Although Kanye West's newest album The Life of Pablo was just released Feb. 14, the rapper is apparently already making headway on the next one. West announced his new album title to be "Turbo Grafx 16" on Feb 26 via his Twitter, and obviously proceeded to spark tens of thousands of likes and retweets within hours. It's an exciting announcement for sure, but what does TurboGrafx-16 mean? Some people might understand the new album title right away, but if you need a little more explanation, you're not alone...
TurboGrafx-16 was a gaming console which was released in the late '80s in the US, Japan and France. It was intended to compete with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but it didn't attain the expected level of popularity. However, The Verge notes the console did eventually garner a cult following — and Yeezy was apparently a devotee. In his next tweet after the announcement, West explained the background of his album name by saying, "just on some super nerd vibes… one of my favorite gaming systems when I was a kid…". He then went off into a classic Kanye Twitter rant-mode, reminiscing about the console and about the video games he played when he was growing up. So much nostalgia.
Confused yet? If you weren't born when the console came out and/or if you're not a gamer, a lot of the above titles might seem like they're written in Latin. But, the basic takeaway is that, as of now, West's next album title is a throwback to his childhood gaming days.
However, there are also a few things to consider. For starters, IGN points out that the announcement comes on the tails of the release of the trailer for West's video game Only One. The game — based on the Kanye song of the same name — is a tribute of sorts to West's late mother, and the gameplay involves helping her reach the gates of Heaven. Is it possible that West's new album title is part of a larger effort on his part to become a figure in the game industry?
Before you get too far into analyzing the specifics of West's announcement, it's worth noting that he said the new album's title is TurboGrafx-16 "as of now." His last album went through multiple name changes — from So Help Me God to SWISH to WAVES — before being released as The Life of Pablo, so who's to say that West's next album wouldn't go through the same journey? Even if the album stays on track for a summer release as West is intending (which is a very optimistic timeline), that still leaves several months for him to tinker with the title.
So, you can take pleasure in knowing the background behind the name of the upcoming album, but it might be wise not to get too attached.
Images: Kanye West/Twitter (6)
