NATALIE MOONEY
Guest Writer
mooneynr@plu.edu
Kanye West cannot seem to stay out of the media these days. West has been quite vocal on Twitter lately with rants about money, society and fellow rappers – and amidst all that, he just released his newest album titled âThe Life of Pabloâ (known as TLOP).
The release was announced on the NBC show âSaturday Night Live,â on which he performed new tracks âHighlightsâ and âUltralight Beam.â West also sampled one of the tracks on TLOP, âI Love Kanyeâ in a sketch with SNL cast member Kyle Mooney.
TLOP was released only on Tidal, a music streaming service created by Jay-Z. Controversially, this album was not released on the more popular outlets like iTunes or Spotify, making it nearly impossible for fans to listen without paying for it.
TMZ reported that Tidal subscriptions doubled following the release of TLOP, and it also set the record number of streams on Tidal.
By releasing this album exclusively, West puts his fans in a tough spot as they are forced to decide just how badly they want to experience his new album. While it is illegal to Torrent (illegally download) music, many fans found this the most viable option.
Ironically, Pacific Lutheran University students received an email last week about music piracy. Some Lutes said they had downloaded it using software other than Tidal.
The lack of availability may have led to âThe Life of Pabloâ failing to even break the top 200 on the Billboard Charts. Tidal also does not release the number of streams per artist to Billboard, so his album could have done very well, but unfortunately those numbers do not factor into the Billboard charts.
A widespread release of this album is set to come in the near future and will feature even more tracks than the original 18 on the Tidal release. It has the potential to do very well in the weeks to come.
JEFF DUNN
News Editor
dunnja@plu.edu
The dust has settled around Kanye West as the juggernaut of events that was âThe Life Of Pabloâ release comes to a close. The album, released Valentineâs Day exclusively via Tidal, comes with a resurgence of communication from Kanye via Twitter âfor better or worse depending on your view.
âThis is a gospel album,â he announced during Yeezy Season 3, the part-fashion show, part-album release and listening party befitting Kanyeâs maximalist style. The album opens with the heavenly âUltralight Beam,â immediately establishing the Christian influences Kanye wove into the album.
Both his and Chanceâs verse read more like gospel than hip hop, and the full choir mixed with horns and organs takes us home to that sweet spot between genres.
The intense megalomania that comes with super-celebrity will consume and destroy those of us who cannot fathom it. Kanye West is not, however, incapable of fathoming it.
Kanyeâs ego explodes across the tracks, taking him to new highs of vanity and new lows of self-deprecation. Even so, he presents himself as the narcissistic anti-hero we know and love â though heâs cracked a bit under the pressure of being a social icon, and we can see his anxieties are peaking through the cracks in TLOP.
See: âSilver Surfer Intermission,â a track that holds no value except to prove that the temporary album title âWavesâ was meant as âlove and supportâ for rapper Max B (cited by Wiz Khalifa as the originator of the âwaveâ).
The album progresses in a much different style than previous Ye releases. Average track time is about three minutes, outliers being âReal Friends,â âNo More Parties in L.A.â and â30 Hours.â
Each track is different from the previous and different from the rest of his discography, but it all still manages to fit together like a piece from one of the albumâs namesakes, Pablo Picasso (though music reviewer Anthony Fantano would argue the tracks are âmore Jackson Pollock than Pablo Picassoâ).
Despite making each track feel different from the others, there are still elements from old jams. âWavesâ is reminiscent of the golden choruses on âWe Majorâ and âDevil in a New Dress.â âFreestyle 4â and âFadeâ pull from the loud, angry Kanye that made Yeezus. The beat-chopping throughout the album solidifies Ye as the best at what he does.
Kanye draws parallels between himself and the three Pablos (St. Paul the Apostle, artist Pablo Picasso, and drug lord Pablo Escobar) throughout the album. In âNo More Parties in L.A.â Kany sees himself as a messenger from God, as an artist pushing his limits and as the enemy of the media (âI feel like Pablo when Iâm workinâ on my shoes / I feel like Pablo when I see me on the news / I feel like Pablo when workinâ on my houseâ).
Itâs impossible to analyze his music in a vacuum. While itâs true that a separation of art and artist is possible on a smaller scale, Kanyeâs case is different.
Heâs an immensely influential artist, with seven full-length albums under his belt since 2003. Heâs been in the pop culture spotlight at least since then. He knows the things he says have far-reaching effects. Kanye should know better; Kanye definitely thinks women are objects, definitely thinks he can run for President of the U.S. in 2020, and Kanye thinks Bill Cosbyâs innocence is something he can joke about.
Some would argue that TLOP is more spectacle than art. If that were true, wouldnât that mean that all the preceding rants and tweets and freakouts were all part of this spectacle? Can we reduce Kanye to nothing more than a symbol in the media? Isnât this exactly what heâs upset about?
All things considered, Kanye is nothing more than a man. A man that has created his magna opus, a piece of work that serves as both a reflection on where heâs been, an intimate peek into his daily life, and a glimpse at what could possibly lie ahead.
