Kanye West's New Album Will Feature Eight Songs

Kanye West has opened up on his just-announced new album. During a talk with architect Jacques Herzog at the Moore Building in Miami’s Design District on Wednesday night, Kanye shared some interesting details, implying that the minimalist approach he applied to Yeezus will also play an important role in his upcoming offering:

“I think my next album is going to be eight songs,” West said. “It’s just reducing down the amount of information that you need. People say a design is the point where you can’t take anything else away. [Yeezus] was very, very designed. I took a departure from radio and popular music in order to get this seat here. If I hadn’t made Yeezus, I wouldn’t be sitting here with this cool font at Basel right here.”

As we have also learned from his multiple conversations with the media recently, Kanye West has positioned himself as a director of art and design. Hence, he also explained his background in art and spoke about why he eventually chose music:

“My original creative background was fine art. By the time I was 14, I was in national competitions for art, and I actually went to school for art. Sometimes I actually forget that. Except for when I tour and I look back at the stage and say, ‘Wait a second, I forgot this was the whole trick I pulled on everyone to make them think I was a rapper, a musician or celebrity when the entire time it’s all been a giant art project.

I thought my opinion wasn’t strong enough with what I was painting. When I would see my own work, I never thought I would visually be able to become one of the masters — I thought I had a stronger opinion when I worked on music. I got a stronger response.”