Kanye West’s New Song, ‘Facts,’ Receives Wildly Mixed Response

Kanye West is the artist people either love or hate, and this becomes evident every time he releases something new. Just like last year, Kanye West has released a new song on the first day of the new year. Billboard broke the news.

“Will we get Swish in 2016? Hopefully. But in the meantime, you can listen to a brand new song from ‘Ye. It’s called ‘Facts’ and it’s streaming over on his Soundcoud page. West references his 2015 VMAs election bid (‘2020 Imma run the whole election’), his sneaker success (‘I ain’t dropped an album but those shoes went platinum’), Odell Beckham, Jr. and LeBron James.”

The responses to the song after the Billboard article are almost universally bad.

“… damn… I don’t know if making something so awful comes easy to him, or if he has to work at it, but he’s the king of sucktastic,” says commenter “tywifi.”

“One of the worst songs I have ever heard. Kanye has just about as much talent as a roach,” says Paul Cenerros.

Rolling Stone, however, really likes “Facts.”

“West blends current events with clever punchlines on the Metro Boomin- and Southside-produced track. In between ripping Nike and rhyming, ‘Does anybody feel bad for Bill Cosby?’, the rapper drops deft lines like, ‘I stick to my Roots like I’m Jimmy Fallon.'”

The commenters underneath the article seem to disagree with the writer.

“Holy cow. This man is so cringeworthy,” says “The Good Guy.”

“Cheezy is a legend in his own mind,” says Maximus.

Luckily for Kanye, the reaction on Twitter has been much better.

I freaking love KANYE. Facts = ????

— Christian (@ChristianMar_) January 2, 2016

kanye's new song is so amazing i'm so mad where's his album

— florence (@flochase37) January 1, 2016

There is still no release date for the album SWISH. Just like Rihanna, Kanye West is having a difficult time coming up with anything that resembles a hit single. Kanye West has been experiencing a career downslide ever since his album, Yeezus, underperformed. In 2013, Billboard talked about the album’s huge drop in sales.

“Last week’s No. 1, Kanye West’s ‘Yeezus,’ falls by 80% to No. 3 — the largest second-week percentage drop for a No. 1-debuting album in over a year. It sold 65,000 in its sophomore frame. A week ago it bowed with 327,000.”

Even though most artists would love those sales, it was a definite sign that Mr. West was losing popularity. In 2015, Kanye released what was supposed to be the first single from his upcoming album, a collaboration with Paul McCartney titled, “Only One.” It only climbed high enough on Billboard’s Hot 100 to reach No. 35. For other artists, that number wouldn’t be so bad. For Kanye, who is used to having new singles chart in the top five, it was a major disappointment.

Kanye West had a little more luck with his next single “All Day,” which peaked at No. 15. And even though there were angry protests over his performance at Glastonbury, Kanye’s performance received outstanding reviews. Consequence of Sound described the performance as “earth-shattering.” They said that despite the petitionining and protests, the crowd sung along to Kanye’s entire set.

Musically speaking, Kanye West is in limbo right now. The year 2016 will be a make-it or break-it year for the superstar. However, even if Kanye, the musician, doesn’t deliver, Mr. West, the celebrity, will always shine.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]