Lost in the World
"Lost in the World" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010).
Kanye West initially wrote the verses of "Lost in the World" as a love poem emailed to American model Kim Kardashian, who he would later begin dating in 2012 and married in 2014.
[2] Rolling Stone writer Daniel Kreps, who reported the event, wrote "in an unorthodox move, Kanye West debuted verses from three new songs, a cappella for employees at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
[7][8] Later, in October 2010, it was confirmed that "Lost in the World" would indeed appear on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but that the leaked version had subsequently been split into two different songs.
[11] West attempted to shy away from working with artists he didn't consider himself familiar with; however, he made an exception for Justin Vernon, singer of the band Bon Iver.
[14] West also cited the Bon Iver album For Emma, Forever Ago as something he was a fan of, and admitted an admiration of the unique aesthetic of Vernon's music.
[14][15] While at Hawaii, Vernon collaborated extensively, reportedly producing a total of 10 tracks together, including the album cuts "Dark Fantasy" and "Monster".
[17][18] It features tribal drums and samples Bon Iver's "Woods", a song originally written about alienation, applied by West "as the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie" on the album.
West's verse contains an interpolation of the "Mama-say mama-sah ma-ma-coo-sah" hook from Michael Jackson's song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".
[...] A disembodied chorus urges West to 'run from the lights/ run for your life' on 'Lost in the World,' the record's frenzied penultimate track; but even as we listen, we know there's little chance that he'll leave the spotlight behind.
[32][33] It is edited to a smaller version on the track that, according to Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot, "retains its essence, that of an African-American male who feels cut off from his country and culture".
[29] Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times described "Woods" as a "Wisconsin death trip that becomes a testimonial to rebirth through isolation" and noted a significant difference from "Lost in the World", commenting that the song was more about West's "exhausted cry of one who's always new in town, chasing whatever goal or girl is in the room, fueled by consumer culture's relentless buzz, but finally left unsatisfied.
Alex Denney NME called the song the "heart-rending highlight" of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and cited the vocal performance by Vernon as a "quite brilliant effect.
"[33] Denney commented "it frames Kanye's inner demons in a universal way, recasting Vernon's semi-mythical woodland retreat as his own cipher for spiritual replenishment".
[33] Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers called the song an important piece of the album, saying that the sampling of Bon Iver was both surprising and inspired, and noted the differences between "Woods" and "Lost in the World".
"[31] Chris Martins of Spin stated that West managed to transform Iver's "melancholic 'Woods' into a perversely bright experimental dance track.
"[32] Jones noted than in less than the six minutes of the song's running time, West "moves from a loner in the woods to his own isolation and on to the entire African-American experience.
[36] David Browne of Time stated that the song, much like "Runaway", feature "shimmering soundscapes that pinpoint a common ground between the hardness of hip-hop and the sweetness of indie rock.
[38] Beringer felt that the most interest take of this on the album was "Lost in the World", describing it as a "as an auto-tuned medley of Vernon and West that soars over pounding drums and a frantic backing choir".
[38] HipHopDX writer Jake Paine felt that the track utilized "pounding drums", and commented that it was "an intense tapestry of ever-changing sound that includes several genres and decades of inspiration.
[41] The Washington Post's Chris Richards mused that "the drums come avalanching on Lost in the World", calling it "the grand finale this album deserves."
'"[42] Cole Mathew of Slant Magazine described the track as "Kanye's much-anticipated reworking of Bon Iver's "Woods" from his classic EP", and wrote that "it's astounding how he takes the strangest sample on the album and crafts it into a defiantly giddy dance number, complete with tribal drumming in the verses and group choruses that sound massive.
[62] Consequence of Sound writer Chris Coplan reported that the remix had a duration of around eight minutes, commenting that "the formerly artsy number is chopped and screwed into a bass-heavy club anthem, with the emotionally-frozen vibe melting to the sheer heat produced by random samples and various chunky synth lines.
[67][68] The black-and-white clip opens with a warning that "strobe effects are used in this video" and features a group of models dressed in sheer fabric dancing while West poses during his verse.
[69][70] West's face is actually not shown anywhere in the video, which mostly showcases "tortured and slick mirrors and skylines, with a well-placed dancer depicting the heaven and hell in which the rapper wallows.
"[66] Robbie Daw of website Idolator compared the Nick Knight cinematography to the style featured in the music video for Lady Gaga's single "Born This Way" (which was directed by Nick Knight) and wrote that "the black-and-white extravaganza is a rap video unlike any others released in recent memory — well, unless you count Kanye's last off-the-wall clip.
