The latest clue we got about Kanye West's upcoming album came courtesy of a Florence, Italy newspaper, in which West was interviewed saying that the album was "made in Florence." Yesterday, Billboard pulled together some new sources to give us a better idea of what to expect from the follow-up to last year's divisive Yeezus. Though many of these sources have concrete evidence of collaborating with Mr. West, we all know that he's the type to switch things up at the last minute, so don't think that any of this is set in stone.
The first, most striking bit of news came from an anonymous source who said that he or she had heard six of the album's twelve tracks (as of two weeks ago), and was quoted saying that it's "mostly a mixture of soul samples and tamed 'Yeezus'-esque darkness... nothing abrasive." Another clue to the album's sound came from GOOD Music producer Evian Christ, who said earlier this year that West requested "something that sounds a bit like Otis Redding, a bit like Mobb Deep."
As far as a guest list, Billboard also links to tweets and quotes from James Fauntleroy, Mike WiLL Made It, Malik Yusef, Q-Tip, Rick Rubin, French Montana, Young Thug, Da Internz, Young Chop, James Blake, S1, 808 Mafia, DJ Mustard and Tyga, all of whom claim to be involved in the album in some way or another. Read the full report here.
