G-4rce Album Reviews: The Life of Pablo

So after waiting so long for West to drop his new project, I was really hoping that this one wouldn't disappoint. I mean, I didn't like his album Yeezus, so I was really starting to lose faith in the dude. Not a bad name for this project, The Life of Pablo, even though I don't really know who or what "Pablo" is supposed to be...

The Life of Pablo
Artist: Kanye West
Released February 14, 2016

Metacritic Reception
Critics: 75% Generally Favorable
Users: 7.8 Generally Favorable

Ultralight Beam 11/10:
Now this is where Kanye is supposed to shine. What a way to start an album with some REAL promise. I'm sorry, but if you don't like this song then something is really wrong with you. The vocals are great, the lyrics are great, the instrumental is great, and the verse from Chance the Rapper is GREAT. Definitely one of his best new era songs.

Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 8/10:
Very, very good gospel sample usage in this one with an addicting hook from Kid Cudi and West's autotuned voice. So you're already liking this track, dancing and sh*t, then next thing you know, out of nowhere comes the first verse: "Now if I f*ck this model, and she just bleached her a******, and I get bleach on my T-shirt, Imma feel like an a******". What the hell? Okay, now I realize that this song is literally just about sex. Nothing too wrong with sex songs but, being the new Kanye, he presents it in the weirdest way possible. And the verses after that feature more "elementary era" lyrics. If you can deal with the main verses and just live for the chorus, then you'll like this track. If not, then it's a throwaway.

Pt. 2 9/10:
This song is basically just Panda by Desiigner including some vocals from Kanye that are actually really good. First time I heard this track, I really liked it, although I wish it was its own thing instead of another version of Panda.

Famous 8/10:
Taylor Swift diss alert! Kanye is back at it with his arrogant attitude and gives us a very unneeded verse: "For all the southside n*ggas that know me best, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous." Now don't get me wrong, this is actually a good song in my opinion, but I don't appreciate Kanye's attitude towards Taylor who has done literally NOTHING to him. Anyways, I do like this track. The instrumental is great, especially the last minute of the song. The music video is actually pretty ridiculous. I see the message he was trying to present around being famous in the video, but he just presents it in the creepiest and most boring way possible.

Feedback 9/10:
The instrumental on this track pumps and I love this chorus verse: "Ey, ya heard about the good news? Y'all sleepin' on me, huh? Had a good snooze? Wake up n*gga, wake up! We 'bout to get this paper!" This is basically an unapologetic ode to his success, where he disses his haters and flaunts his money and fame. Now unlike the diss towards Taylor Swift, this diss was done more appropriately. Good track.

Low Lights 8/10:
Just a quick interlude into the next track, and it's actually not bad. It's basically a woman speaking about her love for Jesus.

Highlights 8/10:
Woah, man. This album has more good tracks than I thought. Good autotune usage from the artists, good vocals, and a good instrumental. This song also includes a Ray J diss, which was necessary because they actually do have some solid beef against each other. The ending of the song although was kinda weird because they repeat the verse: "I need every bad bitch up in Equinox, I want to know right now if you're a freak or not". This is when I realize that Kanye is a huge freak in bed, but I guess I appreciate the fact that he's not afraid to admit it. Good track.

Freestyle 4 9/10:
This song is nasty, both lyrics and production. This is more of a personal track with Kanye and the lyrics are deeper than you may think. This song is representative of the communication he is having with his own mind, describing being out of control and highlighting his drug abuse causing a distorted reality. It's a very edgy track, but it's very good.

I Love Kanye 8/10:
May not be fitting for the ears, but it's a good satirical take on the Kanye Loves Kanye meme.

Waves 10/10:
What the hell, Ye? This dude is really surprising me with this album. This track is about relationships with loved ones; pretty simple. Chris Brown also does a GREAT job in this song. His voice is soooooooo good in this.

FML 10/10:
Yes. Yes. Holy sh*t, I'm in tears right now with how well this album is coming along. This track is GREAT. The lyrics are very well-done and the Weeknd just takes the stage with the chorus line. The ending instrumental is excellent.

Real Friends 11/10:
Okay, next to Ultralight Beam, this is probably one of the greatest new tracks that Kanye has made. The lyrics are very good and they flow naturally to a smooth instrumental. Also, Ty Dolla $ign, an artist I'm not really into, murders his parts. Just everything about this song flows together so nicely, especially the chorus line: "I guess I get what I deserve, don't I? Word on the streets is that I ain't heard from 'em. I guess I get what I deserve, don't I? Talk down on my name, throw dirt on 'em."

Wolves 10/10:
Alright, I'm done here. Anyone who says Kanye sucks is dead f*cking wrong. They have no idea what this guy is really capable of. The last 4 tracks I've just listened to on this album are just so well-made. This song feels like something coming out of 808s & Heartbreak, both the lyrics and tune of it. Sia also does a superb job with her part.

Frank's Track 7/10:
This is like a quick part 2 interlude for Wolves. It sounds good but I hate the fact that it's very short. Dammit. Oh well. Next track.

Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission 6/10:
Basically just a quick phone conversation between Max B and French Montana back when TLOP was called WAVES. It's another personal track with Kanye, and you'll have to look up what it means to him. It is an interlude so it's nothing interesting but it's a necessary addition to the album.

30 Hours 7/10:
Not one of the better tracks on the album but it's not bad. This track finds Kanye reflecting on a past relationship from the point of view with his present relationship from Kim. The song is quite repetitive and it's 5 1/2 minutes long so it does get a bit weak after a while.

No More Parties in L.A. 10/10:
King Kendrick on the track baby! Yeah, I freaking love this song. The verses are just great and it features probably Kanye's best continuous rap flow since his performance on New God Flow. Kendrick Lamar also does an incredible job with his verses on this track, as usual.

Facts (Charlie Heat Version) 7/10:
This song is pretty hot. The instrumental bangs but the theme is kinda unbalanced with the album as a whole, where Kanye just talks about his Adidas Yeezy Boost line and denounces his affiliation with competitor Nike. It's not a bad song but it doesn't really fit the style of the album. It feels like something out of Cruel Summer.

Fade 9/10:
Great instrumental on this track; like a jazzy/funk tune, but also another strange addition to the album. It's better than Facts, though.

Saint Pablo 10/10:
A very good finish for this album. The instrumental and verses from Kanye are both hot and the song is 6 minutes long. I love it. In this track, Kanye addresses his deepest thoughts and insecurities, namely the $53M debt he mentioned before the release of TLOP. I also love Sampha's ending to this song, as well.

Overall Score 8.8/10 Great:
The more you stick with this album and the more you understand it, the more you'll like it. Much like the album 808s and Heartbreak, this was a very personal project with Kanye, where he addresses his problems with his own life, friends, family, and his fans in many different ways, whether he is arrogant and childish or serious and meaningful. I also like how he lets everyone know that he's fully aware of the fact that he has created a bad reputation for himself. For him to release an album as good as this one, I don't think anything can stop what he does best. I have to say that Kanye is back. No, I'm serious. Kanye is back. This entire project featured very good songs. It's pretty messy as a whole, but it feels like that's exactly how Kanye wanted it to be. This project is a HUGE step-up from the Yeezus and Cruel Summer era. It also gives me a much bigger insight on his bizarre personality. I like Kanye, to be honest. There are many times when he does insane sh*t, like some of the stupidest Donald Trump-type sh*t you could think of, but whenever he's out of that stage, it's like he knows exactly what the hell he's doing, like a pure genius. This album is a perfect example of that attitude. Kanye is a very different type of guy, and you just need to LISTEN to his GOOD music to appreciate him more. I really love this project. It's a different style like all of his albums, yet it's still so damn good.

I have to hurry up with this Secret Life of Pets review. I'll see you guys then. Ciao!

Comments

Excellent review! In my opinion, while not the worst Kanye album, it's far from my favorite. I enjoyed quite a bit of songs on here, and some others just fell flat on their face. - SwagFlicks

The ones that fall flat most likely are Father Stretch My Hands, Famous, Feedback, Highlights, 30 Hours, and Facts, am I right? I agree that this album is not as good as MBTDF, Graduation, College Dropout, and Late Registration. I don't think anything Kanye releases in the future could beat those masterpieces. It was actually the meaning of the songs in TLOP that caught my attention, and the more I listened to it, the more it hooked me. - visitor

I loved Father Stretch My Hands, and I though Highlights was pretty good, other than that, you're right on the money. - SwagFlicks

Thanks to you, my opinion of this shot up from 6/10 to 8/10 - ProPanda

Awesome - visitor

CD: 10/10
Graduation: 9.5/10
LR: 10/10
808s: 8/10
MDBTF: 9/10
Yeezus: 2/10
TLOP: 5/10

you seriously gave pt. 1 a pass who are you - WonkeyDude98

LoL the reason I gave it a pass was because of the instrumental and the chorus line. I can't deny that it's one of my most favorite chorus lines in any song. - visitor

But that shirt line...

Also Pt. 2 is useless haha. - WonkeyDude98

I'd that line really concerned me about the dude lol, and yes, Pt. 2 was a bit useless but I did like Kanye's verse in it so I gave it the same rating as Panda in my review for New English. - visitor