I told you folks about Shawn Mendes first, about three years ago when he played his first show in New York. Since then the talented teen– a better Bieber, as it were– has had nothing but success.

Now his third album, self titled, has finished its debut week on the charts at number 1– but really number 1. The album sold about 182,000 including streaming.

That makes “Shawn Mendes” the first pop album in a while at the top of what is mostly a hip hop chart. The top 50 albums counted by BuzzAngle and hitsdailydouble only has two or three pop oriented albums below number 1. In fact, from 2 to 7 it’s all hip hop including Cardi B, Post Malone, and Pusha T.

So Mendes got either got white kids to stream his music, or black kids are really digging him– which is great. Or maybe it’s just a rainbow coalition of people in general.

The NY Times panned the album, saying Mendes had too many big name songwriting collaborators. I can’t address that. I do know that Mendes started with these very James Taylor-Jackson Browne-ish songs he wrote himself and played acoustic. I hope he hasn’t sold out, but if he has, maybe he’ll return next time just doing his own stuff. He’s only 20.

Now Mendes cedes the top position to Kanye West, who released today. The number 1 crown next Friday is his to lose. So far he’s number 1 on iTunes and amazon, so that’s a good start.

Kanye West is the king of sampling– taking obscure music from the 60s and 70s and using it for himself. If he pays the original artist, I guess it’s a good thing. But Kanye doesn’t write original music.

He’s done this himself– a big example was taking Shirley Bassey’s  “Diamonds are Forever” years ago. He’s also taken Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay” and countless others.

Even as a producer he’s done it with other artists. Alicia Keys’s “You Don’t Know My Name” comes from a Main Ingredient record.

The reason I get upset about this is that this did not exist before rap, when standards were higher. Marvin Gaye is turning over in his grave. His albums were works of art that he composed and performed. Stevie Wonder, same thing. They would never have considered sampling.

Anyway. On “Ye,” Kanye borrows “Children Get Together” from Edwin Hawkins, an R&B and gospel legend whose biggest was “Oh Happy Day.” Kanye also appropriates “Take Me For a Little While” by a writer named Trade Martin for “Ghost Town” aka “Someday.” The latter song was a hit twice, for Vanilla Fudge, and for Dave Edmunds.

Kanye is certainly not alone. P Diddy’s most famous hit was based on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” All of Jay Z’s records come from samples. His “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys comes from “Love on a Two Way Street.” Jay’s most famous sample was for Beyonce’s signature hit “Crazy in Love.” The horn intro and the basic song come Eugene Records’ Chi-Lites “Are You My Woman.” Whenever I hear the horns from “Crazy in Love” I think of Gene, a real genius.

Here’s Edwin Hawkins:

Here’s Dave Edmunds:

Well, here I was so excited about a guy named Trade Martin. He wrote the main sample in Kanye West’s new album on the track “Ghost Town.” Most of “Ghost Town” comes from a song called “Take Me for a Little While” which was a hit for Vanilla Fudge in the 60s and Dave Edmunds in the 80s.

Martin is kind of a lesser known local New York pop writer and singer from the 60s. He sounds like Johnny Rivers (who if you don’t know, you should).

Anyway, I thought: this is great, Trade Martin will be discovered as an unsung hero.

Well, guess what Trade Martin’s been doing recently? Here’s his big song from the last 20 years “We’ve Got to Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero.” You know, for a few years there was a plan to build Muslim Cultural Center near the old World Trade Center. The alt right and Republicans went crazy. They tried to shut down the project. Eventually, the plan fell apart anyway. But the hatred toward Muslims on this project was palpable and visceral. And Kanye’s songwriter felt he had to do something about it.

What a shame. I’m taking “Ghost Town” off my play list. For once, I hope the sample didn’t get a big fee.

Kanye West’s 23 minute album begins with a spoken word (rap) moment with these lyrics: “I thought about killing you/Premeditated murder. I thought about killing myself. And I love myself way more than I love you.” Of the seven tracks on the EP, “Thought about killing myself” is clearly about Kanye’s nervous breakdown.

Some critics will declare it breathtaking and disarming. But with Trumper Candace Owens at his side at last night’s multi million dollar launch party in the middle of Wyoming for the new album “Ye,” you have to wonder.

Menacing/frightening/find help/sometimes/I scare myself is the refrain of the second song, another disarming claim about Kanye’s mental state. Again, brilliant and jarring.

The whole of “Ye” is interesting in that it has nothing to do with Trump or West’s recent declarations for him or the embracing of people like Owens. You also have to wonder if Kanye took a page from Roseanne Barr, who used Trump followers to launch her TV show’s first episode, then never mentioned politics again on her series (although she had several other offensive moments).

My favorite lyric comes in “No Mistake”: “It’s been a shaky ass year.”

Kanye’s “Ye” is not random or scattershot. It’s pretty clearly thought out. After the first two songs address his mental problems– which are presented as universal– he veers to more of an easy listening R&B sound. The stand out is “Ghost Town” aka “Someday” written by and featuring John Legend and Kid Cudi.

Keep refreshing…