New Music: Kanye West – “The Life Of Pablo”
By now you have already made up your mind about Kanye West.
From his declaration of being “a god,” to crashing Taylor Swift’s MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video or to his raging rants on Twitter, you either love the guy or you hate him.
Despite his egotistical persona Kanye West is an artist who reflects not only on his emotions but his life experiences.
The man is not new to the limelight and he has the 21 Grammys to show for it. Seven of his albums including “Watch the Throne,” his collaborative album with Jay Z, have been certified platinum in the United States.
Kanye is an artist who is not afraid of innovation and displays his artistic values in his eighth studio album, “The Life Of Pablo”.
On an interview with radio host Big Boy Kanye West proclaims that though his newest album has cursing in it, “The Life Of Pablo” is reminiscent of a Gospel album.
Jumping right into the opening track of the album we see the gospel elements come in to play starting with a sample off of Instagram of a young child, Natalie Green, proclaiming “We don’t want no devils in this house, God…We want the Lord”.
It seems that Kanye West is reaching out to God to help him prevail though all the negativity in his life.
This track, “Ultralight Beam”, features vocals from The-Dream, Kelly Price, Pastor Kirk Franklin and Chance The Rapper. The production of the track has a strong Gospel influence with a church choir and various chants and prayers and in my opinion is a perfect introduction to the album.
The next two tracks, “Father Stretch My Hands Parts 1 and 2” still hold firm to the overall Gospel vibe.
The title itself indicates Kanye West coming to God (even through his pride and arrogance) asking for liberation.
Part 1 features Ohio rapper Kid Cudi for the opening to the hook.
Part 2 introduces the newly signed Brooklyn rapper Desiigner, who is heavily inspired by music coming out of Atlanta, and samples the hook off of his song “Panda”.
Kanye will be Kanye, and his ego really comes alive in tracks like “Famous”, “Feedback”, “Highlights” and “Freestyle 4”.
In the track “Famous” he makes a reference to Taylor Swift by saying they should, in nicer terms, fornicate because Kanye is the reason for her success.
In the song “Feedback” Kanye West embraces the fame and wealth and compares himself to the Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
“Highlights” is a track that further shows Kanye’s high and mighty character.
In this track he not only brags about his genitalia and his skills in bed but he also throws shade at former boyfriend to Kim Kardashian and R&B singer Ray J.
“Freestyle 4” is reminiscent of his 2013 album Yeezus and dives into “wilding out” at a fancy dinner party.
The eleventh track off the album, “FML”, is told from the perspective of a person who has done it all and who is now trying to settle down and get their act right. Kanye West and his spouse Kim Kardashian now have two children and in the track “FML” he makes it his mission to “Give up the women…before [He] lose half of what [He] owns”.
The hook features R&B singer The Weeknd and outro samples from Section 25’s song “Hit”.
This piece is arguably one of the best tracks off “The Life Of Pablo” because it not only does the tone change to a somber tone but Kanye is pouring out his feelings.
““The Life Of Pablo”” also features radio hits such as “Real Friends” and “No More Parties in LA”.
“Real Friends” features Ty Dolla Sign, most famous for tracks like “Or Nah” and “Blasé”.
“No More Parties in LA” features Dr. Dre protégé Kendrick Lamar.
The Album ironically enough ends with “Fade”, a track with a club vibe and features newest rap sensation Post Malone and Ty Dolla Sign.
The album should be taken as “art for art’s sake”. It is a body of work that is be reminiscent of Kanye West’s discography. The lyrics may not be the best but overall the album is sonically appealing and it is written for fans to enjoy. There are tons of features on the album and it is definitely worthy of making your track list.
