February 16th, 2015 
James Shotwell 
Kanye West has kept fans guessing about what to expect from his currently untitled seventh studio album, but last night audiences around the globe got their first taste of what the album holds in store when Yeezus performed the opening track as part of Saturday Night Live‘s 40th anniversary.
Accompanied by Sia and Vic Mensa, who joined the performance after West opened by lying on his back through renditions of both “Jesus Walks” and “Only One,” Kanye West performed his new single “Wolves” for the first time last night. It’s a brooding track, built on what feels like a combination of the atmospherics from 808s and Heartbreak coupled with the lyrical ambiguity of My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy. There is no hook, or at least not one that stands out at first, but it does offer three strong verses from some of the biggest names in music today. You can view the performance, including the opening medley, below:
I know Yeezus found success without necessarily having a commercial hit, but whether or not Kanye can pull that off twice remains to be seen. It’s been a while since Kanye topped a chart, and unless the studio cut of “Wolves” provides something incredibly infectious that is not heard in the performance above I don’t see it being a song to hit it big at radio. Maybe that kind of success doesn’t matter to Kanye anymore, but I’m sure the people supporting him would love to see him make headlines for something other than his personality.
We’ll bring you more on Kanye’s new album as soon as more information is made available. Until then, comment and let us know your first impression of “Wolves.”
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