Guys. Guys! GUYS. Big, big Kanye West news to end your Tuesday night with: According to a tweet posted by King Yeezus himself, Kanye West announced a new album title to replace his previous title, SWISH — and, considering the new title he's bestowed upon the highly-anticipated album is another single word one, it's likely got a lot of fans wondering: What does West's new album title mean?
Firstly, the new title: According to West, the new title of his album will be WAVES. He made this announcement with a pretty simple tweet: "New album title, WAVES." No other explanation — and no detail about what this new title could possibly mean. Luckily, we're all smart people who can totally get analytical when we want to, so it shouldn't be difficult to figure out West's logic here. The meaning of his last album title, SWISH, was pretty ambiguous: Urban Dictionary has a few user-submitted definitions for it, and West never actually commenting on what it really means. However, it was most probably this: As USA Today points out, it's like the sound "a basketball makes" when someone scores a slam dunk. Previously, West has used the term to describe his wife, Kim Kardashian, so it makes sense. Is it possible could WAVES have a similar meaning?
Probably not. WAVES sounds a little more subdued than the former title, and more in line with the laid-back tracks that West has released ahead of the album: Both "Real Friends" and "No More Parties In L.A." aren't high-energy tracks, and the term WAVES almost has a connotation of slow, soothing sound waves. Is it possible this is what West means?
I'd say yes, definitely. Additionally, "WAVES" could indicate that there will be a few different sounds to the album — like a few "waves," in a way. Or, it could even just mean that the album will go from laid back to intense to laid back again — taking the listener on a pretty wavy journey. (Also, for what it's worth, "WAVES" was also the acronym for the women's branch of the US Naval Reserve during World War II, so take that however you'd like.)
Though we won't know for sure unless West comments on it directly (or posts more pictures of Kardashian captioned "WAVES," either way), it seems like there could be a few meanings to this title — just like there was with SWISH.
One thing to keep in mind, though: Considering West's album isn't due to be released until Feb. 11, there's still a big chance that this title could change again before it drops. After all, the album has already gone through another name — originally, it was to be titled Yeezus 2 , then So Help Me God, before West changed it to SWISH — and West warned us back in May (when he settled on SWISH) that the title could still change at any time:
Knowing West, the title could change as soon as, like, the next five minutes. Isn't that why we love him?
