Opening Opinion: 9.6
One of the most polarizing albums in Ye’s discography. It
might have the worst lyrical performance from him since 808’s and Heartbreak. I
initially really loved the album, but I’ll be 2nd to admit the
replay value isn’t that high. Lets get into the review.
The album was originally titled “So Help Me God” and the
first track reflects that. “Ultra Light Beam” is a nice song. Kanye is joined
by Chance the Rapper and Kirk Franklin. Its 5 minutes long but never feels that
long. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” features Kid Cudi who absolutely does his
thing on the song. Kanye’s lyrics are goofy, “Now if I fuck this model, and she
just bleach her asshole, and I get bleach on my tee shirt, I’m a feel like an
asshole”. LOL. The song has great production. “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2”
features Future clone, Desiigner, who at the time of writing this; has lost his
5 mins of fame. It’s a dope song. We get to hear a snippet of “Panda” for the
first time.
“Famous” is arguably the album’s best song…arguably. It’s
produced by Swizz Beatz and features Rihanna. Kanye arrogantly raps that he
made Taylor Swift famous, and I agree with this. The only thing not great about
this is the stupid ass music video. I really like the sample at the end…it’s
hot as hell. “Feedback” is next….I noticed a lot of songs here start with the
letter F lol. I like the beat. It sounds like it’s from Yeezus. His bars are
weak here however. The end is hilarious: “I’m the ghetto Oprah”. “Low Lights”
is a skit. Its not really all that skippable tho. I like what the lady has to
say here.
After that you get some “Highlights”. Get it lol? Kanye is
joined by Young Thug here who (thank god) is only on the hook. Kanye raps, “I
bet me an Ray J would be friends, if we ain’t love the same bitch, I know he
might of hit it first, but only difference is I’m rich.” LMAO. Yeah this is a
Kanye West album folks. He also raps, “Black Chyna fuckin Rob helped him with
the weight.” ROFL. “Freestyle 4” sounds straight from Yeezus. It sounds creepy
af. Despite not being very lyrical its fucking brilliant. Okay maybe I’m
exaggerating. It is dope tho. Desiigner spits some nonsense again lol.
Kanye continues to troll on “I Love Kanye”. Its interesting
as he addresses those who “Miss the old Kanye”. I like it. I personally don’t mind
the New or current Kanye but hey. “Waves” features Chris Brown. It has a great
beat. Kanye continues to struggle lyrically. I feel CB makes this song great.
Its actually the first time he’s been on a Kanye album go figure…
“FML” is an interesting song. It’s kind of the polar
opposite of “Waves”. The Weekn’d does well here. I like Kanye’s verses here
too. “Real Friends” is one of the better songs as well. Its got that College
Dropout feel to it. “I’m a deadbeat cousin, I hate family reunions.” Raps West.
Ty Dolla Sign’s hook is pretty good too. “Wolves” sounds weird af. Kanye’s bars
make no sense as a whole. I here there is another version to this song. I have
yet to hear it. “Silver Surfer Intermission” is so GODDAMN Skippable. I really don’t
know why he put this little shout out up here lol.
Now for the bonus tracks: “30 Hours” is a great, flawed
song. It has too much talking from Kanye at the end. And Andre 3000 just says, “30
Hours” on it. NOT a great feature. Still tho, this song has a Graduation type
beat. I love it. Ye’s bars are really good too. I really feel “No More Parties
In LA” featuring Kendrick Lamar is the best song. No its not really about
anything but man its dope as hell. The chorus is fire. The Ghostface Killah
sample is well used. Kendrick raps well as usual. Kanye really goes off here.
The song is 6 minutes and Kanye’s verse is most of that. There’s actually a
couple more samples sprinkled in there.
I really like “Facts(Charlie Heat Version)” but I cannot
remember what the original’s beat sounded like. This will do tho. Kanye brings a
lot of personality to this freestyle type song. “I been trendin years y’all a
couple days.” Damn straight! “Fade” is a party track that is really hot. Post
Malone and Ty Dolla Sign steal the show here. And that music video tho! HOT! Lol.
The closer "Saint Pablo" is arguably the best song. It features a great chorus from Sampha. Kanye spits that real sh** on here too. I miss this kind of lyrical dexterity from him.
Overall I really like this album. It is by no means his best
or worst album. The sound is all over the place. The placement of the songs is
random as hell. Still really good. I’ll take another album from Mr. West
anyday!
Closing Opinion: 9.5