Here we are with another album from the Wyoming sessions and that project is Kanye West's eighth solo album, "ye" and not surprising the album rollout did have its fair share of controversy, to say the least. From his bizarre behavior on twitter to the "400 years of slavery a choice" comments on TMZ pissing many fans off. Fan's were wondering if Kanye would be explained the insane shit he doing/saying before the release, an interesting tidbit about this album was rushed because this album scrapped right when the TMZ shit happened in a recent interview Kanye did. I am curious what that would've sounded like but we will never know but if you are wondering if he addresses anything he has done in the last couple of months? Yes.
"ye" starts off with, "I Thought About Killing You" with the first half of the track with a spoken word poem from Ye himself. Kanye talks about being bipolar, his opioids addiction, his dark thoughts in his head about killing someone he loves or killing himself. My favorite of this spoken word where he says " I love myself way more than I love you" and then saying he probably doesn't love himself cause his struggling mentally, this paints a good picture with someone who deals with being bipolar. The beat does switch has these screams in the background and very nice drums and a decent verse from Kanye, it's a good track and the concept is a very good one.
"Yikes" continues on the theme with Ye dealing with drug addiction and he also makes references to hallucinations like DMT and 2CB. I loved Kanye's flow on here and the lyrical content with adjusting to fame to the what if Ye was caught up with that "Me Too" movement and sends prayers Russell Simmons who was one of the many names involved that shit going on in Hollywood. The most interesting line that caught my attention was he said "I can feel the spirits all around me, I think Prince and Mike tryna warn me" and Kanye was a huge fan of both men who both passed from drug overdose and his worried he might end up like them and it's time to quit now.
"All Mine" is the weakest track on this entire short project, the main theme is Ye's views on a lot of famous people getting caught cheating on their partners. He mentions Tristian Thompson from the Cavs who was caught cheating on then-pregnant girlfriend Khloe Kardashian and finding all the thots on ChristianMingle.com. I did enjoy the hook from Jeremiah and I love the church like organs at the beginning too but Kanye has some cringe lines that weigh the song down. "I love your titties cause they prove I can focus two things at once" is a very "Kanye" line but the "Let me hit it raw like fuck the outcome, none of us would be here without cum" gave me major douche/cringe chills.
"Wouldn't Leave" has Kanye apologizing to his wife Kim for his antics leading up to the album worrying about she might end up leaving and divorcing him for trying to ruin her reputation and the brand but at the end of the day she gonna stick by her man. Kanye raps also realize that he is gonna spread a message to the people he needs to word them better and I do like where in his mind he thinks like George Jetson where he ahead of the times and thinks differently from others but he always ended up sounding like a George Jefferson and sounds dishonest with his words. PARTYNEXTDOOR sounds really amazing on here and it's easily the best he has sounded since I have heard his music and also the choir on the chorus with Party, Jeremiah, and Ty Dolla is wonderful, plus the production is very soulful and powerful and I enjoy Kanye spoken word at the end of the track, he said some good shit.
"No Mistakes" has Kanye continuing the theme of his mental state awhile its a brief and short track, god damn this shit beautiful. Cudi and the great Charlie Wilson on the hook steal the damn show, this damn hook been stuck in my damn head and it hasn't annoyed me yet. Ye does take a dig at Drake saying calm down, you light skin! which I giggle at every time."Ghost Town" was originally gonna be on Kids See Ghost album but it's on here instead as a teaser, Kanye does sing on this track and this is the best he has sung in his entire career. Cudi on here does sound a bit odd and funny here but he wasn't on the track that long so it was ok, PND sounded great on here but damn 070 Shake, you have my attention now. She steals the show and her voice is very powerful and I love her lyrics about we still have that inner child in us no matter why old we are and putting her hand on the stove and nothing hurts me anymore cause she feels free which some people can relate who have dealt with depression and self-harm themselves to numb the pain and feel alive once again, powerful song and I want to hear from this young lady in the near future.
"Violent Crimes" is lyrically Kanye best song and it's a perfect track to close out the album. He goes from the perspective of women being pregnant with a child and mentions his two daughters North and Chicago, he talks about the fear of their future, how will they grow up, and how they will be treated. I did like the message of the song where it is true that when men before they have a daughter most of the time they are very disrespectful to women, also the references to Bad Boys 2, Meet The Fockers and Don't Be a Menace parody from the Wayans brothers painted a nice picture with those couple of bars Kanye rapped, 070 Shake and Ty Dolla features are pretty great too.
Final thoughts on "ye", this exceeded my expectations and Kanye did a tremendous job of describing where he is currently at with himself dealing with mental health. I wish this album was longer but we are getting another Kanye album in next few days as I am writing this review so most likely the theme of this project will expand on to Kids See Ghost with Cudi. Like most of Ye's album, this will be slipt down the middle between the die-hard fans and causals but Kanye delivered on here with "ye". Production from Kanye and company is strong and lyrically it's most enjoyable despite a line or two lines here and there, so GOOD ASS JOB Kanye.
Favorite Tracks: No Mistakes, Ghost Town, Violent Crimes, Yikes, Wouldn't Leave
Least Favorite Tracks: All Mine
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