Kanye West SNL 2013: Watch Black Skinhead and New Slaves. (VIDEO)

Watch Kanye Perform “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on SNL

Watch Kanye Perform “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on SNL

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Slate's Culture Blog
May 19 2013 1:06 AM

Kanye West Unveils New Songs on SNL

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Kanye West performs on stage in 2012

Mark Metcalfe

After unveiling “New Slaves” on Friday night in “the most Kanye way possible,” Kanye West took to the Saturday Night Live stage and did it again, this time live and in the flesh. The rapper’s new album has been described as “dark”; on SNL, he yelled while dodging in and out of dark shadows (“Black Skinhead”), then delivered an equally intense rendition of “New Slaves” in front of a projection of his face in extreme close-up. “Dark” seems accurate so far.

Rap-up is reporting that West’s new album will have a release date of June 18 and will be titled Yeezus—a name that may have originated with friend and frequent collaborator Kid Cudi back in 2011. West himself has yet to confirm any of this (though he did cryptically tweet the aforementioned date earlier this month, only to delete it later), but Kim Kardashian tweeted a picture of what appeared to be a copy of the new album, which included the name “Yeezus” on the cover.

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One thing is certain: Yeezy Season is upon us. Check out his performances below.

Aisha Harris is a Slate culture writer and host of the Slate podcast Represent.