The Life of Pablo

For those of us who have been following the run-up to The Life of Pablo album, it’s been a ride. The release cycle was so messy at times many people began to expect disappointment. Four album names and endless delays later however, Kanye West’s seventh studio album has finally dropped. And, despite all the drama, The Life of Pablo is absolutely phenomenal.

‘Ultralight Beam’ opens the album. This gospel banger, with its church choir, organs and auto tune is already many people’s favourite of the tracklist as is Chance the Rapper’s verse. In my opinion, it’s the best rap album opener since Nas’‘NY State of Mind’ or GZA’s ‘Liquid Swords’. The track is anthemic perfection.

Listening to the rest of The Life of Pablo, it then becomes clear that Kanye started as he wished to proceed. Two other stand out tracks include the haunting and nocturnal ‘Wolves’, and ‘Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 & 2’, which are both very reminiscent of Atlantan rappers such as Future, Migos and Metro Boomin with their trippy autotuned vibes.

Producer-wise, if one said that Yeezus was made great by collaboration with Rick Rubin and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Jeff Bhasker then Chance should be considered the master collaborator on this record. As always (to quote Jayson Greene) Kanye “makes people you don’t care about sound fantastic and people you do care about sound immortal”. Returning faces from other projects include Kid Cudi who features in ‘Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1’ as well as Rihanna who lays down a flawless Nina Simone cover in ‘Famous’.

The new blood featured here includes up-and-comers TY Dolla Sign, Post Malone, Desiigner, and Yung Thug. Travis Scott also returns off the back of his incredible debut studio album Rodeo to lend his unique production stylings as he did in Yeezus. Overall, when compared to something like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which featured various godfathers of rap such as Wu Tang members RZA and Raekwon as well as Jay Z, The Life of Pablo has a more modern and fresh feel. Kanye’s mastermind for production is seen in flashes of absolute brilliance such as the outro to ‘Famous’, the explosive gospel sections of ‘Ultralight Beam’ and the short intro to ‘Wolves’. I haven’t heard such instantly ear-pleasing perfection since the explosive guitar section at the end of ‘New Slaves’. True to its Pablo Picasso namesake, the various periods of Kanye’s discography are all present here. Yeezus’ gritty harshness is seen on ‘Freestyle 4’ and 808s and Heartbreak’s solemn ballad-style with ‘FML’. Even College Dropout’s outro ‘Last Call’ is reflected in ‘30 Hours’.

Interestingly, for the first time, Kanye West has made album that is simply that – an album. Kanye seems to be drawing inspiration rather than giving it. Ultimately I do not see this as a bad thing, as I have always been less of a fan of Kanye’s concept albums such as 808s and Yeezus. As it stands, The Life of Pablo is a work of energetic yet soulful expression – Kanye doesn’t hold back and this is where his passion shines through. Everybody seems to hate how cocky Kanye is but at least he can back it up.

The Life of Pablo is now streaming on TIDAL