Sonically, the album feels more like a Pablo EP than a true Kanye album. Ye’s boundless preaching feels like a broken record.
On every other album, Kanye has broken a mold: Dropout rose above gangster rap, Graduation transcended pop, and Dark Fantasy opened the doors to what hip-hop could be.
The fifth track, “No Mistakes,” clocks in at just over 2 minutes, samples Slick Rick, has a saucy Charlie Wilson and Kid Cudi hook and houses Kanye’s most compelling verse on the album: “Oh, I got dirt on my name, I got white on my beard/I had debt on my books, it’s been a shaky ass year/Let me make this clear, so all y’all see/I don’t take advice from people less successful than me, haaaan?” It’s the one song on the album that gives me a lot of hope for future Kanye, an articulate Kanye, a Kanye I wish the album had more of. Instead, he hits everyone with the Kanye shrug and moves on. It’s an opportunity for Kanye to look back at his erratic behavior and see the damage he did to his family, his friends, his fans. “Wouldn’t Leave,” the fourth track on the album, is a beautiful love song and the most authentic song on the album. So if Kanye doesn’t have bars like he did in 2012 and is relying on 2016 production style in 2018, what does he have? There was no way for Kanye to avoid the controversy surrounding the past few months, but he doesn’t reflect. Like self-preservation, it’s deeply selfish. Kanye the person.Īt its heart, Ye is an album about mental health, about self- and relationship- preservation. Instead of the chainsaw grind of “On Sight” or the molasses gospel of “Dark Fantasy,” listeners are greeted with Kanye talking to himself: “The most beautiful thoughts are always besides the darkest / Today, I seriously thought about killing you.” But a different duality follows Kanye throughout the album - Kanye the artist vs. Ye is a 7-track toe dip in the pool of artistry. Five years later, I don’t know how many of those people would wait outside on a mild Friday night in May to watch a Kanye West art exhibition. Before the critically-lauded Yeezus dropped in 2013, thousands of people stood outside of buildings around the world to watch “New Slaves” projected on the edifice. Like you were in some secret club and only people who truly “got it” could appreciate it with you.
“If you’re a fan of Kanye West, you’re a fan of yourself…”īeing a fan of Kanye West has always seemed like a privilege.
0 kommentar(er)
