Kanye Is Running on Empty

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( ALBUM REVIEW [Kanye Is Running on Empty]( Anger is at the root of Donda 2, but the record doesn’t try to frame the experience in a manner that makes it accessible to non-billionaires. Photo: PUSHA T/YouTube The last hour of longtime Ye insiders Clarence “Coodie” Simmons Jr. and Chike Ozah’s Netflix docuseries Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy [offers a rare peek]( at the artist’s Wyoming workspace operating at full steam. One minute, Ye is listening to beats from 88-Keys and taking a call from Common while Justin Bieber and Dame Dash have a private chat. Later, West is looking at mock-ups of sweaters, shorts, and shackets and inviting Rick Rubin to visit the ranch over steaks. In a corner, behind two Can-Am ATVs, a band works out feels in front of a projector screening Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1957 samurai flick Throne of Blood. As the sun slips behind the azure mountaintops outside Cody, the multi-hyphenate mogul sits next to the mic and freestyles, “You were brought to an inside joke / While my mouth pops back and my insides spoke …” The rap continues a few more measures without any identifiable words. If you’ve been following West’s career awhile, you know he writes raps rhythm-first, working out an attack for the beat before he figures out what the verses will say. If you’ve heard the unfinished demo versions of tracks like Yeezus’s “Black Skinhead” or Jesus Is King’s “Everything We Need,” you know these songs benefit greatly from the extra editing and refinement. For West, this process is the difference between a promising mess and a poignant message. [Read The Story »]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now](for unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. 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