The Peak of the Infamous Kanye West
While most people spend their Valentine’s Day with their significant other, going on dates, out to eat or just spending extra time together, back on Valentine’s Day four years ago Kanye West dropped his iconic studio album no. 7, ‘The Life of Pablo’. This 2016 release was Kanye’s first album that didn’t have any major drama surrounding its release. There was no major statement or Ye-like reinvention that came with this release. Rather, the build-up to the release was rather mundane. Don’t let the routine release fool you though, because this five-time Grammy nominated album was anything but routine. It was and still is a piece of art and an essential addition to any playlist.
With hit songs like “Ultralight Beam” feat. Chance the Rapper, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and “Pt. 2”, “Famous”, “Highlights” feat. Young Thug, “Waves”, “Wolves” and so many more top-tier rap and R&B songs, ‘The Life of Pablo’ is considered to be one of Kanye’s greatest mainstream works—most comparable to his 2007 release, “Graduation”.
One of the reasons this album is so great is because of the intensive studio time, collaboration and thought process put into its creation. During the initial 2013 recording session for TLOP, artists like Rihanna and Paul McCartney were present and contributed to its creation. Even with those incredible artists, this album was most heavily influenced by Kanye’s good friend and fellow Chicago native, Chance the Rapper. Not only is Chance featured on multiple songs on the album, but he was involved in the entire album’s production and actually fought with Kanye over what the final tracklist should be. It is thanks to Chance that “Waves” stayed on the album—Kanye kept wanting to cut it. And if you have the time I’d highly recommend checking out the original Chance the Rapper features on both “Famous” and “Waves” (you can find them on SoundCloud or YouTube).
The release of the album was met with incredible reception as it was ranked number one on many music reviews’ lists of 2016’s top albums (both rap and all genre). It was also nominated for five Grammys, although Kanye did not win any that year, and ultimately lost Best Rap Album to Chance the Rapper’s ‘Coloring Book’. However, this release wasn’t only award winning but filled with desperation. Kanye initially released the album solely on the streaming platform Tidal, which resulted in the app skyrocketing to #1 in the app store. But because it was only available on Tidal, it was subjected to the largest music-pirating scheme in music history. TLOP became the most illegally downloaded album in history, ultimately costing West over $10 million in forgone sales.
Eventually ‘The Life of Pablo’ was released across all streaming platforms, and the rest is history. This album is consistently ranked by every major music review between and eight and a half and a 10, and those rankings are justified. There’s a reason that four years later you can still expect to hear a song from this album whenever you walk into a (now socially distanced) party. For its immaculate vibes, feet-stomping beats, top-tier features, and at moments—hysterical lyrics, I give this album a solid ‘A’ and can always find an occasion to que it up. As always, for more musical content be sure to follow me on Spotify @ndturtledove or on AppleMusic @nathan_tdove