{"id":20169,"date":"2018-06-04T14:34:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T19:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=20169"},"modified":"2018-06-04T18:00:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T23:00:44","slug":"kanye-west-ye-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/06\/04\/kanye-west-ye-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanye West: “ye” Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Today Kanye West released his 8th album, simply called \u201cye.\u201d It\u2019s the second in a barrage of albums releasing throughout the summer that he produced in the mountains of Wyoming.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Last week we got Pusha T\u2019s \u201cDAYTONA,\u201d and will get releases from Nas, Teyana Taylor and a collab between West and Kid Cudi in the coming weeks. A Cruel Summer indeed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This album is musically similar to \u201cThe Life of Pablo.\u201d However, unlike \u201cPablo,\u201d this is a short, concise album with seven tracks that clock in at a little over 23 minutes. None of the songs on this album feel incomplete, and all the concepts were fully realized. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0While \u201cPablo\u201d attempted to sound like a culmination of West\u2019s previous work, \u201cye\u201d succeeds at it. At certain points the album\u2019s sound harkens back to elements found on \u201c808\u2019s and Heartbreak,\u201d \u201cYeezus\u201d and a little \u201cGraduation\u201d thrown in for good measure. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Yet while the album is short, there is much to take away from these tracks. The album\u2019s theme seems to be a fight between the demons Kanye has, either due to addiction or his bipolar disorder, and the man that he wants to and sometimes struggles to be. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The first half seems like an acknowledgment of his demons and is the usual braggadocious Kanye we know and love. Starting with \u201cWouldn\u2019t Leave\u201d the album goes to a more heartfelt place, and we hear more from Kanye the man, and the bravado is somewhat left behind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"kanye_west_6_by_seanhowell88-dc0xp5n\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0But let\u2019s start dissecting \u201cye\u201d track by track with \u201cI Thought About Killing You.\u201d West opens up the album by having a conversation with himself in spoken word, talking about the dark thoughts in his mind which are both homicidal and suicidal and can be attributed to his opioid addiction. His voice gets deeper and deeper as his thoughts get darker. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Two and a half minutes in and the track then turns into an actual song where he raps about these struggles and his efforts to fix them. While the lyrics aren\u2019t the best here, the production is immaculate, and it is auditorily pleasing to hear, as is most of the album.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Next is \u201cYikes,\u201d a song that goes more in-depth on West\u2019s demons, including his addiction and bipolar disorder, both of which fuel his fears of suffering the same fate as Michael Jackson and Prince. This is the most rapping we get on the album, and it\u2019s a solid listen. As usual the production is fantastic, and it ends with West embracing his disorder, and proclaiming it as his superpower. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAll Mine\u201d is a song that sounds like it could be featured on \u201cYeezus,\u201d with a very solid, haunting beat. The lyrics focus on infidelity and how men and women struggle with it. Kanye name drops several celebrities that cheated on their significant other such as Chris Rock, Kobe Bryant and Tristan Thompson. The lyrics are misogynistic, and can be off putting to some.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWouldn\u2019t Leave\u201d is essentially an apology from West to his wife Kim Kardashian, and to all women who have to deal with men that aren\u2019t the best. This song has a soulful quality to it that would help it fit right in with \u201cGraduation\u201d or \u201cThe Life of Pablo.\u201d It touches on the many controversies West has been a part of in the last month and the negative effect it\u2019s had on Kardashian. A very good song.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo Mistakes\u201d is a solid song with upbeat production that touches on the many mistakes West has made in the past, while West also claims he makes no mistakes. Once again, the song is filled with soul and wouldn\u2019t sound out of place on \u201cGraduation.\u201d In addition, it includes a diss at Drake, who is currently feuding with West\u2019s fellow G.O.O.D. Music label mate Pusha T. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cGhost Town\u201d is probably the most interesting song on the album and feels like the combination of \u201cWolves\u201d from \u201cPablo\u201d and \u201cRunaway\u201d from West\u2019s fifth album, \u201cMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.\u201d It is epic in scope and deals with the internal struggle one feels to just let all their feelings go and enter back into a state of childlike bliss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0West gives most of the singing duties in this song to Kid Cudi and 070 Shake, a new signee of West\u2019s label. John Legend also sings the intro to the song, albeit sloppily. The production is great, as while the lyrics of the song seem triumphant, the beats and mixing seem to create a sense of dread, and things falling apart, especially in the end when Shake\u2019s last lines echo in the background, the guitars fading away. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The singing leaves a little to be desired, as Cudi is really off key, but it isn\u2019t a deal breaker. But if this is a teaser of what\u2019s to come from the West\/Cudi collab album next week, I\u2019m interested.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cViolent Crimes\u201d is the final track of the album, and ends it on a heartfelt note. In this song West muses about how his four year old daughter North will live her life as she grows up. He mentions how his attitude towards women has been affected since having a daughter, and mentions the way the entertainment industry sexualizes and takes advantage of young women. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He also talks about how his previous nature may come back to haunt him, and how men who have daughters fear the karma they may face due to being reckless towards women in their past, West included. It ends the album on a thoughtful and even hopeful note and is a nice cap to the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Overall, \u201cye\u201d a good album with some of West\u2019s most personal lyrics to date. The production is great and every song is at least pleasing to hear. If I had one complaint, it would be that this album doesn\u2019t have any bangers, there aren\u2019t any songs you\u2019ll likely be hearing in the club, and maybe that was by design, as this is a more intimate album than previous efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"10990155664_19d97e9c5b_b\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The runtime is also very short, but I\u2019ll take quality over quantity, and I hope this means shorter wait times in between albums. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This is a solid outing from West, and if you\u2019re a fan of him, you\u2019ll find a lot to like in this album. For newcomers it might be somewhat off putting though, and you should listen to some of his earlier work before diving in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> 4 Hands bleeding due to touching stoves out of 5<\/span><\/h2>\n

Henry Wolski<\/strong>
\nExecutive Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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