The end of 2017 is near, and Yeezy season may or may not be upon us. Kanye West’s last album, The Life of Pablo, was released back in 2016. This makes new music long overdue, but luckily I’ve been keeping up with all things Yeezy related. Here are clues gathered to determine if we should be expecting an album from the rapper in the near future:
1. Confirmation from Pusha T.
Pusha T confirmed Kanye had a new project on the way, according to Billboard. Back in February of 2017, he sat down with 93.9’s The Fam in the Morning Show and revealed ‘Ye was back in the studio. Since Pusha T was a crucial part of the 2010 masterpiece, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he just might be on to something. He’s also allegedly been assisting with the creative side of what’s to come from the artist’s new project.
2. ‘Ye’s retreat to the middle of nowhere.
According to TMZ, the rapper reportedly retreated to Wyoming to work on his alleged upcoming album in May 2017. He isolated himself for an entire week to solely focus on his music, and gain inspiration from the aura of the mountaintops. On top of his trip to the mountains, he deleted his Twitter the same month.
3. Leaked tracks with some of the moment’s hottest artists.
In June 2017, Music Mafia unleashed three unreleased tracks. One includes a collab of Young Thug and Migos titled “Hold Tight.” There was also a collab with A$AP Rocky called, “Euro Switch Hands,” plus a tiny excerpt from a track called, “Can U Be.” Whether these will be on the tracklist of West’s next album has not been confirmed. Even though the tracks were not officially released from Kanye himself, this signifies he’s been in the studio.
4. Def Jam CEO confirms he’s letting his creative side lead him.
Def Jam CEO, Steve Bartels, confirmed Yeezy is, in fact, working back in June 2017. However, he could not confirm when new music from ‘Ye would arrive in an interview with Variety. When asked about the possibility of this year, Bartel responded, “You never know. He’s always working, so maybe so. It’s never something we’re pushing — it’s always led by the creative side.” Yeezy is one creative genius, so this has to mean he’s itching to release what he’s been working on.
5. He performed for the first time in a long time.
Kanye hit the stage for the first time in almost a year during Kid Cudi’s set in his hometown of Chicago, IL. The two had also been reportedly working on a joint project together in Japan back in August 2017. An anonymous source told Page Six, “They’re going to drop some surprise project on everybody. They’re recording it now.” Although I would prefer a solo project of Kanye’s, this wouldn’t be too bad either. At least that would mean there’s still new music on the way.
6. He’s allegedly in the process of creating his own streaming service.
According to The Blast, documents surfaced that Kanye was in the process of trademarking the name, “Yeezy Sound,” after an application was submitted November of 2017. One could speculate that Kanye is starting his own streaming service to be spiteful after leaving TIDAL, or he could be gearing up to exclusively release a new album on a streaming service of his own.
