Eazy (song)

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For other songs with the same name, see Eazy.
"Eazy"
Just a Gory Cover Art For Eazy
Single by The Game and Kanye West
from the album Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind and Donda 2
ReleasedJanuary 15, 2022
RecordedJanuary 2022
Length3:54
Label100 Entertainment
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Game singles chronology
"Welcome to LA (Remix)"
(2022) 		"Eazy"
(2022)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Off the Grid"
(2021) 		"Eazy"
(2022) 		"City of Gods"
(2022)
Music video
"Eazy" on YouTube

"Eazy" is a song by American rappers The Game and Kanye West. It was released as a single on January 15, 2022. The song was released exclusively on Spotify two days before. The cover art for the single attracted controversy due to the featuring of Nick Knight's highly graphic 1997 photo of a skinned monkey and the song's music video attracted controversy because of its depiction of West burying alive comedian Pete Davidson, who was dating his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

Background and marketing

On January 12, 2022, in an Instagram video shared by designer Tracey Mills, West was seen talking to DJ Premier on FaceTime with the Game and fellow collaborators Pusha T and Mike Dean in the studio. In the video, West said that he was releasing a song that Friday and was asking DJ Premier if he could do a scratch for the song.[1][2] On January 15, 2022, the song was released exclusively on Spotify before being added to other streaming platforms a day later.[3][4]

Cover art

On January 14, 2022, West revealed the cover art for the single on Instagram and captioned the post, "My life was never eazy".[5] The cover depicts a skinned monkey against a blood red background.[5] The picture was originally taken by English photographer and frequent West collaborator Nick Knight in 1997 as part of his research for the War editorial for Big Magazine, which he described as "a study in physiology, form, philosophy, and death".[6][7][8] The picture of the skinned monkey was not published until 2013, when Knight curated a series of research imagery for SHOWstudio. Speaking about the picture, Knight said in 2013:

These corpses of skinned animals had nothing of life left in them, not even the most tiny speck or hint of their former beauty, majesty and purpose. However, they were not inhabited by death in the way they had been by life. Once the life had gone, they were just bags of barely held together of [sic] flesh, bone and sinew. Nothing left, except their smell; they stank. They reeked. Every time, for years afterwards when I looked at the 10 by 8 transparencies, the stench came straight back to me as pungent as if each image was saturated with it. That, I concluded was death.[7]

Animal rights organization PETA commented on the cover, saying that it is "reminiscent of monkeys PETA has found" and that "when you remove the fur, you can't miss that there's a person in there, that they are fellow primates, and do not belong to us to abuse for any purpose".[9]

Music videos

A music video of the song premiered via Instagram on March 2, 2022. The video is half claymation and half live-action. The video has been heavily criticized as it depicts West kidnapping and burying alive Pete Davidson with implied decapitation, as West holds a disembodied head throughout the live-action segments, referencing West's divorce with Kim Kardashian and her brief time together with Davidson.[10] In response to the controversy, West posted on Instagram that "Art is not a proxy for any ill or harm, Any suggestion otherwise about my art is false and mal intended."[11] On March 9, 2022, a second music video with CGI-animated visuals was released, in which the skinned monkey from the singles cover art is depicted beating a 3D model of Davidson, whose face is blurred out.[12] A variation of the first music video containing additional claymation and no live-action segments has surfaced online.

Credits

Charts

Chart performance for "Eazy"
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[13] 35
Global 200 (Billboard)[14] 35
Iceland (Tónlistinn)[15] 11
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 20
Lithuania (AGATA)[17] 59
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 35
South Africa (TOSAC)[19] 13
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 86
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 63
UK Singles (OCC)[22] 32
UK Indie (OCC)[23] 3
UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[24] 13
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 49
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[26] 13

References

  1. ^ Martinez, Jose (January 13, 2022). "Kanye West Says He's Ready to Release New Track While on Call With DJ Premier". Complex. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Moore, Sam (January 13, 2022). "Kanye West says he's planning to release a new song with Pusha T, The Game and DJ Premier". NME. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  3. ^ Cowen, Trace William (January 15, 2022). "Kanye West and The Game Drop New Song "Eazy"". Complex. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Minkser, Evan (January 15, 2022). "Kanye West and the Game Shared New Song "Eazy": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Darville, Jordan (January 14, 2022). "Kanye West shares Instagram post of skinned monkey, stoking new music speculation". The Fader. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Peake, Amber (January 14, 2022). "Who is Nick Knight? Ye's skinned monkey pic linked to photographer". The Focus. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Knight, Nick (August 10, 2013). "DAY 2: WAR". SHOWstudio. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Leung, Ambrose (January 15, 2022). "PETA Is Not Too Happy With Ye's Use of a Skinned Monkey for Upcoming Track". Hypebeast. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Mamo, Heran (January 14, 2022). "PETA Slams Ye & The Game's Use of Skinned Monkey Photo to Promote Song: They 'Do Not Belong to Us to Abuse'". Billboard. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Kanye West Kills and Buries Pete Davidson in 'Eazy' Video". Rap-Up. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  11. ^ Snapes, Laura (March 7, 2022). "Kanye West addresses backlash over 'burial' of Pete Davidson". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Mier, Tomás (2022-03-10). "Kanye West Still Isn't Tired of Attacking Pete Davidson in Animated 'Eazy' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  13. ^ "The Game Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  14. ^ "The Game Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  15. ^ "Tónlistinn – Lög - Vika 3, 2022" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  16. ^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  17. ^ "2022 3-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  18. ^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  19. ^ "Local & International Streaming Chart Top 100 Week 03-2022". The Official South African Charts. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  20. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 3". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Game & Kanye West – Easy". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  23. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  24. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  25. ^ "The Game Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  26. ^ "The Game Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
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