Otis
Otis
– the first radio single from Watch the Throne, and the last time Kanye’s joy when putting out a record matched our joy in receiving it. Taking a look at the last time Kanye West was untouchable. At the peak of his powers, when the only stains on his record were offering Taylor Swift his opinion at the VMA’s, and telling the viewing public that then sitting president, (and historically far less racist human than current sitting president), George Bush, “[Didn’t] care about black people.” Even still, Kanye had put some really great music between himself and those public outburst; quite frankly enough to forget and forgive upon remembrance.
Otis, and in particular the video that accompanied the single was perhaps the perfect encapsulation of the last time Kanye was as happy to give us music as we were to receive it, and that is why I write about it today.
It was also the last time Kanye looked happy in a music video.
I still vividly remember the first time hearing Otis, on the radio in high school when I was driving. I pulled over and stayed parked through the screaming that ends the track.
Let us not forget, this was the point in Kanye’s life where he would go on to perform a song called Nigga’s in Paris at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show on national television. The point in his career where he and Jay-Z could perform that same song 12 times… (12 TIMES!!!), in France. You don’t get to do that without enjoying what you’re doing and having that reciprocated by the listening public. Seeing how much fun Kanye and Jay-Z had in this video hits home today because we know that they haven’t talked in a while, even though both parties say they are back on speaking terms. It makes you think, maybe all Kanye needs is his “Big Brother” back in his life to get back on track.
OR it could be that the release of The Throne was Kanye realizing he didn’t have to chase anything or anyone anymore. For instance — and follow me here because I am about to lead so far away from this topic in order to make an analogy that my not be fully worth it — in Marvel Comic’s X-Men, there is a character named Cable, maybe you saw him in Kanye’s beloved Deadpool 2.
Cable is a mutant who has a ton of powers; but he also has a virus that he has to use a lot of his power capacity to keep at bay. Meaning, Cable can never reach his full power potential because he’s always using so much of it to keep himself alive. There is a story line that shows us a version of Cable — called Stryfe — that does not have said virus and he easily wipes the floor with all heroes who attempt to fight him. We get to see Cable at his full potential and it is scary.
I say that, because it is hard to argue that Kanye hasn’t always been at least a little bit, the same guy he is right now. But up to the point of Watch the Throne he was using too much of his mental capacity to chase down success, to chase down his idol; Jay-Z. With Watch the Throne, Kanye caught up and was able to finally begin using his full mental capacity. Does this mean that the Kanye we have now is the Kanye we have always had, the Kanye we will have forever? Who knows.
In the meantime, I will likely continue to listen to anything with his name on it and keep my Kanye google alerts turned on in hopes of a story being leaked that he’s been living performance art for the last 4 years and the real reason he went into debt was because he was single-handedly funding Chicago Public Schools, and that him and Jay are cool and that he will continue to go to bat for Bey at award shows, and that he isn’t running for president in 2020 but will endorse someone worthwhile.
Until that day inevitably never comes, I will continue to leave Kanye West not canceled and allow him to speak his mind as openly and often as he would like, all the while hoping for the same guy that made Otis. The same guy that chopped a Maybach up so that he could joyously drive it while Jay-Z skid his hand on the ground, creating the same sparks I felt when Ye entered the track asking us, “Damn Yeezy and Hov, where the hell you been?“. A question we’ve all been asking ever since.
Regardless of if Kanye never comes back to that guy — the one, who’s Maybach bumper sticker read “What would Hova do?” — I will always have Otis, and so will you.
