The Singles Bar: Kanye’s Ode to Who-Knows-Who, “White Dress”

Is it about Kim? That’s the one thing everyone wants to know about “White Dress,” Kanye West’s new song from the upcoming Man With the Iron Fists soundtrack. After listening to it a couple times, we can say conclusively that the answer to that question is: Maybe? It’s an up-and-down love story that Kanye tells, and while it could be telling his and Kim’s story—did he indeed meet her in a tight dress, and now wants to put her in a tight dress?—we’re not gonna pretend like we have any insight into the matter.

That’s not the real headline with this song, anyway—the most important thing is that it’s the gentlest, most humane song Kanye has recorded in a long time. After a run of “Niggas in Paris,” “Mercy,” “Clique” and everything else he’s been on in the last 18 months—raw, hard-hitting, occasionally downright difficult (though absurdly rewarding) fare that seemed to put as much distance as possible between him and the uplifting soul of his College Dropout days—it’s almost unnerving to hear Kanye rap over the twinkling piano of a classic soul sample, courtesy of producer/director RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.

The song probably won’t be a single, as it’s about three-and-a-half minutes of Kanye basically rapping continuously, without much of a chorus or hook (though the way “She back in the club in a tight dress / With dreams of someday wearing a white dress” turns into “I seen you in the club in a tight dress / But I picture you in the church with a white dress” is certainly arresting). Still, the song is instantly accessible just a nice little love song with a touching story of Kanye chasing his hopeful bride-to-be to Rome (“Let’s fly to Euro / Have the best summer ever” has definite catchphrase potential) with a sweet “Just me and you-u-u” sample book-ending the song. Its lack of ostentatiousness somehow feels like the boldest thing Kanye’s done in ages.

And the real question beyond whether or not the song is about Kim: How the hell is this song gonna fit into a movie called The Man With the Iron Fists? We’ll have to trust that RZA knows what he’s doing with that one.

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