Month: March 2021

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got the hotly anticipated new album from Julien Baker, Cloud Nothings’ third album in a year, and new collaborative track from Petey and Miya Folick. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

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Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

On her third solo album, Julien Baker dials up the intensity with the introduction of a full band into her previously sparse arrangements. For a songwriter already wearing her heart on her sleeve, on Little Oblivions, “the emotional brutality of the lyrics somehow melds with the uplifting beauty of the music, perhaps giving Baker some peace in the process,” writes Steven Hyden for Uproxx.

Cloud Nothings – The Shadow I Remember

A month before the world went into lockdown, Cloud Nothings hit the studio for another round with producer Steve Albini, who helmed the group’s 2012 breakthrough Attack On Memory. They sat on the resulting album for nearly a year, releasing other new music in the meantime, but The Shadow I Remember reminds us why Cloud Nothings have what Steven Hyden called for Uproxx one of the “most consistently strong catalogues for a loud, punk-leaning act.”

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Carnage

Back in January, Nick Cave revealed that he was working on a new album with Warren Ellis, a longtime collaborator and member of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. He then went silent on the project, until Carnage dropped out of the sky last week. Cave describes working on the album as “a gift,” and it’s easy to understand why, as doom scrolling has become a way of life in the last twelve months. Fittingly, the album is “a brutal but very beautiful record embedded in a communal catastrophe.”

Glitterer – Life Is Not A Lesson

Look, we all miss Title Fight. But on the latest Glitterer album, Ned Russin gives us a taste of what a new album from the legendary post-hardcore group might sound like in 2021. Life Is Not A Lesson is full of fuzzed-out melodies and down-tuned guitars, and isn’t lacking on catchy melodies and hooks to keep you engaged throughout.

Jetty Bones – Push Back

Jetty Bones has been on our radar for a bit now, but Push Back is their debut full-length, finding its thematic footing in the moments that exist in the space Galluzzo’s infectious optimism and her fight with depression and impostor syndrome. Throughout the album, Kelc Galluzzo embraces a unique mixture of pop sensibilities with indie aesthetic that makes for an enveloping and exciting listen.

Sydney Sprague – Maybe I Will See You At the End Of The World

On her debut album, Sydney Sprague has tracks that channel the songwriting flair of Phoebe Bridgers that exist alongside tracks with a nostalgic alt-rock sensibility that keeps Maybe I Will See You At The End Of The World feeling fresh and familiar. It’s a major statement for a debut album, and is certainly just a starting point for Sprague.

Petey & Miya Folick – “Haircut”

Only hours after he was included on our list of indie artists to watch in 2021, Petey dropped a brand new track reasserting why he was included on that list. “Haircut” is a collaboration with Miya Folick that dives into the mindset of a quarter-life crisis resulting in a shaved head.

Real Estate – “Half A Human”

Only about a year after the release of their last album, The Main Thing, Real Estate are back with a brand new EP. They’re previewing the EP with its title track, a nearly six-minute epic that Derrick Rossignol says “slots nicely into the band’s distinct brand of dreamy indie rock.”

Wolf Alice – “The Last Man On Earth”

Nearly four years after breaking through with their sophomore album Visions Of A Life, Wolf Alice are ready to follow it up with Blue Weekend. “The Last Man On Earth” is an excellent first taste of the effort, with Derrick Rossignol describing it for Uproxx as a track that “starts as a gentle piano ballad before exploding into dreamy rock bliss.”

Bachelor – “Anything At All”

When two indie rockers beloved in their own right team up for a collaborative project, you know you’re in for a treat. Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner are teaming up as Bachelor, and their first single “Anything At All” is enough evidence that the project will be something special. “Each of the songwriter’s distinct styles can be heard on the track, combining playful elements with the anxious tension of screeching guitars,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

Half Waif – “Party’s Over”

A few weeks after releasing the first taste of new 7″ single, Half Waif has shared the effort’s second track. “Party’s Over” is a minimalist art rock track, which gives Nandi Rose’s immaculate vocals the opportunity to fill the space left by sparse instrumentals.

Future Teens – “Play Cool”

Future Teens have a new EP around the corner, and “Play Cool” shines a light on the group’s pristine indie-tinged emo. The track continues to build to an emotional conclusion as Daniel Radin repeats the ever-relatable mantra: “Oh, I wish I didn’t say that.”

Hit Like A Girl – “Boardwalk”

Three years after their sophomore album What Makes Love Last, Hit Like A Girl is back with Heart Racer, a third full-length album set to include guest spots from Bartees Strange and Petal’s Kiley Lotz. “Boardwalk” displays the band’s freshly polished sound, with Nicolle Maroulis recounting a lost relationship. Eventually, Maroulis reveals a Shyamalan twist: the whole narrative was a dream all along.

Early Riser – “Vocations”

On the title track for their new album, Brooklyn’s Early Riser zeroed in on their collective strengths and amplified them to capture their energy on record. “Vocations” is a fun lo-fi punk track complete with infectious hooks that will keep you coming back for more.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jensen McRae‘s breakout moment was anything but conventional. It all started when she joked on Twitter about how Phoebe Bridgers would probably write an anthem about getting a COVID-19 vaccine. She ended up writing that track herself, titled “Immune,” and it immediately put her at center stage. Now following up on her viral success, McRae shares her first new single of the year.

With her song “Starting To Get To You,” McRae sings of staying strong after being wounded by a previous relationship. McRae’s earnest lyrics are underscored by a fluttering beat, which showcases her ability to craft a distinctly buoyant tune.

About the single McRae said: “‘Starting To Get To You’ is about the slow burn. It’s about being friends with someone for a while and always wondering if maybe you could be something more, and then after a long time, everything just sort of falls into place and you see each other in a whole new light.”

Ahead of the release of “Starting To Get To You,” McRae sat down for an interview with Uproxx where she discussed the socially conscious nature of her music:

“I feel like the point of my music is to provide another example of Black womanhood and Black female existence in the world. I think even in my music where I talk about things that are not directly related to my demographic identity, it informs the work I do anyway. When I talk about mental health and unrequited love and adolescence, and in addition, political issues, I feel like my perspective as this person who is at the intersection of a few different marginalized identities comes through always.”

Listen to “Starting To Get To You” above.

One of my favorite theater-going experiences was seeing Jackass: The Movie in 2002. People (myself included) were losing their freaking minds. I can’t say for sure that someone peed their pants because they were laughing so hard, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The Jackass movies work best in crowded rooms, as would Bad Trip.

Orion Pictures planned to release the prank-based comedy starring Eric Andre, Tiffany Haddish, and Lil Rel Howery into theaters last year, but that became impossible due to the pandemic. So while it’s maybe not ideal to watch Bad Trip on Netflix (give it an IMAX re-release in 2022), at least you can pee your pants from laughter in the privacy of your home.

Bad Trip came together after Andre met with Jackass director and producer Jeff Tremaine, who told him that while the pranks were funny, he needed a story. “I’d never written a story, I’m not f*cking Aaron Sorkin. I don’t know any of that shit. I’m just a joke writer. Story? Why is everybody hell-bent on story? Who gives a shit,” The Eric Andre Show host told Esquire. “And then I realized the importance of story. I basically had to educate myself. It took years.”

Here’s the official plot description:

Real pranks. Real People. Real Movie.

From one of the guys that brought you Jackass and Bad Grandpa, this hidden camera comedy follows two best friends as they go on a cross-country road trip full of hilarious, inventive pranks, pulling its real-life audience into the mayhem.

Bad Trip premieres on Netflix on March 26.

It had to be slightly more complicated, but to listen to Craig Brewer tell it, it does sound like on the set of Dolemite Is My Name (If you haven’t seen Dolemite Is My Name, you should) Brewer started pitching Eddie Murphy some ideas for a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie (Brewer calls it “fanfiction”), then Murphy basically said that’s all find and dandy, but what about a sequel to Coming to America? And, well, here we are.

In Coming 2 America, Eddie Murphy is back as Prince Akeem Joffer. He’s now living happily in Zamunda with his wife, Lisa (Shari Headley), but having had only daughters, he doesn’t have a male heir to the throne, which puts Akeem in a pickle with his rival, General Izzi (Wesley Snipes). Semmi (Arsenio Hall) then informs Akeem that he may have a male heir after all from their time in New York City back in the late ’80s, so it’s back to America for the two of them to search for Akeem’s son. (If the idea if a male heir sounds antiquated, the movie is well aware of that.)

It’s pretty remarkable this movie exists. It’s been 33 years since the original movie and, well, have you seen the original one lately? Yes, it’s beloved, but it’s also filled with quite a few scenes that would never fly in 2021. So that’s the challenge: How do you update Coming to America for 2021 and have it still be Coming to America? Ahead, Craig Brewer tells us just how they did that (and lets us in on his Axel Foley ideas that kicked all of this off in the first place).

Last time we spoke, you said on Dolemite you had an idea for an Axel Foley movie, you told Eddie, and that turned into you directing Coming 2 America?

Yeah. And the Axel Foley thing wasn’t so official, as much as we would be on set and I would always just do fanfiction. I would bring up what I would do, or what I would want to see, or something like that. And then Eddie finally came forward and said, “What do you think about doing Coming 2 America?” And that’s when I got really excited. It’s also very daunting because it’s a movie I love, and I know that millions of people around the globe love. But, I had just made a movie with Eddie and I felt like we were in a really great rhythm. I had just met Arsenio, and to see those two just standing together just made me nostalgic. I know this sounds corny, but it’s like, I needed them. I felt like the world was missing them and it was time to see them back together again. Then making the movies back to back, but then getting into the pandemic during post, the more that the whole team were working on it, and it was so stressful, the work on it in post-production and the additional photography, because the world was changing all around us. But, we really all really held to, we got to deliver this movie to everybody. People are going to need this.

Right…

They’re going to need to remember a brighter time. And also the movie deals with what Akeem is now experiencing 30 years later. He’s the same guy, but he’s dealing with different problems that a lot of the people who are now the core audience – the lovers of Coming to America, well they’re older too – and they’re dealing with the same issues.

So I have to ask, what was your Axel Foley fan fiction? What makes a good Axel Foley movie? The first one is great, the second one doesn’t quite have the magic of the first. And no one really talks about the third one anymore.

What I would say that makes it work is: I think that people need to remember that Axel Foley is a guy who uses his instincts, uses his attitude and ability to impersonate. Or, to create characters to get what he wants. And, it’s funny, because you look at the car that he’s sitting on in the Beverly Hills Cop poster, then int the second movie you look at the gorgeous car with the beautiful Tony Scott lighting around him that he was driving. They’re all loaners. He’s not paid. He doesn’t have a lot of money, or anything like that. He’s just figuring out a bunch of different angles and ways that he can get what he wants. And so, I can always see him now older, doing the same thing – changing into different voices to basically be on the phone and can get information out of people just by pretending to be other people. He’s figured out ways to kind of create illusion at times. That’s, I think, the key thing to Axel Foley.

When you did Footloose, that was a remake versus this which is a direct sequel. But is there anything you learned from that experience, dealing with a beloved property, you used on Coming 2 America?

Absolutely. I think that when you take a job like this, or doing a remake of a beloved ’80s movie, anything like that, you have to be okay with the idea that you’re laying yourself down on the train track, even in success. But, I also could keep everybody focused and calm saying, let’s all remember that we’re here to entertain people, and let’s stay off line. Let’s not be listening to what people are saying, and really stay focused on having fun today and making great scenes today. I do feel that I had a little bit of maturity from the first time I did it. To me, it just seems like online chatter, expectations, threats.

Are you getting threats?

It’s different from when I was a young film nerd. And we were just like, what, you don’t know what Starlog is? How do you know anything about Star Wars?

I have a few old Starlogs right here.

Oh, I do, too. I buy them on eBay. But, we’re not there anymore. I think that the best thing that you can do, when you’re dealing with something that is so beloved like this, is to really start everyday figuring out where the line is going to be of doing things just for nostalgia’s sake. And then doing things for the narrative of the current movie. And so, every day, the creative team was coming up with, well, why don’t we do this? That was in the original one. Why don’t we do this? And so, every day, I’d kind of have to be a little bit of a goalie in saying like, I think we should maybe tap into this. But, I don’t think that the audience necessarily needs that. And the same thing goes for the line of comedy. You could say that there’s a spectrum of comedy that starts with Airplane!, and then can kind of move through more like an Anchorman. And you really do find that some things that we would try, that were probably a little bit more like the first Coming to America, didn’t quite really land for our current audience. So, there was this constant moving around of it’s comedy and tone.

Well, the opening scene alone of the original Coming to America, I don’t know how that goes over today in a new movie.

Yeah. And by the way, the sexist dynamics that were happening in the first movie is also something that we had to deal with in this movie. And deal with it in a way that can both be funny and empowering, but also on message for what our movie was dealing with. Which is like, it’s a new era in Zamunda. And are you going to be someone who holds to old ideals and old traditions? Or, are you going to move forward? But, this movie is not necessarily so far away from what we’re dealing with today. We really do have to talk about old institutions and how they should be changed.

I talked to Wesley Snipes last week. He made it sound like he had to beg to be in this movie. That can’t be true.

That can’t… He’s fooling you. Let me tell you something…

He said he kept having to put himself in opportune spots at the Dolemite premiere to get your attention.

Let me tell you something. I know that working with Eddie Murphy would be top of my list, but the experience that I’ve had working with Wesley has just been incredible. And the first dinner that we had on Dolemite Is My Name, before I cast him in that, was just one of those memorable dinners that I’ve ever had. Listening to him, getting to know him… People’s eyebrows always go up when I say this, but he’s truly a lovely human being. And this is what’s great about movies: suddenly someone like Wesley Snipes starts showing up again, and then you’re like, I think I’m going to go back and watch White Men Can’t Jump. I’m going to watch that. And then you’re watching and you’re like, he’s so good.

We just watched Passenger 57. That movie’s incredible.

He owned that era. And now I remember there was another thought of somebody else playing General Izzi. And I was on the phone with Eddie, and I said, “Eddie, we got to have Wesley. You guys are like the new duo.” If you would’ve told me a decade ago that Eddie Murphy and Wesley Snipes is like gold, I would have said, what? But, I think they are.

I agree.

I really think that they hold a frame equally. And we, as an audience, just want more of it. Well, I’ll never forget, I said, “What about Wesley as General Izzi?” And there was just this long pause from Eddie. He was like, “Oh, if we could get Wesley, I mean, that would be everything.” I remember his agent calling me over and over again. And I was like, “I have a plan, and I just need Mr. Snipes just to sit back, because this is going to be his role or I’m not doing the movie.” He’s fantastic in it as always, and I hope to see more films come from Wesley.

‘Coming 2 America’ begins streaming on Friday, March 5th via Amazon Prime. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Will Smith has starred on a hit television show, been nominated for two Oscars, and sold millions of Billboard chart-topping albums, both in a duo and as a solo artist. If anyone else had played the Genie in 2019’s Aladdin remake, it would have been a disaster; his charm alone can carry a movie. There are few celebrities as widely beloved as the Fresh Prince, but will Smith ever channel that likability into a run for office? He’s not saying no!

When asked about his political future on the Pod Save America podcast, Smith said, “I think for now I’ll let that office get cleaned up a little bit and then I’ll consider that at some point down the line. I absolutely have an opinion, I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful, I believe in understanding between people and I believe in the possibility of harmony. I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or, at some point, ventures into the political arena.” Smith and fellow famous person-turned-potential politician Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have never starred in a movie together, but maybe they’ll run against each other? Or, better yet, they could campaign together against DJ Jazzy Jeff and Vin Diesel.

That’s the future of American politics right there.

Smith appeared on Pod Save America to discuss Amend: The Fight for America, his Netflix docuseries about the “evolving, often lethal, fight for equal rights in America through the lens of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment.” It’s out now.

A large part of Tekashi’s appeal when he first appeared in 2018 was his rabble-rousing habit of inciting beef with seemingly every street-centric rapper in rap at the time. However, a large part of the reason he was able to get away with it was the small squadron of large, probably armed men surrounding him in most public situations to ensure no one confronted him about his antics. Now, according to TMZ, it’s been revealed that Tekashi still owed the company employing those security guards a lot of money.

Metropolitan Patrol, a company employed by Tekashi 69 when he visited Los Angeles, says that despite providing round-the-clock service for the loudmouth social media personality turned rap superstar including armored cars, they still haven’t been paid over $75,000. After sending Tekashi the invoice for the service — including three armed officers working day and night shifts, a Yukon with ballistic panels, and a pair of Ford Explorers decked-out with lights and sirens — he simply refused to pay.

According to 69’s lawyer, the responsibility falls on MTA Bookings agency, which was handling the rainbow-haired rapper’s public appearances at the time. However, even the perception that he doesn’t pay his security could be unhealthy for Tekashi, who has gotten right back up to his old tricks after leaving prison last year. He recently got into it with Meek Mill, sparking a war of words that includes a sample of the altercation in Tekashi’s latest single.

In what has to be the least surprising career move ever, ex-Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has officially joined Fox News as a contributor after weeks of speculation about her post-Trump future. According to Variety, that’s a theme that continued when Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner announced McEnany joining the team on Tuesday by simply saying, “We will be seeing much more of her in the future.” No further details have been provided about her role at Fox as of this writing.

Despite her tenure as White House press secretary ending with Donald Trump’s presidency, McEnany has continued to be a steadfast supporter of her old boss and has shown no signs of pulling back on spreading the former administration’s lies. In mid-February, McEnany made a reckless and QAnon-esque implication about President Joe Biden after he shared during a town hall that, “Everyone knows I love kids better than people.” Obviously, Biden was making a grandfatherly quip that kids are more fun than dealing with grown-ups, especially politicians, but that didn’t stop McEnany from insinuating on Twitter that Biden’s quote was to be taken in a more sinister way.

It’s that kind of blatant disregard for the truth that made McEnany a notorious figure during her time at the White House podium. Her penchant for saying anything in service to Trump led to CNN’s Jake Tapper refusing to bring her on his show. “[She] lies the way that, you know, most people breathe. There was no value in that,” Tapper told his colleague Brian Stetler. “She can’t acknowledge reality. So I am just not going to put somebody like that on air.”

One might think that this history would lead to her being embraced by Fox News, but the Daily Beast relays word from an anonymous Fox News insider, who reportedly vented, “It’s truly disgusting they fired hard-working journalists who did care about facts and news reporting only to turn around and hire a mini-Goebbels whose incessant lies from the White House helped incite an insurrection on our democracy that got five people killed, including a police officer.”

(Via Variety & The Daily Beast)

J.K. Rowling’s unrepentant anti-trans perspective won’t extend to Hogwart’s Legacy, which will embrace trans-inclusive character creation, according to reporting from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. The upcoming Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment game, which is due in 2022, experienced some friction during development following Rowling’s anti-trans comments that were condemned by actors (including Eddie Redmayne, Daniel Radcliffe, and more) who’ve starred in franchises based upon her books. Rowling has refused to backtrack upon her remarks and even included an anti-trans plotline in Troubled Blood, the latest book written under her male pseudonym, Robert Galbraith, but it seems that Hogwart’s Legacy game developers banded together to distance themselves from Rowling’s incendiary remarks.

The Bloomberg report details how the game will have trans-inclusive character creation available to players, who can separate their body, voice, and gender options (including school dormitory placement) while customizing their experience. Jason Schreier wrote on Twitter that the development team pushed for this inclusive move after growing “uncomfortable with Rowling’s position and rattled by the effects she has had on a game they’ve put a lot into.” Here’s what the Bloomberg article detailed for the game’s plan:

When players start up the game, they will be able to create a character that has a masculine or feminine voice no matter what their body looks like, according to people familiar with the game’s development. The people requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.

Players will then get to select one of two options — “witch” or “wizard” — that will determine the dorm they get placed in at the magical school of Hogwarts and how they are addressed by other characters in the game.

Although this game won’t arrive until sometime in 2022, this report is notable, given that J.K. Rowling is known to exert an unusually high level of creative control on movies that are based upon her works. In contrast (regarding Hogwart’s Legacy), a Warner Bros. statement (from September 2020) clarified that “J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World.” Bloomberg further reports that (according to its sources) “[t]here was resistance from management at first” on embracing trans-inclusive character creation, and the publication also writes that a Warner Bros. representative declined to provide a comment for the story.

Rowling’s remarks haven’t been the only obstacle facing the game’s continued development. As Bloomberg notes, one of Avalanches senior producers, Troy Leavitt, has made YouTube videos that express solidarity with the Gamergate community that’s synonymous with sexist views about progressivism in video-game culture. Levitt didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment, nor has Rowling publicly reacted to news of the trans-inclusive character creation options in the works for Hogwart’s Legacy.

(Via Bloomberg)

As LaMelo Ball has burst onto the scene with a sensational first half of his rookie season, there has been plenty said about his game and the areas in which he already excels, but also conversation about his name and whether he can go by “Melo,” particularly when the original Melo, Carmelo Anthony, is still in the league.

The two met for the first time this season on Monday night in Portland, where Anthony’s Blazers pulled away late to come out on top in a 123-111 win. Carmelo and LaMelo were the game’s top scorers, with the rookie leading Charlotte with 30 points and the 18-year vet coming off the bench to give Portland 29. After the game, it was all love between the Melos, as they swapped jerseys and shared a quick conversation on the floor before heading off to their respective locker rooms.

In his postgame press conference, Carmelo was asked about the “Melo” name controversy, if there even is one, as well as LaMelo’s use of his “three to the dome” celebration after three-pointers. Anthony embraced all of it, saying he gave Ball his blessing to use the celebration — provided he only does it once rather than three times as Anthony does — and was glad that LaMelo has that name and takes it as a sign of respect that he wants to go by Melo.

For all the hand-wringing from fans over the Melo situation, it’s cool to see the original Melo say this and give the young fella his blessing to embrace that connection between the two. It certainly helps that LaMelo is balling out in his rookie season, which makes it a little easier for the future Hall of Famer to want to be connected to him, but even so, it’s always great to see guys embracing the next generation in this way.

Kanye West himself once joked about his tendency to blow up when he doesn’t receive the recognition he deserves. On his Late Registration song “Diamonds,” he humblebragged that he “complains about what he is owed / And throws a tantrum like he is three years old,” but concluded, “You gotta love it though — somebody still speaks from his soul.”

That tendency — though largely derided and meme-d into the ground by social media — is a big part of why he’s still around. Long after his records stopped reaching No. 1 on the Billboard charts and he alienated many of his top collaborators (not to mention, a significant chunk of his fan base), his refusal to accept “no” for an answer ensured that he remains at the forefront of pop culture.

However, with only a handful of musical releases in the last few years, it isn’t his beats or his rhymes keeping him there. Instead, it’s another thing a segment of social media mocked him for — his fashion and sneaker designs. His versatility has proved to be the key to his longevity, and now, he’s the one laughing all the way to the bank.

All the way back in 2004, when The College Dropout took radio and MTV by storm, Kanye’s interest in fashion was both evident and adamant. He insisted that he’d be one of the top designers in fashion, making style choices that were considered risqué at the time. When jerseys were big, he wore pink polos and blazers with jeans. When hip-hop buttoned up, he went full-on luxury, and then, retro.

Every time he made one of these dramatic, sartorial left turns, hip-hop followed him, usually pretty quickly and enthusiastically. So, it makes sense he believed he could take these trendsetting proclivities and carve out a second career for himself in the design world. After all, at the time, it was also something of a rap rite of passage to drop a clothing line; 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Eve, Jay-Z, Nelly, Pharrell, and T.I. had all done so.

However, Kanye’s inborn stubbornness wouldn’t let him just do a clothing line — although he did try one, Pastelle, that never quite got off the ground. Instead, he insisted on applying to internships at Louis Vuitton and Raf Simons, working his way up from the bottom, and earning his credentials in that world.

Although he was mostly rejected early on, that roiling intellectual curiosity pushed him to also try his hand in sneaker design. Partnering with Nike in 2009 for the Nike Air Yeezy, he released one of the most coveted shoes in the history of sneakers, Nike’s first non-athlete signature, and a turning point in hypebeast culture. However, in typical Kanye fashion — pun 100 percent intended — he wanted more creative control and moved on after a second iteration that was possibly even more popular than the first.

Just a few years later, he took the creative experience he’d acquired at Nike and switched to Adidas, where he released the Yeezy Boost line. He also partnered with Louis Vuitton, where he “learned to design woman’s shoes for 2 years” by apparently sneaking into the Giuseppe Zanotti factory.

He eventually did get that internship, as well, putting in a few months at Fendi and deciding that, well, it really wasn’t for him. That’s okay though — despite his interest in high fashion, he was flexible about his opportunities. The footwear deals also served as his “in” for the ready-to-wear game as well, with each “Season” of his Yeezy brand bringing another wave of hype for stripped-down, luxury garments — garments that eventually helped usher in today’s athleisure dominance.

Eventually, all this versatility led to a ten-year deal with Gap last year, where he’ll have his own clothing line, Yeezy Gap, and offer “modern, elevated basics for men, women, and kids at accessible price points.” The deal will allow Ye the flexibility of selling both high and low, while his Yeezy deal makes him one of the most recognizable names in footwear — and one of the most lucrative, with Bloomberg reporting a $3 billion valuation for Yeezy last year.

Kanye’s versatility has always been the number-one attribute driving his success. When he could have maxed out as a producer, he became a rapper. When his tastes changed, he went bigger with the sound, then brought in collaborators from all over the music world. Rather than being content with his musical stardom, he pursued even more of his passions — fashion, sneakers, design — to ensure that his brand could never be limited to just one thing or subject to the ever-changing tastes of just one kind of art.

You can’t be all things to all people — something Ye hopefully learned from his disastrous political attempt last year — but you can always make sure to expand your interests so you never get stuck in one box. Ye refuses to let himself become stagnant, and that’s why — hate him or love him — he’s probably here to stay.