#SWISH So Help Me Kanye: the ongoing story of ‘SWISH’

Even for Kanye West, the amount of twists and turns regarding the follow-up to 2013’s ‘Yeezus’ has been exhausting, confusing and compelling in the extreme. Since Kanye first hinted that a new album was in the works just six months after ‘Yeezus’ was released, album titles have been announced and then changed, all manner of songs, remixes and collaborations dropped, wildly cryptic hints given in interviews, petitions sent to the White House (yep), and still it’s no clearer whether ‘SWISH’ will arrive in a day or in two years.

A two and a half year gap (and counting…) between LPs might make it seem like this period has been a quiet sector of Kanye’s career, but the u-turns, surprises and constant subversion of expectation has made it potentially the most exciting. Since the album was announced in March – as ‘So Help Me God’ – the entire music world has been trying to piece together how much of what Kanye is currently exhibiting is directly related to the new LP – now supposedly called ‘SWISH’. With two new songs posted onto his Soundcloud this week, the new material is still flowing with ease, but the erratic nature with which these songs have been released points away from a traditional full-length arriving imminently. With 2008 album ‘808s & Heartbreak’ being heavily resurfaced at the moment as well, it seems like ‘SWISH’ could actually be getting further away from becoming realised. Other things seem to be occupying Kanye’s brain at the moment. No sign of a full-length yet, then, but it’s hardly been feet up on the sofa time for Yeezy either. Here’s everything that’s happened since ‘Yeezus’, and what it could mean going forward.