Is the follow-up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy coming out in a matter of months? On Sunday, Kanye West announced that a previously undisclosed new album is "coming this summer" – less than a year after the release of his controversial, snow-capped magnum opus.
"I'll be back this SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!" West said on Twitter, as if he has ever been away. Although we have long known about Watch the Throne, the rapper's forthcoming team-up with Jay-Z, Yeezy seemed to be referring to yet another project – presumably the follow-up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. "IN THE STUDIO NOW WITH THE BEARS [football] GAME ON," he wrote. "WATCH THE THRONE COMING IN 2 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!! MY NEW ALBUM COMING THIS SUMMER."
Despite 21 exclamation marks, West has yet to reveal further details about the album. Although he took a year off between 2005's Late Registration and 2007's Graduation, plus his year in the wilderness after the Taylor Swift incident, the rapper has released close to an album a year since his 2004 debut. If he weren't already prolific enough, last year's free G.O.O.D. Fridays series offered an album's worth of new material. Some of these tracks may appear on Watch the Throne, but they could also feature on whatever West is now preparing.
If My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy introduced many listeners to Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver, who knows what West has planned for the follow-up – Earl Sweatshirt? James Blake? For now, the only hint is, er, woodwind. "THIS IS HIGH END RAP MUSIC," he wrote. "I just threw some bassoon on this muthafucka."
.png?w=600)
