Earth Versus the World
The Polish Ambassador
Diplomatic Immunity (2006)
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When you get Kanye big - where you’re so famous that everything you touch gets famous by association - it’s time to break out the big metaphors. Solar system-scale stuff, like: the personal (and emotional) gravity of so much hype; stars aligning; planets shifting and the fate of the universe. “Earth Versus the World,” then, is a pretty good fit for a celebrity who’s got his every move under an electron microcope. It also happens to be a pretty banging track from a cat called The Polish Ambassador.

TPA is a mystery wrapped in a jumpsuit - part interstellar ambassador, part presumable hipster somewhere out in the cold reaches of affordable Brooklyn. He trades in pared-down electronica built from a 2-octave controller, but deals in themes much larger. “Earth Versus the World” is the closest thing to a single he’s got, and where we begin our analysis.

As the base for a Hip-Hop track, EVTW’s coming around at the right time to catch the ‘Ye led wave of retro electro - it’s bouncy, catchy and steams ahead with enough force to carry a little autotune on its back. It isn’t without problems: for all its electronic heart, the track sounds a little thin as it’s been mixed down by Polish. Nothing a little work Kanye’s engineers couldn’t fix.

‘Ye is probably best served by straight up redoing the synth hook and bassline and going over the top a la “Robocop” or some 808s shit, else slowing the mix down and chopping the leading synth lines. Whatever route he takes, Mr. West could make this stick.