While controversial in every other way, there's one thing that can be accepted: Kanye West is an artist. Beyond the opinionated side of the coin, he's an artist in his desire to provoke, creating abstract emotions through his work and more off putting public persona. It makes sense then that he compares himself to legendary painter Pablo Picasso with the elusive "The Life of Pablo" title, which features a staggering image that is just as bizarre as what Picasso's work must have been like in its day. It's where the comparisons stop, as Picasso likely never aired his affairs in public forums or thought that he was a God. However, what West has done once again is make an album full of abstract images in order to provoke, and provoke he does by looking back on the life of the twisted artist that is himself.
The one immediate feeling that happens when listening to "The Life of Pablo" is a certain confusion. For a man coming off of the aggressively loud and fast "Yeezus," the gospel-like opening of "Ultralight Beam" is a far cry from the angry man. In fact, he sings on the song as if he's found a certain revelation. It's beautiful and sincere in ways that "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" could be. However, it ditches self-indulgence for off-the-cuff earnestness long enough to mislead an audience by believing that a man whose detractors refer to as a "public nuisance" has actually changed and that maybe beyond the off putting art work, that this will be something spiritual.
It is, though only kind of. The spirit of West has slowly emerged from the almost O.C.D.-level productions of his early work into the experimental phase that is fine with dropping a beat and changing a rhythm without a two week's notice. Even if he doesn't have the best lyrical content, one would have issue with not admitting that he at least can put together a good beat, idiosyncratic or not. Even if the album initially comes across more as a collage than a cohesive narrative, there feels like a subliminal, impulsive feel to the music. He isn't just taking us through his life from breakout hit of the early 00's to his scandalous now, he is making us experience it sonically.
This comes early on with "Famous," where the sense of artist begins to be born after the conclusive gospel tracks "Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1" and "Pt 2." It's where he begins to show the West that is familiar to the Billboard charts, including cameos from various musicians like Rihanna and Frank Ocean. From this point onward, there's a lingering sense that spirituality is part of West's soul, but it has to duke it out with demons the entire time. The music challenges itself to be soulful and crass, often turning to overtly sexual lyrics to drive the point home while being immersed in autotune crooning. What's even more impressive is that for an artist whose work has slowly become more self-indulgent, that feeling doesn't kick in until halfway through.
At the center of the album is "I Love Kanye." It may be the most self-aware, self-deprecating thing that West has ever done. It's an acapella tune where he reminisces on "The old Kanye" while rhyming every line with, you guessed it, Kanye. It ends by even suggesting that it is the most Kanye thing imaginable before breaking into laughter. While the song is itself pure narcissism, its lack of music suggests that it's a change of soul, or at least an artist finally reflecting on himself purely without any distractions. It forms the ego by which his persona is based. Whether or not it is to be interpreted as his own personal pep talk into a mirror is up for debate. However, considering where everything else goes on the album, it feels like an interlude and a moment of self-reflection before turning his art and public persona back on each other with the self-loathing "FML."
Even if this is a terribly misinterpreted take, there's still a sense that it's West at least coming to terms with the demon he's made out of his public persona. He talks about hating internet bloggers and doing vulgar things for attention. Even the stellar "No Parties in L.A." where he raps alongside Kendrick Lamar feels like a certain defeat of himself. He is tired of being the go to guy for wild and crazy. It's also a reflection of a married man with two kids, conflicted with ever settling down to the point of social irrelevance. West is after all an artist, and by which he needs to constantly challenge himself to make great content.
Much like West himself, this is probably going to be a divisive album, as it is neither as poetic as "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" or as anarchic as "Yeezus." It's an album that mixes everything in West's life and creates something immediately unique, frustrating, and beautiful. It's an album by an artist who has stopped making music and who wishes to better understand himself through his art. It may not be what makes us love him, but it definitely keeps us guessing while providing one of the most astounding late career choices by any rapper working today. The fact that he's still relevant today is a miracle. The fact that he's still doing work that is inimitable is even more-so.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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