Category: Kanye

Celebrating Black History Month with 33 1/3

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Spotify album covers

In honor of Black History Month, we’re celebrating some of the most important musicians in Black history and culture. From classics like Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin to modern icons like Kanye and Janelle Monáe, our newest playlist has a little something for everyone. We’re featuring some of our favorite 33 1/3 artists alongside some of the most recent additions to the series and exciting upcoming releases. Listen now on Spotify and learn more about our latest books.

Happy Holidays from 33 1/3!

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Happy holidays image

Need a soundtrack to make your holiday a little merrier? Check out our newest 33 1/3 playlist! Featuring some of our favorite 33 1/3 artists and highlighting some of the most recent additions to the series, these songs will provide the perfect background to all your tree-decorating, cookie-baking, and present-opening festivities. Listen now on Spotify and learn more about the latest books in the series, including our 150th 33 1/3. Happy holidays!

Enjoy your Halloween with 33 1/3!

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Halloween cover image

Wherever you’re celebrating this year, whether you’re going all out in your favorite costume, planning a Halloween Zoom bash, or just chilling on the couch with a bowl of candy, you still need some spooky tunes to jam out to. Listen now by following our Halloween playlist on Spotify or using this compiled list, and be sure to click the links below to learn more about each artist and order your own 33 1/3.

Playlist: Back-to-School in 2020

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Back to school playlist cover image with album covers

Our own version of a 2020 playlist with a back-to-school twist! Whether you’re online or on campus, you’ll enjoy this mix of music while studying, planning or taking a well-deserved break. Follow our playlist on Spotify or check out this compiled list, and be sure to click the links below to learn more about each artist and order your own 33 1/3.

33 Things: March Edition

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Every month, we will compile the best, weirdest, most interesting music and sound news from the past 30 days and serve it up to you in one handy, easy to digest list. May we present 33 Things that happened in March. This list is brought to you by our 33 1/3 intern, Mike Doub.  This month saw the release of our latest 33 1/3 title, Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Authored by Kembrew McLeod, the book details Blondie’s efforts to straddle the line between the mainstream and the underground, and their success in exposing the fraudulent…

Vice excerpts 33 1/3 of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

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The kind folks over at Vice are currently hosting a series in which they feature excerpts from some of their favorite 33 1/3s. Their most recent is on Kirk Walker Graves’ Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The write-up appropriately introduces the work by giving readers a chance to read Graves’ first chapter. Be sure to give that a read, and if you’re interested in reading more, check out the book here! Also, don’t forget to peruse this handy interview with the author himself, Kirk Walker Graves!

Excerpt: Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kirk Walker Graves

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The following is an excerpt from Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kirk Walker Graves, out June 19. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon, Bloomsbury.com, and wherever 33 1/3s are sold. Art as Atonement For all his presumptions of being misunderstood, Kanye West has received more critical adoration over the course of a decade than most artists will find in a lifetime. In the lead-up to the deafeningly overhyped debut of Yeezus (2013), his sixth studio album, the New York Times featured him on the cover of its…

Kanye Week: Sic Transit Gloria Kanye

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Welcome back to Kanye Week, in celebration of our new 33 1/3 title on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (hereafter MBDTF) by Kirk Walker Graves, out June 19. The last Kanye Week post is a special one. Our pals at Rap Genius have kindly decided to excerpt part of the book in their one-and-only annotated format. Read “POWER (sic transit gloria Kanye)” by Kirk W. Graves on Rap Genius. Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is available for pre-order on Amazon, Bloomsbury.com, and wherever 33 1/3s are sold.

Kanye Week: The Red and the Black

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Welcome back to Kanye Week, in celebration of our new 33 1/3 title on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (hereafter MBDTF) by Kirk Walker Graves, out June 19. Here with his second post, Graves addresses Kanye’s duality, and the importance of a leather-clad comeback. A major part of Kanye’s appeal as both an artist and performer is his creative volatility. Whether it’s a new album, an interview, or a live show, the question is always the same: Which Kanye are we going to get? The very same energies behind his cringeworthiest moments…

Kanye Week: We Need to Talk About Kanye

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Welcome to Kanye Week, in celebration of our new 33 1/3 title on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (hereafter MBDTF) by Kirk Walker Graves, out June 19. In this first post, Graves addresses the difficulty of talking about someone who talks so much himself. He’s a poet, he’s a picker He’s a prophet, he’s a pusher He’s a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he’s stoned He’s a walkin’ contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction, Takin’ ev’ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home.  –…