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Bound 2

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Best Of
This article features content which is widely regarded to be the Best Of Kanye West's discography. Though chosen to be highlighted as one of his best, this is always subject to change.

"Bound 2" (originally titled "Nobody To Love") is the tenth and final track from Kanye West's sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013).[1] The song features vocals from Charlie Wilson. It is Kanye's ninth most streamed song of all time.[2]

Unlike most of the tracks in Yeezus, "Bound 2" features a much more warming sound as Kanye talks about finding his new lover. It is inspired by his relationship with Kim Kardashian, whom Kanye married in 2014.[3]

Production[]

The song's instrumental heavily samples Ponderosa Twins Plus One's 1971 song, "Bound", giving the song its name. The "Uh-huh, honey" vocals originate from Brenda Lee's 1959 song, "Sweet Nothin's". The instrumental that can be heard during the hook samples Wee's 1977 song, "Aeroplane (Reprise)".[4] The song runs at a tempo of 149 BPM in the C♯/D♭ key with a major mode.[5]

Background[]

The song was initially created in 2013 for Kanye's album at the time Thank God For Drugs, though the beat is speculated to have dated back as early as February 2012 during the sessions for Kanye's label GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer, as this is the only time Tyler, The Creator could have actually produced the song.[6] Instead of Charlie Wilson on the hook, the hook initially featured John Legend and later Kanye's cousin Tony Williams with his rough freestyle over the No I.D. beat.[7]

On March 30th, Tyler's piano additions had made the final song and Charlie Wilson alongside Elon Rutberg would record for the song.[8] At this point, the song's verses were still partially unfinished, though the song featured a completely different outro that was cut from final release.[9] On April 7th, Sak Pase would produce a copy of the song, most notably having a completely spontaneous drum pattern and bad mixing, sometimes referred to as one of the "worst Kanye songs to be made."[10]

In March of that year, after Rick Rubin had gotten involved in the creation of the album, the beat was completely reworked to feature a simpler more sample-based instrumental.[11] Cashmere Cat additions were added to the song during this period, though like all other additional production had been cut from release.[12]

On June 1, 2013, Kanye revealed a small snippet of the song on his website.[13] Just 17 days later on June 18th, the song would be met with a final release on the final album Yeezus as the closing track to the album.[14] The song was met with immense success, debuting at #5 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and number 31 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart upon the release of Yeezus.[15] The song would be rereleased as a promotional single on August 28 and charted at number 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 7, 2013.[16] It re-entered at number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the same week, and to this day still remains one of Kanye's most popular songs.[17]

The song was met with an official music video release on November 19, featuring an updated version of the song with a new piano intro, additional production and additional vocals from the song's feature Charlie Wilson.[18] Notably, frequent Kanye collaborator Rick Ross had also uploaded a remix of the song on YouTube in 2014.[19]

Lawsuit[]

In December 2013, Ricky Spicer, a member of the Ponderosa Twins Plus One, sued Kanye over sampling his group's song, "Bound", allegedly without permission. The lawsuit was settled in May 2015.[20]

Music video[]

On November 16, 2013, Kanye teased a music video for "Bound 2" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[21] The video released on YouTube three days later on November 19.[22] In the video, Kanye rides on a motorcycle through several landscapes with a topless Kim Kardashian. However, the video was panned by critics, as some called it confusing. Only a few days after the music video's release, it had garnered 50,000 dislikes compared to a measly 13,000 likes.[23]

Lyrics[]

[Intro]
Bou—bou—bou—bou—bound to fall in love
Bound to fall in love
Uh-huh, honey

[Chorus]
All them other n***** lame, and you know it now (Bound, bound)
When a real n**** hold you down, you s'posed to drown (Alright, al—al—alright)
(Bound to fall in love)
Bound
(Bou—bou—bou—bou—bound to fall in love)
Bound
Uh-huh, honey

[Verse 1]
What you doin' in the club on a Thursday? (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
She say she only here for her girl birthday
They ordered champagne but still look thirsty (Bound to fall in love)
Rock Forever 21, but just turned thirty
I know I got a bad reputation (Bound to fall in love)
Walk-around-always-mad reputation (Uh-huh, honey)
Leave-a-pretty-girl-sad reputation (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
Start a Fight Club, Brad reputation
I turnt the nightclub out of the basement (Bound to fall in love)
I'll turn the plane around, your ass keep complainin'
How you gon' be mad on vacation? (Bound to fall in love)
Dutty wining 'round all these Jamaicans (Uh-huh, honey)
Uh, this that prom shit (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
This that what-we-do-don't-tell-your-mom shit
This that red-cup-all-on-the-lawn shit (Bound to fall in love)
Got a fresh cut, straight out the salon, bitch

[Pre-Chorus]
I know you're tired of lovin', of lovin' (Oh)
With nobody to love, nobody, no—
Uh-huh, honey

[Chorus]
Close your eyes and let the word paint a thousand pictures (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
One good girl is worth a thousand bitches
(Bound to fall in love)
Bound
(Bound to fall in love)
Bound
Uh-huh, honey

[Verse 2]
I wanna fuck you hard on the sink (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
After that, give you somethin' to drink
Step back, can't get spunk on the mink (Bound to fall in love)
I mean damn, what would Jeromey Romey Romey Rome think?
Hey, you remember where we first met? (Bound to fall in love)
Okay, I don't remember where we first met (Uh-huh, honey)
But hey, admittin' is the first step (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
And hey, you know ain't nobody perfect
And I know, with the hoes I got the worst rep (Bound to fall in love)
But hey, their backstroke I'm tryna perfect
And hey, ayo, we made it: Thanksgivin' (Bound to fall in love)
So hey, maybe we can make it to Christmas (Uh-huh, honey)
She asked me what I wished for on my wishlist (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
Have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches?
Maybe we could still make it to the church steps (Bound to fall in love)
But first, you gon' remember how to forget
After all these long-ass verses (Bound to fall in love)
I'm tired, you tired, Jesus wept

[Pre-Chorus]
I know you're tired (Tired) of lovin', of lovin'
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody
So just grab somebody, no leavin' this party
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody
Uh-huh, honey

[Chorus]
Jerome's in the house, watch your mouth (Bound, bound) (Alright, al—al—alright)
Jerome's in the house, watch your mouth
(Bound to fall in love)
Bound
(Bound to fall in love)
Bound
Uh-huh, honey

Trivia[]

  • The song shares the same sample as Tyler, the Creator's 2019 song "A BOY IS A GUN" off of his album IGOR.[24] Tyler also coincidentally had a hand in producing earlier versions of this song.
  • In the South Park episode, "The Hobbit", the music video was parodied several times.[25] Kanye has since expressed hostility towards the show's writers.
  • The song was intended to have its sequel, "Bound 3" release on JESUS IS KING and later DONDA: WITH CHILD. The song was later presumably scrapped.
  • Notably alongside the Rick Ross remix to the song, Doja Cat would release a remix as well exclusively to SoundCloud before taking it down and the artist Sigma would also release a drum and bass remix through official means onto streaming.[26][27]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/artist/5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x/discography/album
  2. ↑ https://kworb.net/spotify/artist/5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x_songs.html
  3. ↑ https://genius.com/Kanye-west-bound-2-lyrics
  4. ↑ https://www.whosampled.com/Kanye-West/Bound-2/
  5. ↑ https://songbpm.com/@kanye-west/bound-2#:~:text=Bound%202%20is%20a%20somber,key%20and%20a%20major%20mode.
  6. ↑ https://ibb.co/LP3GC2y
  7. ↑ https://genius.com/1871681#:~:text=version%20of%20it%2C-,I%20sang%20it%20second,-%2C%20and%20Charlie%20sang
  8. ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/5f250237a68b2e5e17ee6338d9c8f709
  9. ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/5f250237a68b2e5e17ee6338d9c8f709
  10. ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/49322ad890cb6441aed2723d20c23a92
  11. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/news/51175-rick-rubin-discusses-the-intense-completion-of-kanye-wests-yeezus/
  12. ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/b8398d5693526d6e3f3d62d682a41952
  13. ↑ http://www.vibe.com/article/listen-kanye-west-releases-bound-snippet
  14. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/track/3sNVsP50132BTNlImLx70i?si=164bc929f1244e1c
  15. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_2#:~:text=After%20its%20release%20as%20a,number%20twelve%20the%20following%20week.
  16. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2013-12-07
  17. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs/2013-12-07
  18. ↑ https://youtu.be/BBAtAM7vtgc
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQU_SnZnx-g
  20. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_2#Lawsuit
  21. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_2
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBAtAM7vtgc
  23. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_2#Music_video
  24. ↑ https://www.whosampled.com/sample/647216/Tyler,-the-Creator-A-BOY-IS-a-GUN-Ponderosa-Twins-Plus-One-Bound/
  25. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DRdn6mCOKU
  26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgZUlfntMqQ
  27. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/track/5dzHlLBWdxdQySpvZLHcu9?si=2d33b8627fe44e4a
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