Weekly Billboard Theory — Yikes
Hey, what’s up! I’m surprised that I’m getting this out in time! Today is day one of Warped Tour and service is always pretty rough when the crowd gets here. Also, please forgive any grammar mistakes that I’ll probably have because I’m writing this in a word document and then posting to Medium rather than writing on a browser with Grammarly. Okay, you’re not here for excuses. You’re here for rudimentary music theory takes on the top songs in the country. Let’s not waste any more time and we’ll look at Kanye West’s “Yikes”
Yikes
Kanye West
Key: C# minor
Tempo: 174 BPM
I have to admit that I’m a long-time Kanye fan. I got super into “Late Registration” when I was in high school and I long for the days of Kanye’s soul beats. What I’m trying to say is that I’m human and it’s tough for me to be objective when reviewing music is already something that is entirely subjective. Sorry about it. “Yikes” isn’t the pinnacle of Kanye’s career but it’s kind of refreshing in a sea of mumble rap.
Let’s start with the chord progression. Guess what! It’s not the same thing over and over. Ooooo baby! We have a distinct chorus and clear verse. Thank you, Yeezy. The song begins with the chorus and guess what again! We have a pretty unique chord progression! Lots of exclamation points! The chords sound i-III-VI-iv. If we think in the relative major of E major the chords would be vi-I-IV-ii. Still not common! Occasionally, the bass-line drops the octave to add variety and put your subwoofers to the test.
The chords change as the chorus repeats. The ending changes from a iv chord to a ii-v. Yes, those last two chords are smooshed into the same amount of beats as the iv chord. Yes, I probably should have wrote a iidim and made a decision whether the v chord was major or minor but we don’t really have fifths on either of the chords and I’m working under extreme conditions. Buzz off. Back to the chords, the ii-v functions as a cadence to take us back to the i chord. That’s right; “Yikes” follows classical musical functions more so than that of modern pop music. What a guy!
Let’s talk about the verse. Pretty simple stuff, just a i chord with another chord right at the end. What is that chord? If it as any other pop song, you could probably guess a iv and be correct. But guess what, Kanye isn’t any other pop musician. It’s a v chord. That’s right, classical music conventions. Also? Definitely not a V, so not REALLY classical music conventions but you get the idea.
The song repeats the verse/chorus pattern several times with different dynamics. Nothing special, but definitely an improvement over some recent rap hits. Really, what sets this song apart from other hip-hop is Kanye’s flow. Rap music has changed with artists like Drake and Migos having very rhythmic flows. I’m not going to notate any of his rhythms because of reasons I explained in the beginning but Kanye just sounds like Kanye. He doesn’t need to follow trends of other artists. He does his own thing and we’re usually trying to catch up. Also, the little adlibs between each chorus remind me of “The Blueprint” and the stuff I used to listen to in high school.
Again, “Yikes” is fine. It’s sonically more interesting than a lot of hip-hop songs I’ve had to write about. Heck, the fact that it has a different accompaniment for the verse and the chorus is always a plus in my book. I’m not huge on classical/pop music mashes (remember “HAM”? Ugh.) but I think “Yikes” is an interesting piece when comparing it to the shape of modern music.
I know that was short but I think we covered a bunch of stuff. Blah blah blah excuses whatever, dude. Recommended listening? Check out my new friends in Waterparks! That’s who I’m out on Warped Tour with!
I’m kind of shocked that Drake is still at number one after the whole Pusha T fiasco. Must be…nice for him. I’m so sorry. We’ve got something new at number five with Maroon 5 and Cardi B’s “Girls Like You”. I haven’t heard this song but Adam and the crew seem to always make good stuff. Also, having a fantastic music video can’t hurt. We’ll get into it next week! See ya then!
