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I hoped, thought for a moment, that first track ‘I Thought About Killing You’ would be a smart subversion about suicide and overcoming it. But, here are some of the lyrics:

“Today I thought about killing you, premeditated murder / And I think about killing myself / And I love myself way more than I love you, so... / You’d only care enough to kill somebody you love / The most beautiful thoughts are always besides the darkest”

I don’t need to know who this is “about” or the intended context. What I do know is this is the mantra of abusive men. This is wife-beater talk. Toxic-‘Passion’ rhetoric which lends itself to women staying with abusive men. Which brings me to his track, ‘Wouldn’t Leave’:

“For any guy that ever fucked up/ Ever embarrassed they girl / Ever embarrassed they wife / She told you not to do they shit / She told you your gonna fuck the money up / Bur you ain’t wanna listen, did you? / Now you testing her energy /“

“This what they mean when they say For better or for worse / For every down female stuck with their dude / Through the best times / Through the worst times / This for you.” I’m depressed, honestly, from just writing that out.

Leave. Lady, leave. If you recognise this fool described above in your man, LEAVE HIM. This is not an accolade to your strengths. No one needs to be this strong.

‘Wouldn’t Leave’ is straight up one of the most manipulative songs I’ve EVER heard. The title might as well be ‘You Can’t Leave’. And the use of ‘down female STUCK with their dude’ is so insanely insidious. You ain’t stuck. You’re not glued to him. LEAVE. LEAVE HIM.

Of course this trails smoothly into the next track, which is just a repetition of: “Make no mistake, girl, I still love you.” You could make entire horror movies about men who abuse you, then lure you back in with messages about how they still “love” you.

Then of course, we have ‘Violent Crimes’. An entire fucking song about needing to ‘protect’ his daughter. Wishing her body doesn’t grow up to look sexualised like Kim K’s. Can we have a conversation with fathers of daughters for a minute? Her body is none of your business.

Its not your business when she’s a child. It’s not your business when she’s a grown arse woman. You’re not out here concerning yourselves (or writing songs) about whether your sons should be buff when they’re older, or if their penis’s will be big. Because that’s WEIRD.

“Father forgive me, I’m scared of the karma / Cause now I see women as something to nurture / Not something to conquer.” Men!don’twaituntilyouhavedaughterstohaverespectforus

Youstillseewomeninthepossessiveifyouaretalkingaboutyourdaughterslikethis

“Don’t do no yoga, don’t do pilates / Just play piano and stick to karate / I pray you don’t get it all at once / Curves under your dress / I know it’s perves all on the net.” Imagine saying this controlling shit on an album with the song, ‘All Mine’:

“Yeah you supermodel thicc / damn that ass bustin out the bottom / that medulla oblongata / get to rubbing on my lamp / get the genie out the bottle / Fuck it up / Pussy good / Pipe her up/ Make her mine / I could have a Naomi Campbell / And still might want me a Stormy Daniels”

When do women stop being someone else’s daughter then?

And finally, ‘Yikes’: “Russel Simmons wanna pray for me too / I’ma pray for him cause he got #MeToo ’d / Thinking what if that happened to me too / Then I’m on E! News / Hundred grand’ll make your best friend turn to opps.” And here it is. The thread holding the album together.

I never believed these movements and public conversations were the beginning for women’s mental and physical safety. I couldn’t. I live in America. I saw men before, during, and now. It’s the prelude to the beginning. But there’s a vital difference between the two:

The beginning comes only after the culture of masculinity stops fighting its last fight to remain exactly as it always has. A friend once said to me, “What do you think happens to a humanbeing when you take what little they have away from them? Anything happens.”

This is last-chance-saloon. It is a smash-and-grab at the kind of masculinity America refuses to let go of. Your politicians know this. Your boyfriends know this. Your bosses know this. Your man in the bar knows this. Kanye knows this.

Kanye has provided a rhythmical manifesto for the men who are scared. He will pray, not for Russell Simmons, but for a time again where men like Simmons could rape and assault and not be targeted for it.

He will write 7 songs that will each detail the voice of men in America today to normalise again the control they have over women: Their wives, their mistresses, their peers, their daughters.

This is not an album about mental health. It could have been. And it could have been spectacular for it. No, this is an album about men clutching manically at the tails of their own treatment of women. Because they know we're coming for them.

Enjoy the prelude before the beginning of the end, guys. We're coming for you, regardless. (Decent beats on the album, at least. Guess there's still that.)