Kanye West has several promises to keep on, including the infamous ‘Donda: With Child‘ album. However, the rapper has been vocalizing his discontent with his record label Universal Music Group, and even uploading his entire contract with the label on Twitter. Hence, any sort of music release was doubtful. In the midst of this turmoil comes “Nah Nah Nah,” a summation of what Kanye West has been up to recently.
Kanye West released a snippet of the song on October 14, 2020, and released the full track two days later. It is unclear if the song will be part of any album yet. Production credits on the song extend to Kanye West himself including Dem Jointz.
Kanye West has had a lot on his plate recently. He announced that he was running for the presidency in the United States of America. He took up a fight against his record label for ownership of his masters. All of these endeavors while continuing his usual business and fights for causes such as Black Lives Matter. However, no matter what you do, he does run the chance of getting subjected to criticism and ridicule by the public and the media.
Listen to “Nah Nah Nah” by Kanye West
“Nah Nah Nah” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Chorus
Kanye West starts off the song by saying he has never been joking around with his intentions. He did announce that he was running for the presidency in the United States of America in 2020, which was subject to ridicule. However, he did follow up on this.
He did pick up a fight with his record label Universal Music Group for rights to own his masters. He is following up on it and also claims that he will make sure all other artists will own their music.
Kanye West also announced that he will give back the 50% ownership his record label ‘Good Music’ has on its signees.
So, Kanye West has not been joking around in 2020…
He also claims that he can pick all these battles through the strength he has from God.
Verse 1
In the first verse, Kanye West brags about his newest title: Presidential Candidate. The 43-year-old has come a long way, indeed.
Kanye West quotes an infamous scene from the Star Wars movie franchise. The scene, in particular, depicts Obi-Wan Kenobi having a positional advantage in a duel over Anakin Skywalker, prompting the famous line: “It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!”
Kanye West also boasts about his ability to action what he thinks and speaks. He does not limit himself just to words.
However, Kanye West is also an avid supporter of the Simulation theory, where it is believed that our entire world is a simulation like a computer game.
In these lyrics, Kanye West also brushes off of the hike in police brutality incidents in the United States; “Cop cars ain’t mind us,” especially towards minority races.
Verse 2
In the second verse of “Nah Nah Nah,” Kanye West talks about his legal battle with his record label Universal Music Group. He claims that he did not pick up this battle just for himself. He says that he will not stop until all the artists own their masters from their respective labels. He also went so far as to claim that he will help Taylor Swift, with whom he has had a sketchy relationship with, to own her masters from her previous label Big Machine Records.
Kanye West goes on to praise all the artists out there claiming they are the stars, they came up with the music styles, they are the talent, but yet, they don’t own their music.
Mr. West also snaps at media for their ‘creative’ stories which more often than not attempt to manipulate the truth for more attention. This is one reason Kanye West chooses to become more vocal on his social media platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation.
What do you think about all of what Kanye West has been up to lately? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Check out the complete lyrics and further meaning breakdown on Genius.