‘The Life Of Pablo’ is a new hit

Jacob Tovar, Photographer

Kanye West is my second favorite artist after Logic, but this album review on The Life of Pablo will be completely in favor of Yeezy.

From the get go, “Ultralight beam” is very gospel-like with a church choir on the hook. Chance the Rapper kills his verse talking about his daughter and how he feels even more unstoppable after collaborating with Kanye. There are also parts of a little girl talking about prayer and God on the track.

On the next track “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1,” Kanye brings in Kid Cudi and talks about how he wants to feel liberated and how he wants to get out of the norm of being known for controversial situations even though we all know he’s had his fair share of them.

“Pt. 2”’s beat sampled by a producer by the name of Desiigner. His dad inspires Kanye’s verse in the song. Kanye’s dad left the family when he was super young. “Up in the morning, miss you bad, sorry I ain’t call you back, same problem my father had.” Kanye reflects on his dad’s decisions and wants to be the opposite to his children and wife.

On another note, “Famous” is one of my favorite songs on the album, especially when the beat drops after Rihanna sings the hook. I love the ending and how Kanye mixes up Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” with Swiss Beats vocals.

In “Freestyle 4,” Kanye talks about living an intoxicated lifestyle while having wild nights at dinner parties. It seems like he’s having a conversation with himself in his own head.

Onto another deep track, “FML”, it is one of the deeper tracks on the album. Kanye admits he’s on an antidepressant known as Lexapro.

He also states he’s glad he’s found his wife, Kim Kardashian and he will do anything and die for the ones he loves. The Weeknd is featured on “FML” and does a marvelous job with his vocals. Onto “Real Friends,” it was one of the singles from the album.

Ty Dolla $ign is featured on this track. Kanye speaks about how throughout life, people get older and everything is in constant motion, even family. He gets very wrapped up in his personal life that the people he used to be real friends with rarely come around and likewise with Kanye. “I couldn’t tell you how old your daughter was, couldn’t tell you how old your son is. I got my own jr. on the way dawg, plus I already got one kid. Maybe 15 minutes, took some pictures with your sister, Merry Christmas, then I’m finished, then it’s back to business.” Things that were important back then aren’t as important anymore with Kanye.

“Wolves,” in the first verse, Kanye speaks of how he’s been lost and beat down. After the passing of his mother in 2007, he’s been emotionally sad and some say he’s declined since then. He also released “Graduation” in 2007 while his mother, Donda, died two months after. There are a couple versions of “Wolves” out. One version is with just Kanye and Frank Ocean while another with Vic Mensa and Sia.

“30 hours,” was also released before the album dropped. Kanye is most likely talking about his ex, Sumeke Rainey, in this song on how Kanye moved to Los Angeles during his early career and would frequently go back to Chicago to visit her.

If you look up how far LA is to Chi Town, it takes 1 day and 5 hours. 24 + 5 which is 29 hours but that’s not counting stops so round up and it’s 30 hours. The hook mentions, “but I still drove 30 hours, but I still drove 30 hours to you.”

“No More Parties in LA,” features Kendrick Lamar. Kanye gives praise to Pablo Picasso on this track. This track was also a single to the album.

“Facts (Charlie Heat Version),” is another version of the previously released “Facts”. It is arguably the hardest track on the album, especially with the vocals. “Facts” is Kanye’s diss track to Nike and in a way to Jumpman or Jordan. Saying “Yeezy, yeezy, yeezy, just jumped over Jumpman.” And, “If Nike didn’t have Drizzy man they wouldn’t have nothing, if Nike didn’t have Don C, man they wouldn’t have nothing.” Onto “Nike treat employees like salves, gave LeBron a billi’ not to run away.” Kanye also announced he’s going to run for president in 2020. Just another cocky Kanye song. But I love it. Give this album a listen rather than ignoring it due to Kanye’s attitude. The Life of Pablo is available on Tidal in addition to Spotify and unfortunately not on iTunes yet.  (5/5 Stars)