REVIEW | KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) 'YE'

So, I checked out Kanye’s new album simply title, “Ye”. I spent the better part of a businees trip to North Carolina critiquing this album. And, to my surprise I enjoyed the production and song selection. Kanye has made a reputation of being the sample king, when it comes to production. And this piece of work was no exception. We hear sounds from all over the spectrum, and he manages to package them all in a very concise and specific way.

“Wouldn’t leave” is the fourth song on the track, it has a church vibe to it pulling from the themes of a Chance The Rapper song. In the track, Kanye speaks about bad decisions that he has made, times when he thought Kim was going to leave him…. It paints the picture of Ye, being human. One of the factors I appreciate about this song and the album in whole, is the fact Kanye allows himself to be vulnerable. He allows the listener to see him, in a state where typically we have not been allowed to see him before.

“I thought about killing you”, is Kanye having a conversation with himself.. He speaks on the topics of being bipolar and suicidal in the same breath.. This is the opening song for the album, it catches you by surprise. I think that was the intention of making this the first track. You hear it at first, and immediately you’re thinking, “What’s this ninja about to say next”..

One of my favorite songs is the last track.. “Violent Crimes”. Kanye talks about being a dad, one of the lines he says somethig like this…”I hope you have a body like mine, and not your moms”; speaking to his daughter. I thought this was genius.. Again, it humanized Kanye, in a way we haven’t seen since “College Dropout”, or “Late Registration”. To me, this was the old Kanye. And like many fans of Mr. West, we miss the old kanye.

Now, the hot topic is Kanye’s political views.. And how they shaped in this album. He manages to skirt those topics. He touches on it briefly though. Kanye dedicated this album to the music, pure art.. And, as a fan of hip hop and rap, I appreciated that.

For the most part, it’s a good album. If you can get past the Stormy Daniels lines, and his constant objectification of women. Musically, Kanye put out a dsecent piece of work.. Considering this is the second part of a trifecta he’s been working on. First with prodcing Pusha T’s album, and lastly collabing with Kid Cudi. He’s churning out a lot of creativity. Hopefully this isn’t that last of this iteration of Mr. West.. I give “Ye”, a solid thumbs up…

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Dezimon Alicea

Dezimon Alicea is a culture curator. He blends his passion of society and hip hop; as he structures a narrative to push the culture forward. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter @dezimonalicea