Hey Kanye, I'm real happy for you, and I'ma let you finish, but it's looking like you're about to have the least popular album of all time. You see, Kanye West wants to cover David Bowie, and the internet is quite literally rallying to prevent it. Although West hasn't actually said he's making a tribute album, The Daily Star claims that he is planning a record featuring several Bowie covers, and as Mashable reports, there's already a petition with over 12,000 signatures to prevent West from potentially releasing versions of ""Rebel Rebel" and "Heroes," among others.
If the album report is true, it's pretty fast work, considering how fresh Bowie's Jan. 10 death still seems. Many fans are still very much in mourning, and so the idea that West could potentially have gone ahead and put together the beginnings of a tribute album is upsetting. I understand that Bowie is an inspiration to all of us, but West allegedly moving that quickly has an air of cashing in, taking advantage of a tragedy in order to sell music. And it's not like it'd be the only Kanye West music the world would get; he already has this New Music Friday thing going on, where he releases his upcoming album Swish out to fans in increments.
As for what the alleged album could potentially be like, The Daily Star claims that some of the tracks are "straightforward cover versions with Kanye actually singing" while "on others he is rapping with his own lyrics over Bowie's music." Oh, Kanye. We all miss Bowie, but I don't know if this is the way to cope with his death.
Given the speed at which this is all allegedly happening, it's hard to blame Peter Piranha, who set up the petition, for being so upset. The petition's description is: "David Bowie was one of the single most important musicians of the 20th and 21st century, it would be a sacrilege to let it be ruined by Kanye West," and it seems to be resonating with people, because it already has so many signatures. Any time an artist you love dies, it's hard to see someone else moving in on their memory right away, even if it's out of appreciation, like West's reported tribute album presumably would be.
Right now, fans all just miss Bowie a lot, and it's impossible to imagine anyone ever filling the spot he left. Whether that's what West is trying to do or not, I think it would be a good idea for him to give it a minute before potentially releasing any kind of tribute.
