After all the hype, speculation and album-title-changes, ‘The Life of Pablo’ is finally here. Kanye described it as a gospel album at his Yeezy Season 3 launch, and I can strangely see where he’s coming from. Formerly ‘So Help Me God’, ‘SWISH’ and ‘Waves’, this album from Kanye West had a lot to deliver – but, did it?
The intro track, “Ultralight Beams”, starts off the much anticipated album with an angelic beat that manages to incorporate incredible choir backing vocals and a trademark piece of Kanye production in his aggressive synthetic vocal tones that underlay the beat’s gospel sound. Kelly Price shines to hold her own amongst the impressive features and production, just as she did on SNL on Saturday, by delivering some powerful vocals that really hit the heart and convey the feeling that Kanye is trying to get across with this track. Then, the game changes, as Chance comes in for his feature verse. This is the best verse on the album, and it’s not even Kanye’s. Chance follows through on Yeezy’s concept by keeping up the church themes through his excellent flows and wordplay that are accompanied by Donnie Trumpet-esque brass riffs and melodies that sound like they came straight from The Social Experiment’s album ‘Surf’. This song sets the tone for the whole album, which is unexpectedly open and honest. You get a real sense of triumph from “Ultralight Beams” as Kanye attempts to explain how his success and happiness is God-given.
Following this up is the two-part song “Father Stretch My Hands” which features Kid Cudi on its first incarnation. Autotuned vocals lead the song on top of bassy synths that squeeze through the wobbly mix. Kid Cudi’s vocals on the hook are rocky and are very typical of Cudi’s more recent style. Part 2 is less impressive, although Kanye’s aggression and emotion blasts through his 808 & Heartbreak vocal melodies as he dedicates the song to his father. Kanye has said he cried whilst writing the song, which is unsurprising given the raw tone of his verses. I feel, though, that Desiigner’s hook takes away from what Yeezy is trying to do here – it’s more braggadocio than the track really warrants. Although, Caroline Shaw’s outro vocals are a real treat for listeners and the hook catches like a virus.
“Famous” stands out on the tracklist with it’s great Rihanna hook and Swizz Beats adlibs. The track brings out the egotistical Kanye that we’re used to seeing as he controversially credits himself for Taylor Swift’s enormous success, after saying the two could still have sex – a lyric that had the internet up in arms after it premiered at West’s Yeezy Season 3 Launch on Thursday. Combined with Rihanna’s hook, Sister Nancy’s bouncy bridge gives the track a great outro before a sample leads into the next track: “Feedback”, an equally ego-driven track.
Though “Feedback” holds a great vibe and a production style similar to that of Kanye’s previous album, ‘Yeezus’, it’s the skit at the end of the song that steals it for me. Yeezy takes on the role of ‘The Ghetto Oprah’ as he screams “I’m the ghetto Oprah, you know what that mean? You get a fur! You get a fur! You get a jet! You get a jet! Big booty bitch for you!”. Also, the track has one of my favourite bars on the entire album as Kanye compares himself to a character of “Steve Jobs mixed with Steve Austin” – which is, simply, awesome.
Tracks 6 and 7 are another pairing – “Low Lights” and “Highlights”. The first is a spoken testimony of faith that really translates Kanye’s love for his mother, to whom he credits much of his success, and their relationship in an angelic manner. I’m not sure if this is what Kanye intended, but I love that I could interpret this track in such a light.
“Highlights” features Young Thug and is a sequence of vocal effect after vocal effect. Sure, it’s catchy, but it gets to be a bit too much. The melody reminds me of College Dropout and Graduation, which makes me think it would’ve sounded better without Kanye’s persistent voice-altering effects. When ‘Ye starts rapping, though, the tone switches up and his flow becomes much more impressive. He throws shots at Ray J and brings some cool schemes along with the production 1-uping itself as clicks and bassy synths jump in and out with harmonious adlibs. It’s El Debarge’s hook on this song that is the real highlight though (see what I did there?), as it shows what’s so special about Kanye West as a producer – who is able to seamlessly switch up the mood of a song with genius melodies and samples. This song is a real showcase of Kanye’s eclectic ability as an artist.
Next up, “Freestyle 4” is a provocative track that shows off haunting string samples and frantic drum breaks beneath Yeezy’s distorted vocals. Out of all of the tracks, this is probably the one that reminds me the most of Kanye’s previous album, “Yeezus”.
One of my favourite moments on the album comes in the form of “I Love Kanye”, an acapella track where ‘Ye takes on a strange role that mixes his own persona with that of a fan’s as he raps about what he thinks his fans want to see, such as “the old Kanye” and a track where Kanye raps about “the old Kanye” in a moment of artistic brilliance. During the Yeezy Season 3 Launch, this track had me in stitches and gave me hope for what had previously sounded like an album that boasted just a few-too-many vocoders.
“Waves” reintroduces the music after the short acapella track and it features some great glitchy production behind Chris Brown’s pop-fuelled melodies. Hilariously, Chance fought for this track to feature on the multi-personality album, which caused a delay in Kanye’s mastering process – I have to say, Chance was right to fight for “Waves” because it is a great blend of old and new and gives new life to Chris Brown’s voice.
Track 11, “FML” features The Weeknd and is, probably, my second favourite track on the album, after “Ultralight Beam”. Again, at the Yeezy Season 3 Launch, this track’s synth-led chords stood out to me and had me hooked immediately. This track is typically ‘808s and Heartbreak’ – but The Weeknd adds a raw twist to the hook and powers through the track to deliver a real sense of brutal honesty as Yeezy goes for a more natural sound as his melodies duet brilliantly with the song’s perfect synth progression. An open letter to Kim Kardashian, “FML” sees ‘Ye turn himself in to Kim as he emotionally expresses how tough he’s finding it to stay faithful to his family, as he battles with his artistic drive. This track is just one of a collection on the album that brings a side of Kanye West to the table that I don’t think I’ve really heard before. A sort of pained character comes across, a stark-but-welcome contrast to Kanye’s usual eccentric persona.
“Real Friends” presents Mr. West in a similar light. A track that was released during the short-lived rebirth of Kanye’s G.O.O.D Fridays series, “Real Friends” features Ty Dolla $ign, who adds a necessary tone of aggression to Kanye’s more somber vocals that are filled with regret. Ty’s adlibs that harmonise with Kanye’s are worked to great effect and they lead into a beautiful outro of “Oohs”, which in turn lead into the next song: “Wolves”.
The track, which previously featured Vic Mensa and Sia, now features Caroline Shaw and the resurrected Frank Ocean, who was surprisingly seen at Madison Square Garden during the Yeezy Season 3 Launch. Kanye’s verse toys with depression, suicide and anxiety and sits dramatically on top of another great vocal performance from Caroline Shaw, who’s melodies lead the production on this stand-out track. Kanye’s emotional persona comes through once again on this song as he questions how his mother would feel if she could see the way he turned out – a question I’m sure a lot of his fans would’ve asked. I wonder, what would Kanye’s music have sounded like if Donda was still alive to guide the rapper-turned-super-producer?
Here, Frank Ocean delivers a masterful outro on top of a selection of haunting e-pianos. His fans will be clambering for more from the Channel Orange artist after his lengthy hiatus.
Following the “Silver Surfer Intermission”, track 15 shows off another G.O.O.D Fridays release in “30 Hours” which features a smooth Arthur Russell sample that harmonises with Andre 3000’s adlibs. A track that I would dub as a freestyle, “30 Hours” is very raw, with Kanye using the track to say his “thank you’s” and give props. On the outro of the track, ‘Ye claims the song to be a “bonus joint” and an “adlib track” as the Arthur Russell sample continues to take the song home.
“No More Parties In LA” initiates the album’s conclusion, which feels to have come around all-to-soon. I suppose that’s a credit to Kanye’s seemless production choices, though, so I can’t complain. Introduced by a typical piece of Mr. West production, Kanye starts delivering a verse before Kendrick interrupts him with a true masterclass in flow. I would compare K.Dot’s verse to that of his on Eminem’s “Love Game” from MMLP2. By the time I was half way through Kendrick’s verse, I had almost forgotten it was a Kanye track. Only the production, led by Madlib, keeps that “Yeezy” feeling in touch. Saying that, though, Kanye’s verse is just as impressive as Kendrick’s. It’s different, sure, but it shows that Kanye can keep up with some of the best new-school rappers, of which Kendrick is the reigning king. This collaboration is one that fans of both artists would’ve been dreaming of before the track’s release, and it doesn’t fail to stand out as a highlight on the album due to it’s contrasting style to the other songs on the tracklist.
Unfortunately, no album is without its low points. Luckily, though, “Facts” is so close to the album’s closure that it can’t do much damage to my overall opinion of ‘The Life of Pablo’. A Nike diss track, “Facts” features trappy vocals that don’t really suit Kanye, in my opinion. Although, the switch up in the production towards the end of ‘Ye’s verse bangs.
“Fade” is an excellent outro to an excellent album. Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign help Yeezy close the album on this dance-influenced track. The beat reminds me of “No Church In the Wild” from ‘Watch the Throne’, despite its more uplifting tone. The vocal cuts on this song are awesome, and Kanye’s vocoder effects actually suit the song to a tee, just as Ty Dolla $ign’s own vocals do.
So, to end what has been a rollercoaster week for Kanye fans, ‘Ye has released an arguably timeless album. The greatest rockstar on the planet has left us with an album that will undoubtedly stand the test of time due to it’s eclectic appeal to hip-hop fans. I would say, controversially, that this is Kanye’s greatest album, going toe-to-toe with his 2010 release: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The throwback production and masterclass of features are a real highlight on ‘The Life of Pablo’, alongside Yeezy’s emotional tones and honest messages. I feel like, for the first time since ‘808s & Heartbreak’, I’m connecting with Kanye West as a fan. The concepts on the tracks are raw and beautiful, with the album sequenced to perfection. In this album, you get every version of Kanye – the old Kanye, the crazy Kanye and the genius Kanye.
‘The Life of Pablo’ gets a 9/10 from me, with “Ultralight Beam”, “FML”, “Real Friends” and “No More Parties In LA” being the best songs on what is an impossibly genius album that mixes traditional hip-hop flows with an array of incredible production choices.
WRITER’S EDIT:
After having sat on the album for a few days, playing it almost non-stop, I can safely say I agree with all the thing’s I talk about in this first day review. Despite some mixed feelings amongst the GRM Writers’ team about the album’s sequencing and Kanye’s lyricism, which, I agree, at times can be too far-fetched and careless, I am sticking to my guns and giving this album a 9/10 rating. Sure, the tracklist is flawed and an album full of “Ultralight Beam” type tracks would’ve had a greater long-term impact (seriously, I love that song), but Kanye has used tracks like “Father Stretch My Hands Pt.2” and “Freestyle 4” in a clever attempt at jumping on the melodic-rap bandwagon that he had once pioneered with his hit album ‘808s & Heartbreak’. Although, I do have to say that, upon reflection, I do feel that it is Kanye’s own fault that this album wont go down as an all-time-great, because of it’s brash lyrics that contradict his heartfelt tones on songs such as “Ultralight Beam” and “FML”. I’d be interested to see how this album sits with Kanye fans a year on from now.
Words: @CamJohnst0n