If you think Kanye West has been saying some crazy things on Twitter recently, then wait until you hear his new album.
After a fumbled launch event at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, and a delayed release that saw him add a clutch of tracks, Kanye West’s seventh album “The Life of Pablo” finally arrived on TIDAL, early Sunday morning. It turned out to be a far stranger journey into the rapper’s psyche than anything offered up through his social media channels.
It doesn’t take long for the contradictions to start flying. Beatific opener “Ultralight Beam” delivers briefly on his promise of a gospel album with its choir and redemptive themes. But within a few minutes, he’s making petty jokes about wanting to have sex with Taylor Swift and taking credit for her career on “Famous.” Strap yourself in, this one is going to be a bumpy ride.
During the 18 tracks and almost hour-long duration, the 38-year-old brings his insecurities to life so vividly that it sometimes feels uncomfortable to listen. “You ain’t see nothing crazier/Than this n**ga when he off his Lexapro,” he states on “FML,” which features the Weeknd adding to self-destructive spirit. It’s a breakdown that’s realized musically, as the track dissolves into a spiral of Joy Division basslines and warped vocals to create one of the most unsettling Kanye songs to date.
“Real Friends” catches him ruminating on the lack thereof, cursing out the hangers on, not to mention the cousin who stole a laptop containing sex tapes and unreleased music. But West also throws himself under the bus for never having enough time for the people who do warrant it.
Fatherhood hasn’t mellowed Kanye all that much, either. Instead, he frets about making the same mistakes as his workaholic dad during “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 2,” which coughs up a heady mix of creeping trap breaks, a melee of samples and a druggy verse from new Brooklyn rapper (and Future sound-a-like) Desiigner. Musically, “The Life of Pablo” is often as hectic and confused as it’s lyrical matter. But when it works, it sounds like little else in the world of hip-hop.
The brashness of 2013’s “Yeezus” does remain in parts. The mutant, electro-funk banger that is “Feedback” takes a verbal flamethrower to his critics. “I know I shouldn’t even bother/With all these gossiping, no p**sy getting bloggers,” goes one hilarious line, which is swiftly followed up by a description of himself as a mix of Steve Jobs and WWF wrestler Steve Austin.
He also gives the club goers something to bounce to with “Highlights” – a track that tops off the more celebratory feel with Kanye’s Ray J putdowns, a timely reminder that he’s won 21 Grammys, and the suggestion that he and the Kardashians might just be the modern day Jackson family.
But it’s the conflicts, not the resolutions that dominate “The Life of Pablo.” Sometimes it’s Kanye against the world, but often, it’s Kanye against Kanye. The music and drama that come out of both bouts is fascinating, and occasionally brilliant. But at the very least, it’s an album that reminds us it ain’t easy being Yeezy.
