artistically powerful. "New Slaves" is the best song of the year. And it's not even close."^[13] NME ranked the song at number 36 on their list of the 50 best songs of 2013.^[14] It was named the second best song of 2013 by Pitchfork Media. They elaborated saying, ""New Slaves" is the hardened cartilage of Yeezus, the leanest and grisliest piece of music on an album without a single yielding surface. There isn't a wasted breath or unnecessary word; every single thought cleaves through meat. [...] Yes, Kanye is a wealthy man, and yes, the particulars of his rage might be convoluted, involving his lack of access to the upper reaches of the fashion industry. But its source comes from an acute, unwavering awareness of a central fact: Even in the elite corridors of power where he now walks, some doors are still locked. On "New Slaves", he transforms into the hordes demanding entry. To paraphrase the words of his one-time mentor: The whole industry could hate him; he'll flail his way through."^[15]

Chart positions

References