Kanye West
The Life Of Pablo
[Def Jam/G.O.O.D. Music]
All noise aside, and there’s a absolute shit-ton of it surrounding the release of this album, The Life Of Pablo is a magnetic, flawed, overlong album that is stuffed to the gills with ideas, most of which play through very quickly, which may or may not be its strength.
One of the few tracks that does stick around and develop beyond the three minute mark is the opener, and absolute highlight of this record, Ultralight Beam. Over a spare, back-masked organ sample, Kanye, Kirk Franklin and Chance the Rapper interchange with a gospel choir to spellbinding effect. It makes you wonder what might happen if each of his ideas was as developed as this.
Conversely, 30 Hours confirms that some of these ideas are best left as the sketches. Sampling Arthur Russell’s Answers Me from World of Echo to create a sweet groove and hook, it then overstays its welcome by about three minutes with Kanye fumbling verses he hasn’t written yet, explaining that he loves bonus tracks, and that this will be a bonus track, and then his phone goes off and it’s not meta, it’s just dull.
Nonetheless, while it’s short on attention and great verses, TLOP manages to hang together on the strength of West’s productions and speed at which it moves between them, making an album that visibly bears the same flaws as its creator.
Like this? Try these:
J Dilla – Donuts
Sly and the Family Stone – There’s A Riot Goin’ On
Chance the Rapper – Acid Rap
