Is the latest Kanye West album brilliant or a flop?

 After a long layoff and some soul-searching in the relative seclusion of a Wyoming resort, rap star Kanye West is back with his eighth studio album “Ye.”  The sitcom-length release has polarized critics and fans everywhere, some claiming that it goes against the grain and is West’s most experimental yet, while others insist that it’s just a receptacle of over-the-top missives and carelessly constructed instrumentation.

What’s sure is that the album gets everyone more focused on his music once more.  “Ye” is a much-needed breather from Kanye’s many ridiculous and even scandalous political claims and positioning in recent months.  Hearing the eccentric songs in the short album, makes us forget for a while his affinity with Trump, as well as of the other, politically incorrect remarks he has made on rappers, race, and society in general. 

The tracks feel jagged and sound raw, banking on a slew of samplings and a cappella rapping, reminiscent of West’s spoken word beginnings.  It’s not an album one would listen to for melody and pop; it opts for more soulful instrumentation to back up unabashedly personal narratives.  These are best evidenced in “All Mine” and the opening track “I Thought About Killing You.”

Probably the album’s best offering is the brief “No Mistakes” as it best echoes that trademark, aggressive Kanye approach— stripped down, sans much glamor.  All in all, perhaps the take of the music critics over at Pitchfork best sums this divisive outing.  That it is “an album born from chaos for chaos’ sake…” Yet they qualify this by adding that it “can be somewhat fascinating.”

Hello, there.  My name’s Mike Giuffrida, a student based in Los Angeles.  I keep an eye on the crazy world of entertainment and pop culture.  For more of my posts, do check out this website.