Thursday, February 18, 2016

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo Album Review


So, the good news about TLoP is that it's better than YEEZUS, but where does it rank amongst other Kanye albums? Let's find out! 

1. Ultralight Beam ft./ Chance The Rapper and Kirk Franklin - Kanye actually is the worst part of this song, but as a song it's not too bad. The message is wonderful. Kanye wasn't lying when he said this is a gospel album. From the get go, that's the feel he's trying to push. Speaking of message, let's talk about Chance real quick. I can't say I'm a fan of his, to be honest, but in this song, his style is perfect and he pretty much nailed the overall point. I also loved his bars and flow, which is usually what scares me away from him. Everyone else did a great job in here, except Yeezy, like originally stated. It is a bit long, especially for how slow it is, but it actually doesn't stay past its welcome. Decent start to an album, I'll let it slide. I hated it too soon(I saw it on SNL one night), because it just wasnt a good song to perform live, and I still stand by that, but the song is decent.

2. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 ft./ Kid Cudi - The song starts off similar to the intro, but quickly goes upbeat quickly. Hell, I'd even go as far to say I enjoy this song until the verse starts. The song itself is enjoyable, as long as you can look pastd the one verse. I was excited to see Kid Cudi on this track, but he didn't really make his presence known, like he usually does. 

3. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 2 ft./ Desiigner - I mean if a song that didn't need to be made in the first place, didn't need a sequel even more, it's this one. Once again, Kanye is the weakest part of the song. He acts like he rapped for the first time, in this one. His flow and bars are SO jumbled, it's difficult to listen to. I never thought I'd be excited to hear the trap like style of Desiigner over anything else, in this song, but here I am. The ending is pretty tight.

4. Famous ft./ Rihanna.... - If you've EVER read any of my reviews for something that includes Rihanna, you know I don't like this chick. Famous doesn't help this, it makes it worse. Kanye turned it up for this one. He was the best part of it and that's not even because of my dislike for Rihanna, at all, I actually enjoyed it. I just feel Rihanna is too much of a contrast to it, even Swissbeats sounds at home yelling WOOOOO and doing all his swissbeats chants that he does. 

5. Feedback - The beat started off the weakest, so far on the album, but then evolved into one of the better parts of the song. I mean, it kind of sounds like 'On Sight' if it wasn't completely wack. Kanye talking that shit on here too. I can actually listen to it, that's all I'll say. The shit is funny because he's kind of talking about his clothing line. 

6. Low Lights - So, basically some woman is thanking God. I mean, I dont have a problem with it, but damn this shit is just redundant for over two minutes, it's kind of the intro to High Lights as All of the Lights intro was to it. This isn't a song though, it's just talking....a long time. Beautiful words, I guess, but too long. C'mon bruh.

7. High Lights ft./ Stink Bug....I mean Butt Plug....I mean Young Thug - Really bruh, Young Thug? Look, I understand Rihanna, I'm just biased against her, she isn't horrible, but you got one of the worm brothers from Men In Black to be a part of your work? Bruh...smh. The sad thing is this stupid shit has the most quotable lines from the album. "I wish my dick had a GoPro" or some shit. That shit's funny as hell. I mean, I dont hate the song, but it was unneeded. Is that Kirk Franklin or The Dream I hear on this shit too? I dont know, but he doesn't do too bad. This song isn't really something you pay too much attention too, but if you just want to play it the background, go head, I suppose. 


8. Freestyle 4 ft./ Desiigner - What the fuck is this shit? Skip this shit, bruh. And if you don't, it'll start skipping at the end for you, to remind your ass you let this shit play for some odd reason. I swear this is one of the songs that just didn't make it to Yeezus. It's just too horrible. Imagine everything bad about Yeezus and then make that shit WORSE. That's this shit, a new low for Kanye.



9. I Love Kanye - This shit is actually funny and I enjoy it. It kind of reminds me of the old school Kanye skits. I mean, it's pretty much self-explanatory though. 


10. Waves ft./ Chris Brown - You can tell other than that disaster Highlights, this shit is going to be the big radio song on the album. I have to be honest, I fuck with it a little too much. It's at least enjoyable and upbeat, I suppose. I love that Breezy is on the same album as Rihanna too, that shit's kind of funny to me. I dont know why. He did a good job. Although, despite being one of the shortest songs, on the album, I can't lie, I do get kind of tired of it after a bit.

11. FML ft./ The Weeknd - I started listening, didn't like it, stayed to hear the Weeknd, and I just ended up disappointed. Boring, slow, wack. He was going for an 808's and Heartbreak feel, but it really just doesn't grab me, like I wanted it to. By the time it finally gets going, I'm already over it. It's okay once it GETS GOING, but, it just takes too long to get there. Kanye could've cut the first minute and thirty seconds out and it would've been a ton better than it was. Give me that version and I'll like it a lot more. To make matters worse, right when you think the song is going to take off, Kanye comes in and records when it sounds like he had a sore throat and indigestion going on and croons his way to the finish.

12. Real Friends ft./ Ty Dolla $igns - Okay, this isn't bad, I like it. A step in the right direction and the verses aren't horrible. I can't say it's a song I'd listen without a skip again though. I don't dislike it, so that's a good thing.

13. Wolves ft./ Frank Ocean and Caroline Shaw - Supposedly there's a version of this with Sia, so I listened to this and then that version, to compare. What better way to review a song other than comparing it to its other version? So, ya'll know I like Frank Ocean, right? If you dont, now you do. Just like Kid Cudi didn't let his position be known earlier, where the hell was Frank Ocean in this? Oh the ending? Really, that's how long I had to wait? Okay, Kanye...anyway. Yup, the Vic Mensa and Sia version is superior, by a long shot, everything sounds MUCH better. Kanye, why? I mean, dont get me wrong, I like this song, but why is it that I have to go elsewhere to listen to the perfect version of your damn song? Bruh....this why people call you crazy...

Sn: definitely listen to the version with Sia though, that shit goes in, man! It's poetic as fuck.



14. Silver Surfer Intermission - You know it's funny that this song is called Intermission, because I had to take a break at this point, BOTH times I listened to this album. I went and listened to some Sia and Tori Kelly for some reason, just to get a different feel to get in a different mood than what this album is putting me in. Anyway, this shit is some call that Kanye got from Max B, remember him? Yeah, that guy, do people still care about him? For real? Wow..okay, moving on...

15. 30 Hours - Best song on the album EASILY; especially for those looking for a College Dropout-Graduation type feel from Kanye. It was fun. It overstays its welcome, you really dont need to listen after the first three minutes, but it's the best feeling song on the album. I wish he ACTUALLY got Andre 3000 to spit something.

16. No More Parties in L.A. ft./ Kendrick Lamar - I can listen to this song again, as I have a few times already. It's not bad at all, Kanye did his best not to get outdone by Kendrick on a song that felt like Kendrick already just phoned his verse in and didn't try, at all. It was still hot, don't get me wrong, but I've heard K. Dot do tons better, especially on a feature, *COUGH* Nosetalgia *COUGH*. This feels like a fun song overall, like Kanye and Kendrick were just playing beats and just feeding off each others energy and spitting whatever came to mind, to have fun. A cypher feel, I guess you could say. 

I can easily say that I wish that this album had more of No More Parties in LA and 30 Hours, for sure. 

17. Facts - Okay, some smooth shit, I dig it Kanye, dont ruin it, now. You have some good shit going on.....uh oh....you're going to ruin it aren't you? Eh....maybe. Umm, if you like trap, you might like this shit. This sounds like a drug dealer's first song he made on his own, and he didn't have a producer, so he had to make the beat on his own little keyboard he got from walmart. I dont know, if you like that shit, you'll like this shit, I guess. 

18. Fade ft./ Post Malone(...wait....who? Hold on, let me google real quick, who the fuck is this? Is this Riff Raff and Slim Jesus' cousin? LOOK at this dude! So little amount of people, this is the first picture that popped up...

 SMH)and Ty Dolla $ign....oh jesus...I know where this dumb shit is going - Actually, this shit aint too bad. I'm actually surprised. I actually like this shit, I fuck with everything in this song, I mean, I'm not invested or anything, but I could play this at the gym or some shit. Not bad. 

This album is okay, don't get me wrong, it's better than Yeezus, for sure. So, I can't say it's the worst thing I've ever listened to. It's like Kanye West tried to mix his style from all his former albums into one and that's what Life of Pablo is. The problem is that mixture just doesn't work as well it could. It's as indecisive as he showed in picking his names for the album. I might listen to a couple songs again, and maybe it grows on me more over time, but for now, I'll give it a 

6 out of 10


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