Kanye West debuts new song about his mental health, launches Twitter tirade

Kanye West used traditional tactics to respond to the most recent flurry of critiques against him: more new music and Twitter thrashings.

On Tuesday night at the Sunset Strip club 1OAK, West took the stage at a private party for the rapper Yo Gotti to debut a new single “Closest Thing to Einstein.” Although the title may imply a typical level of self-regard for West, the song dived into some uncomfortable topics surrounding the embattled artist, including his mental health and his reported tens of millions of debt.

Videos from the party recount candid lyrics about his fiscal woes, including “At this rate we gon’ both die broke/ Got friends that ask me for money knowing I’m in debt/ And like my wife said, I still didn’t say no.”

And, regarding his widely pilloried lyrics about Taylor Swift and his volatile Twitter behavior of late: “People try to say I’m going crazy on Twitter / ...I just feel like I’m the only one not pretending I’m not out of control.”

Perhaps most poignant was his unexpectedly sad-eyed plea for fans to trust that he’ll be OK in the end: “This generation’s closest thing to Einstein/ But don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

New West music is always clarifying, but it’s not clear what this means for his most recent album. As of Wednesday, his latest album, “The Life of Pablo,” is still something of a work in progress that West promises will only continue to exist on Tidal.

West did pick up a new Twitter enemy in recent days as well. West blasted the music producer Bob Ezrin, a classic rock veteran who worked with Pink Floyd and Lou Reed, and who had criticized West in Bob Lefsetz’s industry-centric newsletter the Lefsetz Letter.

West’s tweets also referred to the Grammy Awards, with a veiled nod toward recent winner Taylor Swift.

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