Schrödinger’s Album: Kanye West’s ‘Yandhi’

Kanye West’s elusive album will likely never be released officially, but the question remains: what is Yandhi?

Written by Joshua Troncoso

Kanye West’s fanbase is made up of some of the most rabid and unrelenting people on Earth. They’ve tracked down flights his collaborators may allegedly be taking to go work with him, and even constantly harassed said collaborators on social media for further intel on the rapper. They will apologize for his media antics and presidential campaign by trying to brush it off as publicity for his new album. There is no limit to what fans will do to get even the slightest bit of new music or details from Kanye, and that’s what made the non-release of his 2018 album Yandhi all the more painful for them.

Fans were given release dates, merch drops, and even a performance on “Saturday Night Live” as promotion for the album. Yet when it came time for Yandhi to be unleashed to the public, no album was delivered — at least not by Kanye himself. Instead, unknown sources (possibly fans or collaborators) leaked the album in full online over the course of a few weeks around its intended Sept. 29, 2018 release.

Listening to these leaks, there does not seem to be much there. Other than some scattered ideas, several entirely mumbled songs, and decent but poorly mixed beats, the ‘album’ ultimately sounds hollow. “Alien,” for example, features a phoned-in verse from Kanye that clearly shows he is still figuring out his flow as he unintelligibly raps over a complicated beat. “New Body” is much the same, as Kanye delivers a garbled verse right before an excellent Nicki Minaj feature that nearly saves the song. However, Kanye’s fans have found something more than just a random collection of leaked songs — they’ve uncovered a hidden chapter in his discography: an unfinished masterpiece.

Despite it being clearly incomplete, fans continued to analyze and critique the album. Whether that be because fans are desperate to have something to listen to or because Kanye mumbling over a beat is really that great is up for debate. A prevailing fan theory is that Yandhi would have been the antithesis of Kanye’s 2013 album Yeezus. The album covers are clearly supposed to mirror each other, yet the songs on Yandhi are much more wholesome and hopeful compared to the callous and inconsiderate attitude of its supposed sister project. The clues are there, but fans have yet to work out any sort of singular theme to the album and its many versions. Because there is no true Yandhi, analyses of the record face yet another challenge. As an album, Yandhi only exists on forum pages and Google Drive folders with drastically different tracklists, omitted songs, and multiple versions of the same tracks with minor tweaks. Still, Kanye fans continue to discuss and analyze the album, seeking to piece together the rapper’s message.

Framing the discussion around Yandhi as desperate does not do it justice. Taking a collection of leaked tracks and trying to tie them all together in thematic and sonic cohesion is not an easy task. The ability of Kanye fans to create something out of stolen fragments is artistic on its own and deserves recognition. To this day, however, they have not settled on any one true version. The album is constantly being rearranged and discussed in order for a better understanding of its themes and concepts, but fans can only guess at Kanye’s original intent. Of course, it could be argued that his listeners are simply making it up as they go and are creating something out of nothing. However, that is dismissive of the fact that even Kanye himself explored this idea at one point. He has updated his 2016 album The Life of Pablo multiple times with new tracks and tweaks, calling it a “living breathing changing creative expression.”

Multiple music publications have reviewed Yandhi, with The FADER calling the leaks, “a meaningful recalibration from a famous artist’s creative lowpoint, a bridge to whatever gaudy, expensive finishing touches are sure to come next.” Critiquing unofficially released music has been a hot topic in the music community for some time now, arguably reaching a turning point with Yandhi. The debate has seemingly settled, as publications have continually discussed the leaks as an album on its own, despite having no consistent notion of what it actually is.

Perhaps this is because Kanye is simply too popular not to discuss, but this is also arguably a continuation of the idea that the artist no longer owns their music once it is released to the public. Regardless of an artist’s intentions for their work, they have no control over how it will be received by society. Each individual will have their own unique interpretation of the work, and that interpretation is valid even if it doesn’t stand by the artist’s original goal. Whether Kanye willingly put out the album by his own accord, Yandhi will be analyzed in millions of different ways by fans and critics alike. In this sense, criticisms of this album may not be so different from those of an officially released one.

Kanye fans’ determination to create a cohesive tracklist for Yandhi is noble, but ultimately futile. However, that futility doesn’t matter, because as long as there’s discussion around the album, it remains alive in the ears of listeners and as part of the Kanye canon. Like Schrödinger’s cat, Yandhi is an album that simultaneously exists and does not exist. Each Frankenstein construction created by fans is different from the last, and Kanye himself has refused to acknowledge its existence since its slated release date in 2018. Nevertheless, fans are still analyzing the leaks and praying for the day when they might hear an official version of the album. Despite its apparent nonexistence, Yandhi endures as a landmark album in the music industry for its creative fan interpretations, as well as its expansion on what can and cannot be critiqued — a testament to both fan creativity and obsession, as well as a challenge to the art of criticism.

Afterglow ATXOctober 9, 2020joshua troncoso