Kanye West 'Power' (featuring NEW 2nd Verse) LIVE on SNL

 

Producer: Symbolyc One & Kanye West - FULL, LIVE Version, Features NEW 2nd Verse!

 

Kanye West was tonight's musical guest on Saturday Night Live and he straight up killed it with his two performances of "Power" and "Runaway" f/ Pusha T (below). 'Ye rocked a full red outfit amidst the white floor and background and was also flanked by ballerinas in all white as well. The end result is an amazing ambiance and contrast that would make Apple commercials jealous.

Once the ringing guitar of "Power" came on, I was moving to the edge of my seat in anticipation of 'Ye's infamous first few lines of the second verse. Instead, West threw a curve ball at us by premiering a brand NEW verse! As follows... this was my ear's best, any help on the few blanks would be appreciated:

Talk about a bold verse... (yes, I just wanted to 'bold' bold). But seriously, Kanye takin' aim at the system, lashing out his frustrations, and tryin' to educate the people with the truth. I feel Kanye is definitely sending a message to 'they'; my interpretation is that Kanye is basically saying, "You try to control everything, but you can't control me I'm here to expose the truth prove me wrong". Somethin' like that. Now, there's been rumblings this verse is from "Chain Heavy" but the Facebook performance has nothing like this so time will tell if/when this verse will be included on a song, and what song. Whatever the case, I was floored on first listen. Some of 'Ye's best stuff yet.

I cannot move on from the "Power" performance without also mentioning how Kanye West brought his 'portrait' to life. The stairs, the crown, the female guards were all details that helped take this performance of "Power" to another level. More of the same incorporation of the ballerinas took place in the "Runaway" performance below, where 'Ye once again brought out Pusha T for his guest verse, who this time wore a white blazer to match the ballerinas and the background. Furthermore, 'Ye also played samples and keys off the MPC - a real nice touch that I hope gets added for the final version - and autotuned the ending, which was more clear than during the VMAs. There were more little things to appreciate about this performance including the comical 'hey!' sample that 'Ye adamantly pressed to censor himself in the beginning of the first verse, but much larger than that, the countless, powerful, lasting images of Kanye West amongst the changing happenings around him.

In fact, Kanye West has proven once again that he can take the performance to another level - creating true art. He elevates the music to another level of energy with his creativity, stage presence, and concept of the big picture combined with the perfectly executed necessary nuances. He not only raises the bar for SNL performances (when was the last time you saw the SNL stage customized for an artist?) but Kanye West also continues to raise the bar for every artist with his live presentation. Simply amazing. So be sure to watch above and below!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think? Create a profile and comment!