West is reportedly still fiddling with his new album, Yeezus, which is due out on June 18. The rapper apparently brought in a new producer just last week to add some finishing touches to the record.
"Even by Kanye-West standards, this is pushing it," an industry source told the New York Post. With just days to go before its release, the 36-year-old reportedly tapped Rubin to come in as an executive producer, recording "additional tracks" for the LP. Island Def Jam, West's label, was stuck clearing samples for this late-breaking material or, in the case of one sample, rerecording an "old vocal track" sung by an obscure Chicago children's choir.
Performing at New York's Governors Ball music festival on Sunday night, West said he has no interest in delaying Yeezus for marketing reasons. "With this album, we ain't [gonna] drop no single to radio," he said. "We ain't got no NBA campaign, nothing like that. Shit, we ain't even got no cover. We just made some real music.
"Back when I used to make albums and shit, a couple [of] years ago, we'd go away and work on the album for months or something," he went on. "We'd always have to hold the album to like August, or September, or till the perfect moment and shit … But honestly at this point when I listen to radio, that ain't where I want to be no more. Honestly at this point, I could give a fuck about selling a million records as long as I put out an album for the summer that y'all can rock to for all fuckin' summer."
Despite West's apparent indifference to commercial demands, Yeezus has had a formidable if offbeat promo campaign. Like Daft Punk, he premiered new material on Saturday Night Live, followed by a series of live installations.
Over the weekend, he reportedly shot an American Psycho-inspired music video. And although he still hasn't revealed the final tracklisting for Yeezus, some collaborators have begun leaking details, including Daft Punk, who co-wrote the song Black Skinhead, and Hudson Mohawke, who played a Kanye/TNGHT teamup at his Parklife festival DJ set. – © Guardian News and Media 2013