After listening to The Life of Pablo, there is only one thought that comes across: brilliant. After teasing fans with countless album title changes and Kanye West shows he hasn’t lost his touch with music. This seventh studio album by the 21 Grammy winner takes you on a journey like West never has before.
The album has sixteen songs. What makes a great album is a great intro and West delivers strongly. “Ultralight Beam” features Kirk Franklin, Kelly Price, and Chance The Rapper (who stands out most on the song.) Chance The Rapper’s verse on the song matches the strength of the trumpets bursting into the background. With repetitive words such as, “This is a God’s dream, this is everything” the listener gets a sense of a gospel album. Interlude “Low Lights” which has a woman praising God’s glory for two minutes also helps with this feeling. It comes as no surprise that West tweeted, “This is actually a gospel album.”
The College Dropout artist is known for having some type of controversy. West looks for trouble with songs such as “Famous,” “Highlight,” and “Silver Surfer Transmission.” West casually implies on the song “Famous” that he is the reason Taylor Swift is famous. In “Highlights” West implies that Ray J and himself would’ve been friends “If they ain’t love the same b****.” West throws in an interlude “Silver Surfer Transmission,” which features a friendly phone call from Max B. Max B said to West that as artists, they must continuously rise above negativity. The phone call showed that if Max B isn’t mad at Ye for wanting to call his album, “Waves” at one point, then society should have nothing to say.
What makes The Life of Pablo great has to be the list of features, beats, and West’s delivery lyrically. Chris Brown, Rihanna, Swizz Beatz, Desiigner, The Weeknd, and one of the greatest: Andre 3000 all offer their vocals for this LP. This album can be described as a mixture of The College Dropout for its interludes, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for West’s lyrical delivery and Yeezus for the fantastic use of beats.
The Life of Pablo is an interesting body of work. Fans are questioning when West will officially release the album and if he will make any significant changes. They are hoping that a hidden verse will be revealed on “30 Hours” which features Andre 3000. West admits he is already working on another album before listeners have the chance to fully digest this one. The Life of Pablo is worth the listen as it displays Ye’s ability to stay in touch with music, versatility, and most importantly: his faith in God.
