Of course Kanye West would conclude The Life Of Pablo with “Fade,” a three minute and 14 second ode to dwindling love that moves more like a Ty Dolla $ign and Post Malone collaboration than a Yeezy solo offering. Since snatching the microphone from Taylor Swift during the VMAs, the Chicago icon’s likeability has been tested, if not completely evaporated. His marriage to a reality show princess; his haphazard Twitter “beef” with Wiz Khalifa; his billion dollar rants and constant mean mug, et al, have made the Michelangelo of Relatable Raps seem totally unrelatable. “Fade” is an ironic ending to an album that’s largely about one polarizing topic: The Greatness of Kanye West.
Ye described TLOP as a “gospel album with a whole lot of cursing” on Real 92.3’s Big Boy In The Morning. Maybe that’s the case. “Ultralight Beam,” with its angelic choirs, absolutely has a home on The Word Network. “This is a God dream / This is everything,” Kanye croons before passing the pulpit to Kelly Price, The-Dream, Kirk Franklin, Chance The Rapper. “Low Lights” features an unnamed vocalist’s testimony on the Lord’s grace. Several tracks have gospel-like leanings. But as soon as Kanye starts rhyming, his topic of choice: The perils of fucking models with bleached assholes (“Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” featuring Kid Cudi).
On the whip-ready “Famous,” Ye shouts out all of the “girls that got dick from Kanye West” that are “mad they ain’t famous.” On the haunting “Freestyle 4” (featuring Desiigner) Ye asks rhetorically “What if we just fucked at the Vogue party?… Would everybody start fuckin’?” On “Wolves,” even Mary and Joseph meet in the club. Perhaps levity is the intent. But much like his Yeezy signature clothing line, there’s nothing joyful about it. Aside from the aptly titled “I Love Kanye,” The Life Of Pablo sounds packed with pain.
TLOP is exceptionally assembled, fortunately. Odd mashups like Young Thug and El Debarge on “Highlights” resonate like the first time Freeway and Mos Def were heard on the same track—unexpected and awesome. The Weeknd makes an appearance on the incredibly introspective “FML.” Chris Brown carries “Waves” which includes a brief salute from Theophilus London. The list of features and producers seems endless, yet pristinely managed. Most of the minutes are dominated by other voices. Pablo could easily be confused for a collaborative album. It’s as if Ye said, “OK, ya’ll tired of hearing me rant? Well listen to how dope the rest of your favorite artists sound when Kanye is conducting.”
Moments like “Pt. 2” where Yeezy reflects on his parents divorce, his mother’s passing, his near fatal car crash over Rick Rubin, Mike Dean, and Metro Boomin’s bouncing madness linger long after last listen. The conversation is rich enough to forget Desiigner’s off-brand Future flow. It’s difficult not to reminisce about road trips gone wrong when rocking the impeccable “30 Hours.” Instances like these recall the relatability, the humanness that Kanye The God has always captured on wax.
Here’s the rub: At one point, Kanye West was one of few voices who would earnestly toss himself into rarely charted lyrical waters without fear of sacrificing commercial appeal. Topics like self-consciousness, social injustice, religion, the CCA, crack music, cousins with cockroaches, conflict diamonds, classism, working at the Gap littered his contextual playground. He was always innovative. While sonically magnanimous, here, the Louis Vuitton Don has little left to flex than fame, bonin’, and flaccid Fruit Of Islam one-liners. If The Life Of Pablo is the “album of the life” as Kanye tweeted, sadly, it signals a surprisingly narrow existence.
Dope
Great review! The last paragraph was bang on. I won’t even download this ass product. Kanye lost touch with himself.
Thank you, Diggity.
4.3/5? y’all are reaching for the stars on this one. TPaB is a 4.3/5 or Tetsuo & Youth but TLoP? Hell nah. Shit was an auto-tuned cut & paste mess. Sounded like a bunch of random records from other artists thrown together. “Pt. 2” was just Desiigner’s “Panda” for christ’s sake? To each their own I guess?
TPAB is a 5. T&Y is a 4.5. Thanks for the comment, Spaghetti Murphy. You just won the best handle of the day award.
The album had two good songs. How the fuck do you justify a 4.3 rating????
How many times did you listen? Because if you have the specific preference in Hip-Hop I assume you do, then “30 Hours,” “No More Parties in LA” and “Real Friends” makes for 3 good songs, no?
Because the album sounds magnanimous. Sonically it’ll be the most impressive album of the year. Everyone else dominates lyrically. Kanye is minimalized, so even though he rarely says meaningful shit, the album in beyond solid. And I don’t agree that there’s only two good songs. There’s two awful songs: Facts and Freestyle 4. Thank you for the comment, Og.
But are lyrics not 50% of the album? Yes, we know Kanye is up there with being one of the greatest producers ever. But this is Hip Hop and you need lyrics. Without lyrics it lacks substance, I know he can produce even though he was better when he was chopping up samples(I love Kanye). This album is a 2.5 at best and that’s if all beats are perfect, shitty lyrics is half the album, can’t be more than a 50% grade. Thanks for your time
He’s not doing most of the rapping/singing on this album, ironically. For example, if the GRAMMYs said this didn’t qualify as a rap album because 51% of the album isn’t “rapping,” I’d believe it. Ye’s mostly dropping stray 6 to 12 bar couplets here and there. The features carry most on the weight. Chance kills it. Kendrick’s verse is dope. The Desiigner joints sound close enough to Future to get club and radio burn. And even with that, Ye still delivers on Real Friends, 30 Hours, and Pt. 2. It’s not a gospel album and it may not technically be a rap album. Its good music though.
But if it’s not a rap album, how can you rate it? The site is hiphopdx.com, I would suspect that every album rated should be held to a hip hop standard. Chance has the best verse on the album. Only good tracks are no more parties, real friends, i love kanye, ultra light beam and half, of the rhianna track with that sample at the end.
And 30 Hours… DX has always reviewed nonHipHop albums, btw. We’ve got plenty of Rihanna and Beyonce reviews sitting in the vault. We also reviewed 808s and Heartbreak, which he arguably wasn’t rapping on either. We also have “A Love Below” review. We reviewed Wayne’s “rock” album… artists step outside of their genre all the time, and increasingly these days since genre is much less important than it used to be.
I give him a 3 for his last tweeter rants. Maybe an amazing artist but a human with a pathetic mind. This Kardashian family really turns men confused…
Gotta separate the man from the art. I hate Kobe. But I can’t say he’s not great.
I know Justin, to be fair that’s what I should do. But damn I tried to, I thought Kanye reached the limit but recently with what he said about his financial means, asking Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg to invest in his art, on Africa, and other stuff I forgot. I mean you got to a certain point where enough is enough, where separating the man from the art gets near impossible.
The album, sonically, is incredible. The producers and collaborators he works with are his greatest legacy. It is hard to get past the embellishments and contradictions tho. How are you gonna be all about changing the world but only talk about how you’re the greatest artist of all time and random swag rap. Makes zero sense as “art”.
It’s tough for me to marginalize what is and isn’t “art.” Pac was full of contradictions. It’s all in the execution. Lyrically, there’s room for improvement, though I doubt we’ll see it from Ye. For the first time he sounds like he’s chasing trends.
Wack sauce.. 3, 4 good songs tops. Maxi single worth of good material. Too much auto tune (leave that mess in 2009 where it belongs), too much Future, too much trendy but corny trap-inspired beats. Kanye’s worst album by a landslide; makes Yeezus and 808s look like classics compared to this trash.
Just ADMIT IT…if Kanye didn’t beat 50 Cent during that sales battle, Kanye would NOT be as big as he is now…
Album gotta grow on me, but thus far i have to say it is really dope. But srsly…why not just get a few Future-collabs? Instead Kanye get this Desiigner dude…
I had a major problem with that too. It’s just weird. I mean, if you’re already $53 million in debt… why not splurge on the real thing?
But music wise, Kanye is a MASTER, but popularity wise he wouldn’t be as big if he didn’t defeat 50……it’s ok I know the truth hurts but hey….
Amazing album. Kind of sums up Kanye’s life
Classic!
Honestly, excellent album and im not fan of Kanye
Gave it 4.75 / 5
Csbranded.com
Its not his best work yet but its a good effort in overall, if you take out 3-4 song that suck really bad, you have a good album, and i also heard he will release an even larger edition in some days, and he contunues good fridays as well, so dislike him? and top of all he is so honest, that he even revealed the world the sum of his debt on twitter,*not areally good move though*.
Also, it seems like he is losing it a little with those wack ass diss tracks. My guess is that this album probably wont outsell yeezus but it has more potential in accolade reception.
It’s definitely more accessible than Yeezus, which I loved. It was more courageous than this one. Yeezus didn’t have any singles, though. This one has at least 5 options. I’m sure that was paramount strategically, especially considering it’s been pirated so heavily already.
Truth
Again its gonna take a few years for the time stuck brainless drones to absorb.but i wouldve had more rapping on the thing
IT’ll be interesting to see how this one ages. It’s super accessible. It’s not ahead of trends. It’s sitting right on them. Usually the weird albums hit you later. This isn’t that weird.
Theres so many things wrong with this album that I could write an essay. I will save myself the time. However, I will say this, the album fits right where it belongs, on Tidal, where no one will listen to it. And if you’re reading this, then I highly recommend that you spare yourself aswell.
Write the essay. I’d read it.
Been a huge fan for awhile, and I have always maintained that I am honest to myself about his music. I have to say, this is the first time I am somewhat disappointed. Where are the lyrics? It’s not even about whether he brought good or bad lyrics, he just forgot to bring them! The sonics are amazing as always though, and Waves is definitely going in my top 10 list. But I think he is focusing on too much right now to make the music we as fans want from him. If anything, this is his first step into putting out an actual GOOD Music compilation. This should have been Cruel Winter, than I would have felt better about the lack of Kanye.
My point exactly. This is quietly a collaborative project. Thanks for the comment.
Good Job DX! This may have been the most accurate write up that you have given an album in sometime! For readers of this review, read through the lines! Of course DX couldn’t give this 2/5 because of the team that Kanye has behind him! But the review pretty much tells the story. This is a great album if you take out Kanye, which is what Kanye tried to do himself. Kanye was never a great rapper he has always just been a great artist with a legendary vision. His biggest role model is Diddy! Sean Combs never blew you off your feet with his bars, but he knew how to make an album and that’s what Ye’ did! And for you guys that get on every review and complain about the ratings, please realize that the stars given mean nothing. Purple Reign received a 3.5 on this site and even true Future fans will tell you that that album was trash. Read the review and form your own opinion. Don’t get on here and try to bash the stars given. Appreciate that you get to hear Rihanna, Cudi, Chris Brown, ChanceTheRapper, and Ty Dolla $ign at arguably their absolute best!
A classic indeed… “Perfect…Sonic Boom!”
I like it very uplifting feel to the album.
Every time one of these come out, I hope to hear an instant classic such as MBDTF or Late Registration. Instead I got hit with Yeezus 2.0…. Meaning the album as a whole was complete garbage due to this “new Kanye” experimental sound. To give the man some credit, there are a few songs that I enjoyed but even then it was the featured artist that made it good. I can’t even begin to understand why he choose this as the name of his album or why he let a five year old that knows the basics of paint design the cover. Overall I no longer consider Kanye to be a great artist nor expect any thing new to be any good.
The Life of Pablo [Picasso]! Why don’t you get that!
Mbdtf was an ok album, this album is not college dropout or graduation good. It lands with 808 & heartbreak. This is an album the hopefully it grows on you
The fact you only gave this album a 4.3/5 is very luke to me. Each track posses a different song and the production is better than My Dark Twisted Fantasy. I think the Ye rants and changing the album made y’all think different, because of his crazy ways. The pain in the tracks and odd features (i.e. El Debarge and Young Thug) give the album character. Also, its all of Ye albums rolled into one.
Dope album from Ye.
What’s luke about a 4.3? I think they did a great job explaining what it lacks and what it has. Read that last paragraph. It’s a narrow album.
Preach!
Yo.. these people actin like this album is average have never created anything… matter fact, they probably think young thug is dope…. the album is not a perfect album but only because i wanted a few more tracks where Ye is just spittin. This is still hip hop.. but its 4.5 mics (source ranking) as its so well put together #perfect #facts
AMAZING ALBUM. THIS COVERS SEVERAL GENRES WHILE STILL CONTAINING MANY HIP-HOP ELEMENTS. INNOVATIVE WHILE STILL PULLING IN CURRENT DAY TECHNIQUES. 5/5
I agree with you, but don’t you think that Kanye is just too ambitious in nature? To the point where music doesn’t satisfy his hunger. He needs to run for president and fail so he can realize that he is limited along with everyone else. He needs life to slap him upside the head, be humbled. Let the artistry speak when you literally have nothing left but music.
As for the album, Kanye is still putting out good music, but I don’t personally think so. Highlights are Ultralight Beam, Famous, Waves…. maybe Father Stretch my Hands pt.2. Overall I would rate the album 3/5
Hey Hanapajdfpoadjfopja,
You fucking forgot about Feedback, Freestyle 4, FML, Wolves, 30 Hours, Facts, & Fade. Idiot!
Masterpiece.
Albums need to stop being reviewed right after their release. It’s so stupid to me. What if the album is grower? I think album reviews should be written at the very least six months after a projects release. How can you really judge a project you’ve listened to maybe a few times over the span of three or four days? This isn’t a slight at DX….I think it’s how all publications, websites, and magazines should review.
Totally agree, this rush to call everything a classic or garbage within a week of its release, completely pointless. Give an album time to grow on the listener before making judgements.
I feel you….. but. ….. i would just challenge people to listen through the entire album… if you really listen to music, its pretty obvious the album is a complete body of work… not a bunch of songs thrown together… Ye deserves props for making art and not just 16 bars over whatever beat
Six months is a bit of a stretch but I understand. But trust, we listened to it the point of oblivion. I can attest that Justin didn’t even sleep one night digging through it.
And that’s including analyzing the leaks and singles as the album release date nears. Not just for TLOP but for all albums.
This album sounds incomplete. He could have killed it with a full version of 30hours. He’s just put out a hal asked version to pay off his debtors. Go back and finish it to turn it to the classic
This was disappointing.
Lackluster. Very little rapping. Too many skippable tracks. Not bad music but the bar is set higher for someone of Kanye’s stature. 2/5 fam
crap kiddys music
It’s grown on me now that I’ve listened to it a few times .First time listening I was like wtf honestly , hardly any straight rapping, lots of autotune and singing , features, short tracks for a lot of them,weird airy breaks if thats what u would call it .But it has the great production and samples we know him for .I took it for what it is and I gotta say it’s an overall enjoyable listen all way thru . Wouldn’t say its his worst (id personally put 808 as that) but I think its second on that list which isn’t a huge knock on him considering his catalog .Will def get heavy rotation from me , one other thing wasn’t Scott supposed to be on feedback?
This album is really wack
I’d give this album a 6 if possible
Ehhh not really sure if I like it. Definitely not his best album
Since ive Got the album on feb.13 burned copys 4 all The Homies here in Cali 805 2 B exact ive been Bangin it since the Leak..i really like this album it has good music from love all the tracks Great Music a 4.5/5 4 me 4 us older cats its grown folk music we needed this album gnna B playing it in rotation 4 a while. “30 hours-matt barnes drive 90 miles 2 woooop a niggas ass lmfao……sun dnt shine in the shade birds dnt fly in the caves…real friends No more partys in La..if u never been to CALI LA 2 B exact then u prolly wnt like the track..ghostface sample is sick…thanks 4 the Gooood album
That was terrible.
This album is hot gahbage
Decent album reminds me of MBDTF a bit it has its low and highs but it starts to grow on you.
The issue I have is that I’m on Kanye burnout. This dude can’t just release his album without making a spectacle. Every damn site was talking Kanye, the album title changes, the tracklist changes, the release date he failed to meet, the whole nine. He did the same for his kicks, and those are lackluster, average ass shoes, kinda like this album. Not to mention we got fresh releases from BJ The Chicago Kid, Statik KXNG, and Curren$y, all of whom made far better projects with little or no fanfare. I’m done with Ye’s albums. I might check a single out every now and again but I’m done polluting my iTunes.
I feel you. Dx covered all those though.
Yo… i. The internet age….its called marketing… notice all those other people have albums and nobody knows about it. Granted, kanye can do this without the noise, but he’s been this guy all along.. imma let him.be him…. its kind of worked.
I know what it is, that wasn’t my point.
5/5 hands down
5/5 hands up! Definitely.
4.9/5 ez
I havent listened to the album and I don’t plan on doing so. I would just like to ask: in 2016 what about Kanye West as an artist appeals to so many people? Honest question so honest answers expected
His appeal is the same as Trump’s. Makes no sense to me but for some reason people like that narcissistic shit. I like Kanye’s old stuff and he is talented but anymore everything he says makes me smh.
I love Kanye’s first 2 albums, and I love MBDTF. His last two albums are piles of flaming shit. Kanye has gone downhill fast, and he’s an egotistical douchebag.
This album is a letdown for me for a number of reasons. First, the subject matter is played out. Kanye used to have a view point that was his own, now it’s just fucking and fashion which is basically what everyone else talks about. Second, lazy lyrics. He’s mumbling like Futute, and I can’t stand that he has gravitated to such a lazy way of making music. Third, vocal quality. Frank Ocean was recorded on a phone, can’t tell me otherwise. Last point (to keep it somewhat brief), minimal replay value. 18 tracks, what will you replay? This is far from a Graduation (IMO his tightest album). I don’t know what this is, but it’s not the greatest album – Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones already made 3 of those.
WTF ! 4.3/5 !! this album sucks 2.5/5
Album slaps apart from a couple of tracks and those skits.
Your mom slaps.
This is a 3 to 3.5/5 at best. Kanye has nothing to say he raps about the same shit. How many times has be brought up fucking bitches, or cheating or pussy on this album alone?
And then he straight up ruined Wolves with the current version. As usual, Kanye has somehow tricked people into thinking he’s saying something “profound” and “revolutionary” when he’s not nearly as brilliant or clever as he thinks. Also Kanye no one gives a shit about the fashion industry man.
All that said, it was still much better than Yeezus. There are some very good tracks, nothing amazing but it’s an overall easy listen. I dug FML, Real Friends, No More Parties in LA and Ultra Beam Light (the intro).
For some perspective, my favorite Kanye album is Graduation. My LEAST favorite is College Drop Out. Felt his first release even with so many bangers was a disjointed compilation. Graduation is perfect Kanye to me. This album is closer to the top but after MBDTF. Its sonically amazing but too much Gospel and not enough rapping. The guest features are well selected except for too much Desiigner and the rest are too short-lived. I’d wager tracks that were cut are going to be even better than the worst bits of this album. Fade, Wolves, Waves, are my favorite cuts. 4/5.
Anyone who thinks this album is good or a classic waiting to grow on you is a true Stan. He sounds lost and confused. The Kardashians took his soul and it’s evident. Be honest. There was no thought process put into this album. It’s all over the place. No cohesiveness whatsoever. It’s like the kid at school who broke his arm and everyone puts their name on his cast. After awhile it starts to look like shit. Just a jumbled mess of names on a dirty cast. That’s what this album is. A mess. I’m not buying this whole genius thing either. Hold him accountable. Demand better music. Especially from him. I’m a fan of his old stuff cause it spoke it spoke to you. It was relatable. This shit is narcissistic and downright trash. And yet some give it a 5 out of 5. Wow. Meanwhile albums like Pryhme and that Statik Kxng joint get overlooked. Hip hop is so fucking dead
Statik Selektah sucks donkey nuts though. He’s trash.
Excuse me what?!
i gave it 2 listens and then deleted it
fire
Was not thoroughly impressed by this effort. Felt like an overproduced mess to me with no lyrical content. It’s like Yeezus and MDTF mixed together but only included the filler tracks of each album.
All I ask is YE is give up on music Drake runs the game now you been done u bipolar spazz !! Stick to fashion … Views up next
TLOP = FLOP Who is giving this album 5/5? Must be 14 yr old Boys. I wouldn’t put most these songs on Soundcloud.
Fire!!????????????????????????
Okay, let’s get down to the bare bone.
Kanye did want he wanted on this one forsure, from the title, to how he debuted it, to the cover art, etc. We should applaud this man because he brought us a project that we’ve never heard before. It has a song that everyone can truly resonate it, although it didn’t contain the lyrics or whatever else wanted, he truly brought to the table what he wanted. An album full of features that resonated around Yeezy Season, it portrayed his lifestyle which is all over the place, but upon hearing, it was still binded the fact that it was a Kanye West album. Poignant, all over the place, but still holds a true identity. Fuck everyone that says he needs to make this or make that, he’s already given to much to the hip hop culture and you guys still talk shit about this man? Ridiculous. This album, shows that he’s come back to level ground after Yeezus, this album depicts the life of the Kanye West that is standing today. Ignorant, poetic, confusing, out there, angry, happy, sad. This is the album of a vulnerable human being. That being said, its a great project. Out.
It’s these kind of pretentious views is why Kanye thinks he’s a God who can say any nonsense and people praise it as if it were gospel.
Second worst album of Kanye.
Great Album
Not terrible but not Kanyes best either
Dope
Great
If you really think this album is better than kanye’s past album you are tripping.
this album is weak Nigga
Anybody know what they are projecting for first week sales?
Why does that even matter?
4.3 for this????????????????????????????????????????????????? you must get a loooooot of money from kanye. the only good thing about this lp is, it could have been worse… this is what happens when you mess with the kardashians. good luck with your life kanye.
this is the worst record he has ever made. yeezus sounded clumsy and weird and this one just sounds lazy. like it was actually rushed out and his mind was occupied elsewhere. it’s just a careless album.
The album is just not good.the autotune is annoying lyrics are laughable
Couple good tracks, most notably the opening cut. Unfortunately the vast majority of music that follows ranges from undecipherable to straight up garbage
This album is trash. Can’t believe he still using auto tune.
Cant believe you’re still complaining about auto tune.
It’s getting harder and harder to like this guy
Hot Garbage man try again Kanye. WTF man rename this to FLOP
Never heard of the Panda song until I heard the album. It’s a Kanye album. Nothing can compare to it except his old work. It’s not a bad listen.
Total garbage
It pains me to see Kanye losing it like dis…. Wat happened to the Yeezy we used to know… Now he’s only rapping and comparing himself to God!!! Punk ass
Not feelin it. Too much trash…a couple good songs, but the good ones were the ones that released early. The rest of the album is auto-tuned garbage…
The most senseless comment ever.
FUCCN awesome album…its like Yeezus and Graduation put together i love it….
Great album. Ty
Pretty solid after a few spins
Excellant as usual Kanye. Exceptionally RARE BREED MUSIC IS Purely Elite.
“Excellant” grammar, smart guy!
Wtf
Awesome he has better tho
Trash
This album is a piece of art. If you are looking for a hiphop album, this is not one. This is some genius sh*t right here. I’m some but the simple minds won’t be able to appreciate it.
I don’t understand the neutral tone of the review, then giving it 4.3 out of 5. Makes no sense.
Not bad on a first listen. Largely forgettable after 3 or 4 spins. Got about 3 excellent cuts–rest… meh. 3/5 being kinda generous.
This album is a piece of art. If you are looking for a hiphop album, this is not one. This is some genius sh*t right here. I’m some but the simple minds won’t be able to appreciate it.
This album is a piece of art. If you are looking for a hiphop album, this is not one. This is some genius sh*t right here. I’m sorry but the simple minds won’t be able to appreciate it.
Can Kanye dick riders stop using the same tactics Kanye uses to overrate his music? This is decent at best. Let’s stop throwing out genius to the guy who says shit like “Me and Ray J love the same bitch/the only difference is I’m rich” oh so deep…
Kanye has nothing to say and his production while good is hardly mind blowing or all that great.
Does genius begin and end with lyrics?
No, it doesn’t, but at the end of the day, Kanye has smart lyrics and dumb lyrics, so generalizing the way champ does is invalid for more reasons than just Kanye’s talents as a producer.
First time I listened to TLOP I was a little underwhelmed, but the second time around I’ve been repeating songs and pretty much happy with the album overall. It might not be his greatest album but good Kanye is still better than 90% of the other music out there.
That’s another big reason for the rating. As a staff we debated extensively about where it lives in comparison to everything else available. TPAB is incredible sonically. So is T&Y and Lupe isn’t known for his production. This stands on its own in comparison to recent rap releases.
Kanye has some questionable lyrics, but besides that the sounds and themes play out beautifully. We get insight into his mindset and emotions. This can be considered a classic.
I wonder how it will age. This is definitely his most Quincy Jones like album. He felt more like a role player than the all star.
Its great to see that the tidal marketing team and the kardashian marketing team are getting together and hitting up all these message boards to give the album 5 stars
This thing is garbage , unfinished and all over weak
No Parties in LA and ultra lite beams are about the only real good tracks
Dont waste your time trying to listen a couple of times for it to get better it doesnt
The album is ass
1/5
For somone who has set the bar so high for himself and for the culture, this is yet another breath taking display of production and sonic wizardry. Hip hop’s next wave is coming
don’t know why the spell check ate my E up on someone
FLAMES #YEEZYSEASON
Finally a good album to listen too since Forest Hill Drive…
Not a TPAB or T&Y fan?
You buggin
site is buggy as f. keeps asking me if i kiss my mother with that mouth…. hilarious. not even cursing.
DX is controlled by the synagogue of satan (Google to find out what nation of people I’m talking about. hint, they have bat mitzvah’s). So they won’t allow you to post comments in reference to them or their nationality. They are fakes and phonies.
We’re working on it. Those bans seemed like an easy way to combat trolls (like Edomite slayer) and spam but commenting will be more flexible in the near future.
the funny thing is you can write anything from nigga to paled face white fuck but you have to find ways to write down na zi or h i t l e r. dx should review their comment rules
Very beautiful album. I like it very much. Good work Kanye!
few good songs, many boring ones
HipHopdx afraid to keep it real and give the album a 2.5/3 AT MOST. They can’t afford to alienate the young Kanye fangirls. I’d like to think they know better but decided to move carefully. The album and concept is simply unrefined almost unfinished. Ye wasted a great concept by not giving it enough time.
I can’t listen to this soulless Auto-Tune fest. Too many talentless guest artist…
good new take on everything and production
Two best moments on the album: Frank Ocean outro on Wolves and the moment when Kanye screams: “You motherfuckers living half of your level, half of your life” on Freestyle 4
the sad thing is there are so many better hip hop albums and this gets so much attention. lot of lambs in the hip hop community i feel with the high ratings.
Tetsuo & Youth
“so many better hip hop albums” example?
Dx gave tetsuo & youth a 4.5.
too many hands in the pot for this to feel like a solo effort and once again the album is riddled with auto-tune. as a fan I can’t cosign his narcissistic antics any longer. he basically shits on people at their expense and then apologizes after he’s already capitalized off of it. this whole back and forth “good guy bad guy” shtick with him is played out. not going to purchase an album from somebody who basically insults his fans and tweets about wanting to “change the world” but in reality he just want to be friends with high end fashion designers aka upper echelon. sorry Kanye you’re a joke
Pretty good. There’s songs I love and lots of filler too. Decent album.
30 Hours is still on repeat.
No more parties is my shit though
I’ve never been the one to call out dick riders but seriously anyone giving this anymore than a 3 out of 5 is fucking delusional.
So did he lose a million a minute a million a minute or make it fame fucked dudes head up lames who couldn’t get pussy broke think they the shit for fucking real PS pass around even wifed one, some of the beats dope but the aitotune, lame feature artists, & lame me me me lyrics ruin it
People lack the ability to compartmentalize. What they feel for kanye personally effects what they feel about the music. It’s quite frankly disheartening. I thought the album was musically amazing, but lyrically scattered. NO cohesiveness in the words. But man is the music great. A lot of replay value. Been on replay all weekend for me. And ultra light beam is just freaking godly. it’s not perfect to me because the scatteredness of the material, but overall 4 out of 5 for me. And thank the Lord not another yeezus project. He can die for all I care, JUST GIVE ME THE MUSIC, BECAUSE ITS ALWAYS DIFFERENT OR STUNNING.
I wonder how much this album cost, mic to plug. The features, the producers… so many legends involved. Sonically stunning. Thanks for the comment, Jay b.
Wow! I’ve a fan of his sight and Frequent user(meaningIcheck it every morning and every night) since 2012 and this is literally Thee first time I recall ever seeing the actual editors engage in conversation. That right there just proves how great Kanye is to the culture of Music. He really need to unload those Twitter fingers though. I enjoyed the album, but his piss poor delusional God Complex is killing the over all joy of respecting his musical artistry.
During the original GOOD Fridays, Ye did an interview talking about how he works as possible, then drops an album, and then stunts. And in order to keep topping himself, he sabotages an area of his career. It may work in terms of its ability to push himself creatively, but who knows what the down stream effects may be to his overall brand. People are definitely more critical of his music. But is that because of his attitude solely? He admittedly cares less about music than he ever has and now he’s literally rapping less than ever. Who knows if Ye is great enough to sustain the two.
Thanks for rocking with DX, DKTHEABZOLUT
Kanye is an arrogant douche and this album exemplifies this. Most of the tracks are un-listenable the only track with real replay value is No More Parties in LA
And 30 Hours…
Either you get it or you don’t. He spoils us with this incredible production. Who else is coming close to making music like Pablo?
You nailed it!!!!
Kanye sounds like he’s having fun and enjoying life. He’s damn sure not worrying about how some of these slow turtle dicks feel about this album. We know Kanye can drop some classic shit at anytime. This album is different and it’s something on it for everyone. We like it when he’s talking that ghetto cash money shit! All I know is this album has everyone talking about it where it’s good or bad. Kanye keep doing your Thug Thang!!!! It’s has our attention! 5/5
The album didn’t sound finished, the lyrics were subpar and it was messy at times.
I’m super curious about the rest of the good friday tracks he said he was gonna release following Pablo.
Anybody got a link for this album?
4/5 As much as I love the album the only flaws are excessive features and choosing Andre 3000 vocals over a verse from him that was a big let down for me. Still it was a complete and cohesive Kanye style album.
TERRIBLE.
Don’t be a cunt.
THE GOAT
fuck new kanye.. swet kanye
This is not a good album. It’s not terrible either. It’s just not very good. Not cohesive at all. Oh, and who mastered/engineered this? The engineering is awful compared to previous projects.
Agreed man. I was going to say the same but you summed up my thoughts much simpler than I would have
Beuuuurrrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkk !
A lot of negatives in this review and you give it 4.3/5? The **** kind of math yall do?
PRhyme-PRhyme, Anderson .Paak-Malibu, Joey Bada$$-B4DA$$, Action Bronson-Mr. Wonderful…FRIGGIN J. COLE-2014 FOREST HILLS DRIVE!!! All of these amazing albums received a 4/5 from this staff, which is understandable. Not arguing that these albums should have been rated higher. But you’re gonna sit there at tell me that this piece of dog trash album deserves a 4.3/5!? I don’t care if it was rated a tenth of a point higher than those magnificent albums, it just is not true. Please, give me some sort of explanation for this. Fellas, you really can’t believe this album is that good. If so, I really question your credibility as a critic, even more so as a fan of Hip-Hop.
Good beats, great production, some what incoherent at times
A solid 4****
man this album jam low-key i mean it aint his best work or nothing like that but its pretty fire yall too damn judgmental
What’s with the imitation Future Hendrix voice I keep hearing pop up on this album? What, they couldn’t afford the real Future??? LOL
He’s a New York artist named Desiigner. He dropped a track called “Panda.” Ye signed him to GOOD music.
Kanye knows what he’s doing and saying.
You need to know the truth to understand.
“Let’s dispel the myth that [Kanye West] doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
The album is good, but is anyone else really disappointed that he changed “Wolves”? I had high hopes for hearing the entire song he did on SNL last year
You can still get that version CDQ online I honestly just switched it on the album lol
New age rap continues to fail. Cant relate to any of this shit or bring the demon outta me. Yawnye
The album is absolute genius, beginning to end. I cannot skip a song, and I have played it nonstop, continously.
So many stans. This is not a perfect album if you are honest. It is a 3/5. A few good songs, a good amount of skippables. When did the bar drop so low for some of you? Seriously
TLOP In it’s entirety is an amazing album. Front to back. Musically Kanye is none other than genius, everyone who was featured was chosen for a reason. The fact that this review was so negative, yet the album was rated 4.3 means that the reviewer is obviously a Kanye West hater and can’t put aside his disdain for West in order to properly review the album. You like it but you hate that you liked it.
Ultralight Beam – GENIUS, Gospel indeed, chance the rapper killed it, can’t stop listening to the song over and over
Father Stretch my hands – From the time we heard the metro booming tag, we could all agree that the song didn’t last long enough
Pt 2 – Introspective, desiigner sounding like future/PND is a minor takeaway from the song, def doesn’t stop you from listening
Famous – Old kanye flow, over a swizz beat, taylor swift line is def a pop culture igniter
Feedback – CRAZY beat, addresses police brutality and his own public perception
Low Lights – If you don’t understand this testimony you might not be religious, so its forgivable if you don’t like this track
Highlights – Kanye’s use of Young Thug makes Thugger seem 100x greater that what he is, the dream kills, that old “good life” feel
I love kanye – CLEVER, reminds fans that he’s conscious that it seems like he’s changed (def a kanye move)
Waves – if you don’t like waves you might need to get your ears checked
FML – The introspective kanye we all can relate to, great beat, made me actually rock with the weekend
Real Friends – anybody who’s goal is to make the world better can relate to this, you probably can’t.
Wolves – Perfect. Frank Ocean feature was used so perfectly
Silver Surfer Intermission – Soft flex
30 Hours – song was already good before i knew 3 stacks was on the song
No more parties in LA – how could you not like this song.
Facts (charlie heat version) – WAAAAYYYY better than the original
Fade – Great song, def a song that’s gonna be used in party scenes in movies for the next 10 years
He liked it so he gave it a 4.3 out of 5, the fuck is your problem? You probably give every album you remotely like a 5/5, some of us reserve such a score for that one perfect album that is released every three or four years.
I can see why it isn’t for sale, it’s not worth buying. We should really start taking a better look at the people calling this genius…
TLOP ALBUM OF LIFE
Haven’t heard the album. Not gonna use tidal. Not buying his bullshit clothes or shoes. Fuck this idiot
exactly my thoughts
fuck this clown and Tidal.
i will never listen to it as long as its only available on Tidal.
1.0/5 can’t handle this clown anymore. He like a Disney child star who typically goes fucktarded after awhile. Yes Britney, lindsay lohan , amanda byes.
Gave the 1 because fathead is crying he’poor.
dank af
I don’t know what people are riffing on, this is an album. Lost in the sea of singles a real album that takes you for a ride front to back.
Y’all are jaded.
Garbage. Not good at all, but people just as corny and shallow as Kanye West will think its a “masterpiece” as their distracted by overproduction and the name of the artist. This album is trash.
Kanye straight up genius,never makes a bad album,always go outside the box,and isnt afraid too.i can listen to this album all the way through.classic!
Did this guy just compare Young Thug and El debarge with Freeway and Mos Def???!!!!
He compared the paring of young thug and el debarge to mos def and freeway.
marginal production. incomplete thoughts… this album is terrible. he hasnt made anything quality since 2010. overrated. i’m officially done with him
this album is waaaay better than Yeezus.
Not as expected
I thought the album was wack as fuck, honestly I turned it off after getting to track 12. There is autotune in every song, the beats run on too long before Kanye starts rhyming (you don’t need a two minute “intro” on every track), there is nowhere near enough bars for the length of the album, lyrics are mediocre and the beats are a Frankenstein’s mess. This is just as bad as Yeezus from a different angle. But I guess that’s what happens when Kanye locks himself away in a room with nothing but his ego for feedback. 2/5 rating in my opinion.
I couldn’t agree more! Plus this album shouldn’t be on a hip hop site like hiphopdx.com cause it’s not a hip hop album, it’s alternative rap. Has too many slow weird songs that make u wanna skip to the next and then the next again. Not worth anyones money.
Loved it, album was really all over the place, that’s the only knock on it, but overall really enjoyed it. Another excellent piece by Kanye.
Dope album. Definitely better than Yeezus.
5/5
Not perfect, but sick as absolute fuck nonetheless. I don’t know why people don’t get what Kanye is doing. He used to be from south side Chicago and rapped about the experiences of the people who surrounded him there, from the perspective of a passive observer. Now that he has been thrust so heavily into the spotlight, he can’t rap about that shit anymore because it would be fake as hell and a petty cashgrab at the people who miss the old Kanye. So instead of rapping about more “relatable” topics, he talks about the effects of fame, the corrosivity of our celebrity culture, and the mental strain that these factors of his life have put upon him. You know… shit that he actually knows about. In the music, he is introspective about these issues and talks about what these things do to Kanye the human. In the media, he makes himself the amoral antihero of the whole circus, and laughs at the people who are dumb enough to buy into the act. Now, by no means do I think Kanye is actually super happy-go-lucky or pleasant outside of Twitter and TV (mainly because I think he has serious mental health struggles), but I also don’t think he is a “useless moron” or a “talentless hack” like so many people suggest, because the man is clearly clever enough to trick the whole world, all the while never releasing a bad album. So, at the end of the day, I don’t think Ye is truly a bad person. Hell, I don’t even think he’s as egotistical as people think, because I think that his reason to exist at this point is as a human mirror for the horrors of our culture and we need that a hell of a lot more than lean, money, hoes, or beef. This album is the epitome of that concept, more so than Dark Fantasy or Yeezus, even if it is messy, weird, and a bit schizo in places.
C R I C K E T S . . .
And you Sir totally get it. #Salute
Yes bro you see the world clearly. Congratulations to you. I dont listen to kanye anymore but im happy some people are capable of true independent thought
I LOVE KANYE LYRICS
perfect
my daddy likes candy floss and apples
Agree, except I think you should give Freestyle 4 another chance. I think it’s one of the most unique tracks of the album, if not lyrically, at least sonically.
This is the real kanye i knew back in the day… this is the college drop out kanye!!! 30HOURS bruh
DOPE album
Don’t care for this album. Kanye’s done.
Never thought I’d say this.
Love it. A great ALBUM.
The album is classic. One of the singers described it as a “street parable”. On the surface, some of the lyrics look crass, but when you understand the humor or point, you get how the composers of each songs made songs that can all stand on their own strength, but each uniquely fit into the whole album. DOPE
To suggest in any way that there is lyrical “depth” here is ridiculous. I consider this a solid album (below what I’d expect from yeezy), but regardless there was some cool stuff here. But Ye’ has lost all depth. Aside from real friends and 30 hours, these are lyrics delivered from a man who has become so out of touch with reality he genuinely believes he is a god. The deepest lines include “we the new Jacksons” “Kimoji just shut down the app store” “What if we fucked at the dinner table… what if we fucked at this vogue party” I feel like the only way The Life Of Pablo could be compared to ART is if Pablo Picasso ever ripped a fat line of cocaine, stuck his dick in a bucket of paint, and started whipping it around on a canvas (He never did that). This is a cluster fuck of talent, arrogance, and mediocrity… Its truly amazing what a piece of ass can do to talented Producer/rapper.
SOME great songs. MANY average songs. Standard ‘Ye album. 3/5.
unfinished, but very solid
Nice cd. yeezy
Dope album. One of the best of Kanye until now.
Too many cooks…
Its incomplete and very wack. By far the worst album he ever made.
I think everybody should give it a try with the original WAVES tracklist (replace Nina Chop with Famous)
It’s not a great album itself, but the experiments in tracks like Ultralight Beam & Wolves are influential.
man yall gotta be kidding me? this shit is weak
Don’t see it or hear it. The album sounds like a collab album and a regression from Yeezus. Where on Yeezus he seemed to be leading the direction of hip hop into rarely tread waters, this sounds like a collection of tracks pulled from other popular artists albums and sprinkled with Kanye dust. There are a few songs that are dope regardless of who they sound like. And a few that sound like Kanye. I can’t see it getting more than a 3 especially considering there are only 5 or 6 songs with actually good rhymes on them. And two of those dope verses are from Kendrick and Chance
BEST ALBUM SINCE TPAB
Strongly disagree with this rating of a 4. It’s a 3, at most. The production is only strong for half the album. The songs feel incomplete. The soulfulness of Kanye seems to be long gone into the doomed kingdom of “Yeezus”. It seems the only thing that is more baffling than West’s promotional scheme is his latest effort: The Life of Pablo. The album sounds like Mr. West gave up on putting much effort into it and instead collab with as many dope ass artists as he could. The introduction to this joint manifesto “Ultra Light Beams” doesn’t feature much of West at all. Hmm, maybe one of hip-hop’s great storytellers was using a form of foreshadowing? Anyways, Chance the Rapper demolishes the emotionally driven, gospel-esque record. Chance is definitely the biggest highlight of the album with his verse spurting lines, such as: Foot on the Devil’s neck ’til it drifted Pangaea/I’m moving all my family from Chatham to Zambia/Treat the demons just like Pam/I mean I fuck with your friends, but damn, Gina. He simply crushed his spotlight feature, as Kelly Price’s holy-ghost filled solo, and Kirk Franklin’s prayer takes you to the very top step of heaven; You can feel yourself weeping at the feet of God. So there’s no wonder why the album suddenly brings you back down to earth after the choir sings their final chord. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” begins with a brilliant transition with the sampling of Pastor TL Barrett’s own rendition of the same title. “You’re the only power” has a haunting glorious feeling to it. As the sample grows and goes into “If young Metro don’t trust you I’m gon’ shoot you” you suddenly feel like all hell is about to break loose. Kid Cudi brings his soulful vocals over what feels like a sunrise with a bounce beat. It feels too good and Ye comes and busts out the autotune to sing what we’re all feeling: “I just wanna feel liberate”. It’s like we’re finally getting everything we ever wanted from West. Melody, soul, saying however the hell we feel, over a dope ass hip-hop beat. Now pause. Enjoy this moment. Hell, if you can try to loop it. West crashes the party with a verse about bleached assholes, him being an asshole, meeting Amber Rose while being a weed intoxicated asshole. A verse so strange that it could actually kill your buzz for one of the better efforts from the object. “Pt. 2” doesn’t really get much better. The song gets a little darker. The lyrics become a little more familiar to an 808’s & Heartbreak meets Late Registration Kanye. And the beat drops and boom…it’s actually another nigga’s song. Desiigner’s “Panda” does go hard but I questioned what does the struggles of West’s father have to do with Desiigner’s black and white BMW X6. One of the many head scratching moments. Then, “Famous” drops West into a world of controversy. His opening lines: “For all my Southside niggas that know me best/I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous. Now, that allegation alone is outright false and enough to wanna press skip but Havoc’s subwoofer banger makes it worth the stay. Oh, and Rihanna was pretty decent. Finally it’s back to good music and finally a full length Yeezy joint on “Feedback”. The beat drop paints a picture of Harlem dancers with West flaunting his brava. But its in this one statement that he poses that sorta puts everything in perspective: “Name one genius that ain’t crazy”. Suddenly you get some form of clarity of Ye’s antics over the past few years. This review is probably too long for the comments section so I’m gonna just fast forward it. “Lowlights” and “Highlights” is pretty much one song about West, Young Thug, El Debarge, and The Dream longing for a life fulfilled with highlights. Oh, and West having a one-up over Ray J…because he’s rich. I think Kanye must’ve forgotten that Brandy’s little brother is pretty wealthy himself. Oh, and if you’re ever in Equinox ask every bad bitch if they’re a freak or not. “Freestyle 4” reminds me of Jay Z’s “Ghetto Techno”….and that’s the best compliment I can give it. “I Love Kanye” is another special moment. Borrowing from his College Dropout flow, the lone a cappella finds Ye giving us his signature charm in which we all fell in love with. “Waves” is another head scratcher. Ye’s playfulness about his dick now becomes old. Chris Brown resuscitates the track and finally gets West back on the board in his following verse. But that’s it. The song doesn’t grow, it doesn’t move, it doesn’t glow. Which makes me question why Chance fought for it so heavily that it delayed the album. “FML” is another goodie. West finally becomes vulnerable, as he drops the God-like figure and becomes human again, to which why we’ve all worshipped him to his pedestal. The Weeknd did a hell of a job on evoking the ringing emotions of each lyric. “Real Friends” keeps West in his human state trading bars on the homies that’ll text you one day and ask you for something the next or just those family members that are straight leeches. Though the song still sounds incomplete and in it’s post-rough-draft stages, we all can relate to the songs premise. “Wolves” sounds like it should’ve been on Yeezus, simple. But thanks Kanye, at least we know Frank Ocean isn’t dead. Skip “Siiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeeeer Intermission”. Your welcome. “30 Hours” is actually my favorite on the album. It’s vintage Ye lyrics with this awesome Karriem Riggins produced beat that’ll make you get lost and lose track of how many times you pressed replay. The song has a couple of deficiencies. One being that the original is actually better than the album cut where it has the sample of woman moaningly singing towards the end (Check his Soundcloud page out for it). Second, Kanye doesn’t deliver his verses enough for you to feel his emotion within the context. It reminds me of when cameras catch him smiling and he suddenly drops his facial expression into a stale face emoji. It’s very neutral but you know underneath there’s something deeper going on. Third, the Andre 3000 feature is just a tease. The nigga literally sang, NOT RAP, two words as West fumbled a freestyle. Can you guess which two? “No More Parties in LA” would have been a really great song…if it were G.O.O.D. Friday feature…back in 2010. Granted, Kendrick goes off (“THE HEAD STILL GOOD THOUGH”) and Kanye tries to keep (“She keep pushin’ me back GOOD DICK’LL DO THAT). All in all, it’s a dope treat. “Facts”….it should’ve just stayed off the album. “Fade” is gonna burn dance floors for years to come. Even though I have no idea what’s going on with the vocalists (Post Malone delivered a slam dunk) I’m more concentrated on the drug-hypnotizing beat. The Life of Pablo has some really great moments. Giving us every variation of Kanye. From his back-packer storytelling all the way to the God-like icon. I truly appreciate him adding more color than his previous effort: Yeezus. So I would rank T.L.O.P. above it (and over Cruel Summer if you count that) but that would be as far as it could hop in comparison to his entire collection. The Life of Pablo is good. But it’s suffering from an identity much like it’s creator. Maybe West had too many painters on the canvas. Maybe his Picasso piece wasn’t meant for the eyes of his followers to understand. But just simply he needed to create and rework his brush strokes so the world can once again experience the brilliance of West. Well, until then, I guess we have to settle for him channeling the genius-ness of another.
Man, YOU should be doing reviews.
Thank You! It’s a dream of mine!
I get it… Yeezy said it’s a sonic painting, alot of people tryna write all types of think pieces on why the songs sound half-finished, is that a delibrate thing or not. Heck, I read one fucking review where homie reckoned Kanye playing to the fact that this is the digital age and consumers access music/information differently and what not so its disjointed and all kinds of shit…. Fact remains that even if its all those things and its some ‘genius’ deliberate thing his doing – execution was poor! He’s barely making an effort to connect emotionally to the listener. Look, different stokes for different folks but once an artist loses joy for music and you can tell he kinda disconnected on this so yeah… Poor stuff from Yeezy. Good points from you! Poor effort from Ye 🙂
Thank you, I appreciate the love for the review. But, I do question whether or not it was intentional for him to half-do the songs. On Yeezus he did a lot of that. Throwing a bunch of songs towards the listener like a sonic collage. And you hit the problem right on the head, the execution. The album was executed as poorly as the release for it was. Even on a gem like “30 Hours”. It’s a great song, concept, music, but it lacks the execution to make it classic. So, I don’t know man. I don’t know where we go from here with Mr. West.
Holey hell you grammar is atrocious…..geniousness….lolz
Well thought out review, nice man! You made me give it a chance….
Lol, as a writer we’re allowed to break the rules sometimes. Just relax.
I’m glad you gave it an ear. I’m curious to know how you felt about the album.
I’d support that. Gimme ur blog, I’ll tell my friends bout it.
4 is way to high for an album like this. People must be rating his name and not the album itself. Ok, I’m not the biggest Kanye fan to be honest but I always listen with a open heart. This was okey but nothing more, better than Yeezus in my opinion but not good. I think Beatiful dark bla bla story was a great album, with nice beats and actually really good rapping from Kanye, that album I would give a 4. but this one I couldn’t feel at all, maybe three okey songs but not a single great one, noone nere a classic.
IF YOU GIVE MBDTF A 4 ONLY…YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR OPINION TAKEN AWAY.
better than yeezus but still trash.
Thanks for the first three Yeezy. Thanks for Dark Fantasy. Thanks for Watch The Throne as well. Fuck, thanks for 808’s (I’m thanking him on behalf of Drake and all post 808 rappers who jacked his style) ….. But this is not good. Maybe theres not much less to innovate on in terms of your production but there is so much homie could have spoken on. Maybe he should take a hiatus and focus on the fashion line and raising his kids
After a couple listens, I feel like this would be the better tracklist for this album:
01. 30 Hours
02. Real Friends (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)
03. Wolves (featuring Frank Ocean & Caroline Shaw)
04. FML (featuring The Weeknd)
05. No More Parties in LA (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
06. Ultralight Beam (featuring Chance The Rapper, Kirk Franklin & The-Dream)
07. Low Lights
08. Highlights (featuring Young Thug)
09. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 (featuring Kid Cudi)
10. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2 (featuring Desiigner)
11. Famous (featuring Rihanna)
12. Waves (featuring Chris Brown)
Give it a try.
Also I think “Father Stretch My Hands” isn’t actually as bad as it seems. He says “I Just Wanna Feel Liberated”, and that’s the case. FSMH is where Ye feels liberated and maybe it’s not a bad thing. He’s just enjoying himself there, saying everything he wants.
I would have preferred more rapping but good music overall
The best parts of the songs were just other people.
decent but the terrible lyrics did this one in for me.
Agreed the lyrics are so bad it’s unreal. And Kanye needs to ditch auto-tune and get singers to sing his hooks because he mumbled incoherently any time he busted out the auto-tune
Kanye’s vision ruins too many well produced and thought out songs concept wise.
On more than half the album once he opens his mouth, it’s full of stupidity. 2 perfect examples:
1. The 2nd track. It starts off with the hook about him wanting to be liberated then he follows it with a verse so baffling stupid and bad that you have wonder what the hell was he thinking when he wrong that “bleach” line.
2. Wolves. The production is fantastic…then he starts to sing, er…mumble that awful first verse. Then when he does rap, he repeats the “unfollow/swallow” line 8 times like it’s the best shit ever. No Kanye that ruined the song even more so than that mumbling mess of a verse.
It’s like for every genuine good track like Ultrabeam Light, FML and Real Friends you have 2 songs that are so bad or plain stupid this album loses its replay value. This is a 2 or 3 out of 5 at best.
I completely agree about that bleach line. That song sets up an incredible vibe, it’s just a feel-good song, and that line just brings it right back down to middle-earth.
album is straight up doo doo….crotch rag worthy nothing more….move on now
GOAT
wonder if this pos will ever see a physical release….
Started off as gospel, trails off, picks up on Waves down.
Lyrically, Kanye has fallen off hard, but beats came nice tho.
4.3 is too high of a rating for this album
Def Jam been paying Rolling Stone, Hiphopdx, Pitchfork etc. to give Pablo a good rating so that it can garner critical acclaim on Metacritic & get nominated for a Grammy.
I’ll give it a 8/10. It has nice beats even though the lyrics might not be the greatest thing in the world. Additionally, the best things aren’t from Kanye on this album. I like TLOP a lot… that seems to be an unpopular opinion in this comment section though. I love Ultralight beams.
Ye has pretty much fallen off a cliff in the lyrics department (not that he was ever top 5, but now he’s more like a top 100 rapper). If it wasn’t for all the guests and his ability to create a handful quality beats, this album would be garbage.
KANYE HAS ANOTHER CLASSIC ON HIS HANDS. HE JUST NEEDS TO RAP MORE AND LESS SINGING
Not a classic but def dope and encompasses multiple genres.
Album is alright but i think it has to much filler and makes it hard to vibe threw the tracklist , 7/10
See now I know you guys are a bunch of dickriders. You overrate mediocre albums by artists you have good relationships with but half ass on the new Kanye. Am I really supposed to believe Oddisee, Jamie XX or The Weeknd had a better album? You even overrated the talented but not yet ready Vince Staples. Which one of y’all is the A&R on these products? Y’all want to give Kanye 3.75 stars, but are afraid to piss off Roc Nation, therefore half ass it just to not give it the credit it deserves 4.75. Your ratings system is more of a sham than “The Source” 5 mic system during the Benzino days. People will soon wake up to this wave of bullshit from you dickriding bloggers posing as journalists. Because of y’all is why so much bullshit music gets so much overexposure while great works continue to be overlooked. It’s the same thing you just did to Kendrick for stunting on y’all. Fuck Hip Hop DX Y’all are fake as hell.
honestly, best album this year
If he can drop another project like this with a little less singing the world will be a better place
AOTY 100%
Can we get an updated review for all the #DLC Kanye has added? LOL
Worst Kanye Album, and that says something about kanye being that this album is still pretty good. Over packed with unnecessary tracks and mixed in with some truly great ones, The Life of Pablo serves as a seemingly random work of art. The highlights make it worth the hype
That would be the album of 2016 🙂
TLOP isn’t perfect, but it’s beautiful to listen to.
In my opinion, one of the greatest Kanye albums ever. looking at it from an unbiased perspective, it’s something very new and fresh, and the songs are catchy but deep. After giving it a good year to mature and grow on me, I can say that this is one of my favorite albums of all time.
Very entertaining album. About 5 great songs with good songs sprinkled in.
This Album is aging beautifully. It is climbing the ranks of my favorite Yeezy records. I have been here since College Dropout, but man this one is the top 5 for me.