By Alec Palombo
In case you’ve been residing under a rock, Kanye West has had himself an interesting six months. Between the Yeezy boost hype, calling Bill Cosby innocent, his beef with Wiz (and Amber) on Twitter, changing the album title three times, and the birth of his first son, it was kind of easy to forget he had a new album on the way.
Alas, after three long years of waiting for one of the most hyped up projects of all time; it’s finally here. So Help Me God, SWISH, Waves, I mean The Life of Pablo was exclusively released via Tidal streaming on Feb. 14, and was later revealed that it would not be released through Apple music or any other music site.
West also formally announced the death of physical music via Twitter, declaring “The Yeezus album packaging was an open casket to CD’s R.I.P… uuuuuuum, so there it is… No more CDs from me.” Something I’m sure we’ll start to see more artists stray to as we dive further into the world of streaming music.
Kanye released his seventh album amid what feels like years’ worth of controversy, which shouldn’t be news for rap fans. Kanye has always been keen of taking the route of ruffling some feathers if it meant more press, and we see it time and time again in his seemingly daily Twitter rants.
Any publicity is good publicity they say. “Pablo” is said to be inspired by a mix of Kanye’s favorite artist Pablo Picasso, and Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. “I feel like Pablo when I’m working on my shoes, I feel like Pablo when I see me on the news,” he asserts in “No More Parties in L.A.”
Kanye tweeted that Pablo wasn’t a hip-hop piece; rather a gospel album. In the grand scheme of the album I’m not sure how that statement stands up, but the album starts off with a very soulful track produced by iconic super-producer Swizz Beats. The album kicks off with arguably it’s best song, “Ultralight Beams” featuring Chance the rapper. As far as lyrics go, you won’t be taken aback by anything Kanye has to say in this album. It’s full of one-liners and punchlines that will make you shake your head in amusement, but other than that Kanye wasn’t too serious with his bars on Pablo.
Like many Kanye West albums preceding this, the “wow factor” comes from the projects production value. Songs like “Waves,”“Ultralight Beam,” and “Wolves” sound like they could have been crafted from god himself, and they give the project a very blissful feel. Kanye took a lot of new approaches when it came to the construction and roll out of the album. He had the help of social media to make his final decisions; again, something I’m sure we’ll see more artists take part in.
West also had his fair share of help on this album, recruiting some big names for his features. From The dreary banger “FML,” featuring The Weeknd, to Kendrick Lamar on the soulful “No More Parties in L.A.,” the album is studded with stars from start to finish. Kanye even pulled off the unthinkable, getting Frank Ocean to appear on a track despite being on a four year hiatus from making music. Making some last minute changes, West replaced Vic Mensa to add Ocean’s verse to the unnerving, 808 filled track “Wolves.”
If you weren’t satisfied with “The Life of Pablo,” have no fear. West announced via Twitter that he will release three albums in 2016, with “Turbo Grafx 16” set to be his next project this coming summer.
Although Pablo is a one of a kind album, it’s easy to get lost in the hysteria behind it. After all the twitter rants, beefs, and statements that this would be the greatest album of all time, I’m not sure how precise that is. I’ll give the album 4/5 stars.
