After nixing a "Today" show concert, Kanye West flew to Dubai to hit the stage. Yet, amid the jet-setting and morning show-beefing, Yeezy didn't forget to gift fans with his latest G.O.O.D. Friday joint, Chain Heavy."
West turned to some of his longtime partners-in-rhyme for his newest effort, corralling Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli and G.O.O.D. Music spitter Consequence for the track.
Riding Q-Tip's woozy, loopy synth and piano-driven beat, 'Ye kicks things off with lyrics like, "My teeth already white/ Y'all gonna make me floss for nothing/ My teeth real diamonds, what's the cause of the fronting."
He follows up with references to the heft of his famously enormous Egyptian-inspired gold chain, dropping bars like, "For every inch they cut the nose off the Sphinx/ I make my jeweler add a few more links."
West sets aside the bravado in his second verse to lay bare the struggle that informs some of his art.
"What color was the skin of the man who bared the cross?/ No matter how many lashes they couldn't beat it off," he spits. "I keep that gold book on a ottoman/ And wrote hooks about slaves that was slaughtered in the 1800s/ Y'all forget that I got called n----- on Twitter so many times, Yo I lived that."
Then Kweli enters, rattling off rapid-fire lyrics and switching up the complexity of his cadence as spits bars like, "My chain heavy, stopping that traffic/ Coppers harass us, the DA attack us, want us in chains like B.A. Baracus."
Although renowned for the political and social musings of his content, Kweli takes a page from West's rhyme book, tossing out lines about his lyrical prowess.
"It ain't looking good for you if you a tourist here/ Sometimes our rhymes is on a frequency that only purists hear/ A couple rappers try to beef with me, nobody scared/ N----- was so f------- corny that nobody cared," he rhymes with a chuckle."
Consequence begins his verse with the story of a former "ball and chain" who becomes a "chain smoker" and picks up some lame as a new boyfriend, who tries to step to the MC.
"So it's obvious that he don't know the chain of command/ 'Cause my chain commands, that kind of respect/ And it's so chunky that it's a pain in the neck/ But it came with a check," he spits. "I remember on Chaining Day/ It spoke for itself and this is what the chain would say/ Them chain snatchers are hoping that you ain't ready/ So don't get distracted keep your aim steady/ Or there'll be a chain reaction since my chains heavy."
Q-Tip hinted via Twitter that the resulting G.O.O.D. Friday beat is a toned-down version of his original vision.
"Believe me I had that sh-- sounding even crazier!!" the hip-hop Renaissance man tweeted. He added that more monster records featuring Yeezy and his "big brother" might be on the way.
" 'Ye and I got sh-- for Jay-Z that crushes," 'Tip added. "Hope y'all ready"
What do you think of Kanye West's "Chain Heavy"? Let us know in the comments!