Tell The Vision

Tell The Vision is the 19th track on Kanye West's 2021 album 'Donda'. The song features vocals from Pop Smoke recorded with a walkie-talkie and a grand piano beat produced by Mike Dean . This song is widely regarded as Kanye West's magnum opus, and was called "*the most important piece of art in the 21st century*" by Pitchfork.

This song was originally made in 2020, later given to Pop Smoke in 2021. The original version has leaked and features a mid verses from Conway the Butcher and Two Chains, which were both thankfully cut on the final version of Donda. In order to understand the genius of the released version, we have included a transcript of what music reviewer Anthony Fantano said about the song.

## Transcript

"The song starts off with this piano that instantly gives off a sense of... just pure dread. It hooks you in with it's simplistic yet haunting melody. Just as you zone out to this melody you hear Pop Smoke's voice say "we made it". It comes in so suddenly and out of nowhere that it really catches you off guard. It really amplifies the feeling of dread as your brain attempts to make sense of what it just heard. Before you have time to recover the voice suddenly comes in again saying "we made it".

At this point this listener begins to think about what the song is trying to say. They may recognize the voice as that of Pop Smoke's, but they still won't know why it's there. The listener may expect the beat to drop but it doesn't. The "we made it" vocals play again two more times before the song finally starts for real. Pop Smoke's voice sounds very cut off, I imagine this is a metaphor for artists often being censored by their labels. Pop Smoke is unable to speak any new words on this song, he can obviously only say words he said before his death, but they are being manipulated by forces outside of his control. Clearly this is a commentary on how deceased artists are taken advantage of by their estate after they die.

When the song properly starts the listener will notice that there are no drums apart from the slight sound of drums bleeding through Pop Smoke's vocals. This plays with the listener's expectations that Pop Smoke makes drill music, music that almost always features drums. Taking away these drums makes Pop Smoke sound more vulnerable, it's just his voice and the piano. The faint sound of drums in the background teases the listener, it makes them question why we assign artists to only one genre.

During the verse when Pop Smoke says "for the steak", the pitch of his voice is lowered. This is again a reference to how Pop Smoke can be manipulated even after his death for the financial gain of others. "Steak" is also the name of a method of cutting meat. Steaks are often made out of beef, which is the meat from cattle. This could be a metaphor for how artists are milked dry by their label, and once they die what they leave behind is also used. You could see the music released while an artist is alive as "milk" and music released after an artist has died as "steak". This is what I believe Kanye was going for with this creative decision.

Once the chorus has played again the listener may expect a Kanye verse. This doesn't happen, the piano just keeps on playing until the song ends. I think the lack of a Kanye verse on this song really highlight that Pop Smoke is the star of this song. Kanye wants to expose just how corrupt the music industry is with this song and honestly, I think that's really admirable. Kanye didn't list Pop Smoke as a feature on this song and I think that really shows that Kanye didn't make this to make money off Pop Smoke's name but he made it to send a message. And that message has honestly moved me. I know I don't usually get so emotional during reviews but I really just want to thank Kanye from the bottom of my heart for continuing to make amazing art that speaks to a generation.

Anyway, I'm feeling a light to decent 7 on this record. Tran-sition!"

- Anthony Fantano

## Lyrics

[Intro: Pop Smoke]

Mano, nós conseguimos Mano, nós conseguimos Mano, nós conseguimos

[Refrain: Pop Smoke]

Mano, nós conseguimos (Grr, woo, bah) Mano, nós conseguimos, nós conseguimos (Woo) Mano, nós conseguimos (Woo) Graças a Deus que eu consegui (Grrt, bah) Mano, nós conseguimos, nós conseguimos (Woo) Olha, mãe, eu consegui (Grrt)

[Verse: Pop Smoke]

Se liga, eu me lembro dos dias, era o mesmo prato por uma semana inteira Eu costumava comer bolo de cinquenta centavos, agora são Philippe's São Philippe's no bife, compro, eu não ligo quanto custa E eu sempre ando armado, eu fiz cem numa profissional Se você matar um woo, nós vamos onde você mora Glock 9, infravermelho, chegamos e esvaziamos o pente O Dread andou armado durante todo o verão em Floss, se movendo de forma imprudentemente Por favor, não brinque comigo, mano, eu ando com uma K comigo

[Refrain: Pop Smoke]

Mano, nós conseguimos (Grr, woo) Mano, nós conseguimos, nós conseguimos (Woo) Mano, nós conseguimos (Woo) Graças a Deus que eu consegui