Editor’s note: This is a review of the version of The Life Of Pablo that was released on the Tidal streaming service Feb. 14. On Kanye West’s Twitter feed, he has hinted that fixes will be made to certain songs and that the version of the album released next week outside of Tidal may be different.
“Name one genius that ain’t crazy,” demands Kanye West on the fifth track of his latest LP, The Life Of Pablo. The seventh studio album itself provides a compelling case to why West is a genius, and an irrefutable case that he is definitely crazy.
Sonically, thematically and conceptually, TLOP is a contradiction. Choirs from the gates of heaven spiral down to butt heads with sounds that smoke up from the fires of Hell.
It’s a dense record, with a track list of 18 that finds each song existing in its own headspace. Leading up to the release of TLOP, West tweeted, “This album is actually a Gospel album.” It’s a claim that doesn’t entirely house the immense spectrum of music the album explores, but gospel is undeniably the motif that provides the connective tissue of the record.
The most prominent presence of this motif is found on the opening track, “Ultralight Beam.” It opens with a sample of an Instagram famous 4-year-old preaching the word of God as if she is leading Mass at a Baptist church.
Her cries of salvation lead into some reserved and prayerful lyrics that layer over a shimmering organ. It’s a sound that tip-toes in the darkness before the blinding lights from the heavens above come pouring down in the form of a cavernous gospel choir, complete with soulful vocal features from Kelly Price and The-Dream and a jaw-dropping 16 bars from Chance The Rapper.
But the songs that follow can hardly be described as simply “gospel-inspired.” Upon listening closely, the threads that formed the fabric of each previous Yeezy album are evident in the tapestry of TLOP.
In “No More Parties in L.A.,” one can hear the soul sampling that comprised College Dropout and Late Registration. In “Highlight,” the bright and blinding instrumentation that had Kanye wearing shutter shades on Graduation are present. In “Feedback and “Wolves,” one can hear the industrial and minimalistic elements that paved the way for the abrasive Yeezus.
The sheer multitude of sonic avenues explored on The Life Of Pablo gives the album a profoundly unique feel from any of West’s previous installments. While it feels like Kanye’s most comprehensive and intricately orchestrated work, it also feels like his most rushed.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the numerous name changes, track list rearrangements and last minute additions leading up to its release. Consequently, some of the transitions and track ordering on TLOP feel a bit slapdash.
Along with the head-scratching track ordering that makes the album feel longwinded, transitions on the LP seem to lack West’s typical cohesive polish.“Feedback” seems to trip over itself as it abruptly 180s from a screeching blown-out synth into a soulful grand piano accompanied sermon on “Low Lights.” Additionally, the intro chords of “FML” seem to cut off the outro of “Waves.”
The Life Of Pablo is certainly rough around the edges, but with how captivating the tracks are on this LP, it’s easy to overlook its structural pitfalls. The album doesn’t change the rules of hip-hop — it does away with them. It builds an ode to the systems that provided the framework of music from the past and present, and burns it to the ground, leaving a lawless landscape in which expression is uninhibited and unrestrained.
