Get your soul sanctified on the Kanye West JESUS IS KING thread

it's out praise God

praise the lord jesus christ

i am def going to listen to this on my lunch break

woah one song is feat. Clipse and Kenny G which number one lol but also he must have got Malice out of retirement!

ffs each subsequent release has worse sound quality

Truly the Dylan of our age.

jim, while eating Chick-fil-a?

pretty sure most people on ilm could have done a better job engineering this shit

dnftt

(the troll is Kanye)

jim, while eating Chick-fil-a?

― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Friday, October 25, 2019 9:39 AM (nine minutes ago)

im a pescatarian, my friend in christ

https://theundefeated.com/features/kanye-west-new-album-jesus-is-king-but-he-isnt-worth-our-time-anymore/

That said, some of the tracks are in my New Music Friday playlist and my verdict is "Coldplay released better music today"

also "Kanye I swear to the God you claim to have discovered, if you keep singing I'mma kick you in the autotune"

btw the non-integration of Kenny G into this song is hilarious

This is actually good

Sorry to report. I think the loud mixing is on purpose—yeezus sounded like this too.

Well it purposely sounds like crap so they hit their mark there

lol im interested in this solely for the bad theology, but i dont actually wanna listen to his music anymore

I am not immune to liking things that baffle others; I still have fondness and regard for a couple of ICP albums, for example. Even so, the two songs off of this I heard were total bullshit and I have no interest in the rest of the album as a result.

I am happy for kanye that he found solace in religion

Come on, djp “follow god” and “god is” are dope tracks

Objectively

dont do that

That's the RYM chart fucked for another year then

"Follow God" is bullshit

Truly the Dylan of our age.

1st track is his "all the tired horses". but i'd say it's more of a GBV album, as it sounds like shit and most of the songs are unfinished.

Objectively

Ok I got through this all for the first and last time . This is wack

That was a joke

I enjoy the tracks but there is no objective good and bad

In art. In other domains idk—bigger discussion

"Follow God" is muddled and boring. "Use This Gospel" is asymptotically approaching "objectively bad".

there is no objective good and bad

Dunno how King Jesus feels about that statement.

Jesus didn’t talk a out aesthetics much

He was a writer, he once wrote something in the sand.

Lol RYM hates this actually

I am happy for kanye that he found solace in religion

― treeship., Friday, October 25, 2019 7:22 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

FP'd you for this

Needs more Killah Priest imo.

Turnin the other cheek to that

This is like actually physically painful to listen to, at least with headphones

I think this is better than his last album? (that I only listened once)

I'm not sure it's particularly hard to top "poopity-scoop"

"Hands On" is pretty painful

it's weird because there are AI mastering sites like landr.com that do a way better job than this that would have cost like $40.

he just did the tracks and left the mastering in the hands of christ

lmaoooo

That's the RYM chart fucked for another year then

2.7 and dropping lmao

ye was a 3.2 for context

just like ye this feels way longer than 27 minutes, please stop singing Mr. West

it is almost delightful watching an entire generation of hipsters and nerds realising they backed the wrong horse

I look forward to Pitchfork's review.

They'll still give it more than Clipping!

Idk i still like it

To my fans
Thank you for being loyal & patient
We are specifically fixing mixes on “Everything We Need” “Follow God” & “Water”
We not going to sleep until this album is out!
10:18 PM - 24 Oct 2019

mustve fallen asleep after all

seems better than ye on first (and probably only) listen

I can't wait for an 'ima fix god' tweet and the whole world burns down because of people who don't get the context.

will that tweet come out before or after the tweets about the inevitably shitty reviews of this that he'll freak out about and start another press cycle over

looking forward to pressing play on this Monday

xp the last 2 Earl Sweatshirt LPs and some other post-Yeezus records have also done the "intentionally peaked levels" thing. People have expectations for everything to sound like Dr. Dre.

I like critiquing stuff with "objectively" because it's lmao. plz dont ruin my fun lol.

This is stupid. Hopefully this marks the end of his barely-trying era.

He should've got into Satan. The record would have been a lot better.

xpost I don't have that expectation in any way shape or form don't be ridiculous

peaked levels are a technique that can be used for good or evil

Waiting for a Exit Through The Gift Shop style doc to come out where he explains that we're the sheep that gave him God status and ate up all the half assed music he put out.

He should've got into Satan. The record would have been a lot better.

otm

Even Milton knew this to be true.

This is a fine little album, though not as good as the last one. That one was more painful, more interesting. This one is not really worth wasting that much time on, though, the cultural machine will soon leave him behind if this is what he does from now on. If this is the length and ambition of the records he is releasing, he should make a lot more than one a year, though.

spending your time in Hidden Hills w/other monstrous, wealthy ppl is probably not good for creativity

whole time I wish I was listening to this album instead, which lets face it was mastered just as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvnLDpb4J5I

I read the part that says “KING thread” and got excited. Then I read the rest.

We not going to sleep until this album is out!

The very best way to achieve precise results in a fiddly process that requires close attention is to stay awake for days

can someone who has zoomers in their life tell us what the young folks thing about kanye?

think even

Waiting for a Exit Through The Gift Shop style doc to come out where he explains that we're the sheep that gave him God status and ate up all the half assed music he put out.

never saw it but reading the descriptions, I think you may have nailed it

this whole thing sounds like it was recorded in 2 days during a manic episode

The abrupt ending is weird

this whole thing sounds like it was recorded in 2 days during a manic episode

― frogbs, 25. oktober 2019 21:02 (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Nah, it would be a lot better if it was, I think :(

lol im interested in this solely for the bad theology

― i'm not a government man; i'm a government, man. (m bison),

^^^^^

only things i got from it were 1. god is great because god made kanye great, 2. god is great because he lets people break addictions. i wasn't expecting much -- it's music not a sermon -- but i got even less.

figured i should try this so here's a single spin response:

every hour - first 25 seconds: hey, it's old kanye! // remaining 80 seconds: um, so i guess he's not gonna do anything except chipmunk this up huh.

selah - if this were lower-fi and kanye had to do this in his spare bedroom with protools, this might be sorta interesting outsider art? as it is, just a lot of bombast punctuated by angry subway dude rambling until he hyperventilates

follow god - nice production, terrible mix; put a competent rapper on this and you might have something. i liked it when he went YAAAAAAAGH

closed on sunday - a dark gritty reboot of 'teddybear's picnic' that includes the recurring lyric "closed on sunday / you're my chick-fil-a" // kanye playing at I'm-a-grown-ass-man profundity has generally offered terrible returns

on god - the sound of a man freestyling while playing three video games at once

everything we need - this is not good

water - this would've been okay as an interstitial right up until the part where kanye starts saying jeZUS over and over and then i saw that i was only halfway through the song

god is - this would be fine as end credit music for some sort of religious romance drama if it had more than one idea going on. some real egregious musical choices for the last minute, like keeping the last minute. NB: right around here is when my attention started wandering seriously.

hands on - this is terrible, listen to this from fred hammond instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tyVRgOU6Yw
snoop's Bible of Love is WAYYYYY better than this EP and, at nearly five time the length, goes much faster.
alright i guess i have to go back to the end of this thing huh.

use this gospel - kanye clearly didn't properly close the car door one night when he was badly fucked up and took his resulting revelations as universal but oh my god all i can hear here is CLOSE THE FUCKING CAR DOOR. what a waste of a reunited clipse; the kenny g sax solo is unnecessary. ClOsE tHe FuCkInG cAr DoOr

jesus is lord - lol you have to be kidding me here

in conclusion "feels longer than 27 minutes" is completely otm. I don't think any of these songs are going to merit a second spin from me ever again.

I enjoy the tracks but there is no objective good and bad

― treeship., Friday, October 25, 2019 5:32 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

new board description pls

ten seconds of ty dolla singing the chorus to hot girl summer blows this out the water

*of

at least this mixing/mastering precludes any blue vinyl audio quality debate.

bout to tear it up on the treadmill while playing this

may jesus run with thee

kinda surprised by how many times i thought 'this might have been a cool musical idea if it was fleshed it out a bit instead of on this album' (maybe 3 or 4 times) but it still generally ranges from 'bad' to 'extremely terrible'

Hot trash fam.

Better than YE tho

7.2 album

kanyetothe.com is the best

My wife’s boss was at the Kimmel taping last night and Kanye was the surprise guest. Apparently he was a total ass and offended any none Christians in the room.

funny, the album says something about Christians hating him the most.

Album had some nice guest spots. I also liked the end of that one song where he said to his dad HAUUNNNGH

Kanye without corny misogynist negging makes it his best.

First listen: Like the last one, this feels sketchy and rushed. Simply, it's not good music. There's nothing interesting happening here, sonically or lyrically.

Wild to me how Kanye has gone from one of my favourite artists of all time to someone whose new music I know I will dislike before I even listen to it in the span of just 2 years.

re: rym they still like it more than this year's great chance album, which lol

saw this was released in the local movie theatre but it was only 38 minutes long?!

what was it, just a video version of the album?

Odds are that this thread is better than the album could ever hope to be (and this thread has made me chuckle a few times, which was sorely needed today tbh)

may jesus run with thee

the actual lyric was Hops, but Kanye mis-titled the song

can someone who has zoomers in their life tell us what the young folks thing about kanye?

― Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Friday, October 25, 2019 2:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

basically the same, but with more "kanye was always a joke"

they don't remember the good times

this really is rough. I get wanting to think it's better than "ye", but c'mon, this doesn't even have anything close to "ghost town". prayers up.

the best part is he has already built in a pre-planned "the people wouldn't accept this brilliant work of art because I was testifying for the Lord instead of partying and material things"

odd him and Chance get together for a passive aggressive collaboration album?

I seriously get mad when people act like Kanye always sucked

Then forgive me, for I know not what I am doing.

i appreciate the sparseness of "use this gospel" tbh

he should drop Jesus and produce a whole Freeway album

y'all hate freeway, scared when you see the freeway. Plus you wanna kill freeway!

Asked 18 year old girl at work. "My older brother said he was good but I dont get why anyone cares."

My daughter came to me a year ago or whatever, in hysterics. "You've got to hear this, it's the dumbest thing!" And it was the scoopity poop song. That was the only time she's ever mentioned Kanye, afaik.

Freeye
Kanwe

my teens don’t care about Kanye at all. My boy only listens to rap fwiw

This is better than ye

but

I probably wont listen a second time

I seriously get mad when people act like Kanye always sucked

His stock is seriously down - College Dropout placed 98 in the 00's poll. Hopefully over time some of those early-mid records will regain their sheen.

How much of that is due to MAGA shit versus music?

I'm sure a lot of his lyrics are being reassessed post #metoo as well.

its kinda hard to believe that kanye is underrated (at least here) now

I like to think many of this around in 2010 thought My Banal Torpid Fantasies finally saw him get his comeuppance.

this = us

mbdtf's mediocre rep around here is pretty justified but i don't think college dropout and late registration had their stocks fall so much until more recently

he's better as a producer for others always has been

the only satisfying thing he's done lately is Pusha T and that's because it was basically him in old Roc a Fella mode, trying to make a commercial rap record not some inane "statement"

Yeezus is still amazing. Listening through this new one now a second time, and that's probably as much as it'll get. A few nice moments, but it flows worse than even Life of Pablo. At least it's shorter.

I actually love this album

And find it moving. I think it’s represents a sincere, maybe desperate attempt to overcome egotism through religion.

how familiar are you with gospel

Not much. I was raised in the Catholic tradition. I know about which saint to turn to for which inconvenience.

I think it’s represents a sincere, maybe desperate attempt to overcome egotism through religion.

I've only heard the new album once - am am likely to never hear it again - but if anything it sounded like a sincere, maybe desperate attempt to overcome religion through egotism to me. The album should have been called 'Kanye is king'. If anything he wants Jesus to worship him, not the other way around.

I was raised Catholic. But I'm suspicious of any review that approaches this album from a dilettante's approach to gospel.

Catholic broz

re LBI, i think it’s a dialectic. He finds his grandiosity oppressive and is looking for a way our. That’s always been his default position—with each passing album he’s become more absurdly boastful, and sounded more miserable. But this one is different—a glimmer of hope

I genuinely admire your good faith (no pun intended) reading of this, but I don't/can't share the sentiment. I also disagree it's always been Kanye's disposition; especially his break out albums were imo not concerned with (the oppression of) his own grandiosity. He definitely became more boastful, and lost his head in fame. I was going to say I'm too cynical to be moved by this, but I don't think that's the case. Rather it's an extreme dislike for people who're at the end of their tether and suddenly "find god", and can't stop shouting they FOUND GOD - and that we all should, pronto. It's uninteresting to me, and often - in this case as well - leads to mediocre to bad art/music.

Has there been interesting reviews from christian perspectives? I don't follow that circle.

this is explicitly not a gospel album, it's a """"gospel"""" album

How Great Ye Art

the movie was kind of good, probably because Kanye is barely in it

Listened to this once (and like many here, probably never again).
It's very bad.
That said I'm not the best person to comment on his work since I haven't really liked an album from him since... 808 (more than a decade ago) !
If you consider all the people who, like me, listened to the whole album even though they don't like it (thanks to its short duration), he certainly will get pretty good figures...

the album is bad but I do find myself interested in it because one of my best friends went through a similar arc as Kanye

in his teens/early 20s he was pretty well-liked, known as a funny & smart dude who was generally very good at most of the things he tried. also very competitive and didn't take criticism well

later he got into drugs & compounded with some personal tragedies he started getting very odd. he's never been diagnosed as such but I am pretty sure he was bipolar. would have depressive phases where we wouldn't see him for weeks and manic phases where he'd say some pretty worrying shit. like I remember him laying on the floor in his bedroom saying he was the second coming of Christ and that he could bend the universe to his will.

obviously this scared the hell out of everyone since no one knew what he was gonna do. but he quit his job, stopped paying rent, and was acting very erratic so his roommates had no choice but to kick him out and call his parents. didn't see him for years after that.

now he is very religious, hangs out exclusively in church groups and is almost entirely clean (he drinks the occasional Bud Light). he's in a much better place mentally but still kinda...absent. like he has no clue what's really going on in the world. but he seems a lot happier than he was and we're all relieved to have our friend back. in some form at least

Has there been interesting reviews from christian perspectives? I don't follow that circle.

― Van Horn Street, Sunday, October 27, 2019 8:18 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

https://neemblog.home.blog/2019/10/26/the-apostle-kanye/

I'm considering this might be one of those records that's outsider or fascinatingly bad?

Also a question/observation for production people:
I'm curious about this new updated version of autotune. I'm also hearing it on Tyler The Creator "Black Magic Wand" and on the recent Lil B mixtape ("Crying In The Club"). I haven't heard it in any big radio/chart singles yet (to my knowledge). It performs the typical "enhancement" to make the vocal textures sound less robotic, but this new version changes the voice so drastically that it sounds like it's coming from an entirely different person.

pi'erre bourne's beat on 'on god' is good, but the rest is not worth hearing.

I'm considering this might be one of those records that's outsider or fascinatingly bad?

It's not. It's just boring.

I listen to a good amount of gospel and imho the parts of this that aren't completely horrible are still no better than 19000 other forgettable gospel-rap tapes out there. Only difference is Kanye seems to think no one has ever done it before.

Listened to this again this morning and the surprise Kenny G sax solo is honestly really hysterical

Snoop made the better gospel rap album.

said the same upthread!

Gospel Gangstaz are the gold standard

Which means Ron Paul loves them

what percent of this conversion is just so he can use his newfound piety as a cudgel to beat critics with

lol that this record is basically this Chick tract come to life

https://i.imgur.com/nmZAp7d.png

They really nailed the hipster pizza aesthetic with that one

lol, my paste from kanyetothe last week nailed that Pitchfork would give this 7.2!

Kanye West is cracking the culture code.@kanyewest’s new album #JesusIsKing is the epitome of fearless creativity and “dangerous, unapproved” ideas.

Leftists always try to silence those who are speaking truth. They’re waging a war on our family and culture.

Kanye is a pioneer pic.twitter.com/EmPgLqgGZJ

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 29, 2019

lock thread imo

you silencer

lol is that the preferred don jr white knighting term? someone called me that.

jesus policing

What's Obama's take on the new one?

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/23/771864891/forgotten-the-things-we-lost-in-kanyes-gospel-year?fbclid=IwAR3coAVSNQeZBBPbHwErhtEefd17q2rNsjnXHFSl4WLIkNPZTE4yyllMjfw

good take

That's a really great piece, thanks for sharing.

Kanye says God rewarded him with $68 million tax refund for becoming born-again Christian: https://t.co/rUvvhztYZP #KanyeWest pic.twitter.com/ijfhcdaErD

— Consequence of Sound (@consequence) October 29, 2019

somehow this is the exact brand of Christianity I figured he was gonna practice

As has been true for the last few years with KW, the associated merch line adds the perfect note of hilarious lunacy. Not just because he made this shit and thinks it looks good, but because other people will buy it and swear that it does look good, and wear it in public where other people can see them.

New “Jesus Is King” merch available NOW‼️https://t.co/qWDAxx4QX8 pic.twitter.com/0rUCKxj9cQ

— Def Jam Recordings (@defjam) October 30, 2019

Graphic design and Jesus are my passions

okay lol

impressively that's a step well beyond anything he's done before with his merch

only god can judge

and lo he rated it a 3.1 and there was much bewailing and gnashing of teeth thru thy wire

omg the sweatgarb!!!

Deliberately bad to get our attention.

I was at a bar Saturday night and the DJ played "Power" and "Through the Wire" and it kinda hit me that Kanye is sort of the Michael Jackson of this generation, I feel my kids are gonna ask me one day why this guy is so popular and I'll have to explain that he was actually very good once

That is an interesting hypothesis, may I respond with a "what? fuck no"

I don't think this generation has a Michael Jackson but if it's anyone, I'd argue it's Chris Brown

If by Michael Jackson you mean "versatile successful male pop singer that appeals to kids" (but not in *that* way), then the answer is Bruno Mars.

I am pretty sure he means "one-time dominant pop figure who has devolved into ridicule"

("but still has a fervent fanbase who passionately defends any old bullshit s/he releases")

the difference is he's still a dominant figure in pop culture & if you're younger than 14 then you pretty much only know him as an increasingly erratic weirdo

he's still a dominant figure in pop culture

This is a phrase you can define any way you want to, which means it's effectively meaningless. Does "dominant" mean "spawns hordes of imitators"? Does it mean "sells a lot of records" (hint: no, it does not)? Does it mean "journalists like to write about him"? If it's the latter, then forget about it, because the only people more resistant than music journalists to dropping their pre-existing narrative frameworks and allowing new information in are journalists covering US electoral politics. "Kanye West, dominant figure in pop culture" = "Reagan Democrat". It was true once upon a time, but quite a few years have passed and it's time to re-calibrate.

He does sell a lot of records for modern standards. Pretty much every album he has released is at least Gold and he has several multi-platinum ones. The only album of his which can be considered a complete failure is Ye, although Jesus is King seems like it might be another one.

Does "dominant" mean "spawns hordes of imitators"? Does it mean "sells a lot of records" (hint: no, it does not)? Does it mean "journalists like to write about him"?

the answers to all of these questions is a definite yes.

kanye's career has lasted long enough and has been through enough phases that his acolytes come in many forms--J Cole directly springs from wholesome, soul-sampling kanye, and travis scott was a major beneficiary of the yeezus sound.

does he sell a lot of records? well, nobody does except taylor, adele, and tool. his new album is more-than-likely gonna debut at #1 when the Billboard 200 comes out this week.

and i'm pretty sure you know that journalists love writing about him.

he sells a lot of sweatshirts, which inspired famous rapper earl sweatshirt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIvg0y6vCY

he's also just a big figure in pop culture beyond music

yeezy shoes probably made more money than any rapper except Drake

he's also married to one of the biggest figures in pop culture

I am very angry about how many ass jokes popped into my head after reading M@tt's post

I went to see the new Terminator and somehow the projector person skipped all of the previews, and then played the first eight minutes of this.

I was temporarily very confused as to the new direction of the franchise until I figured out what it was.

angry that you thought of them, or angry that you felt too polite to say them?

xpost

Oh shit I'm dying at that Designing Merch for Kanye vid.

God I just watched that, amazing

Is that the Dunkey video?

I just showed my wife and she refused to believe it was real. So I showed her the merch site and she still thought it was fake. Then I showed her that while many of the items are sold out (!), the sock is still for sale, but she still didn't believe it. Then I put it in the checkout bin and the purchase prompt popped up, and then she believed. She's a believer.

god is good!

He seems to have been heading in this direction since Life of Pablo and probably even Yeezus, but it's clear to me that whatever Kanye does musically from now on is going to be a front for a cynical attempt to sell expensive, badly designed merchandise. Each new album will be rushed, of poor quality, but have a recognisable aesthetic/mood so that hype beasts will buy whatever dumb sweatshirt he puts his name to.

I might argue he’s been working that plan for much longer than you suggest

http://i.gifer.com/UCWX.gif

Well he did warn us that he wanted to be this generation’s Pablo Picasso.

kanye doesn't come across as particularly cynical, if anything he comes across as very sincerely being into whatever he's trying to do no matter how half-baked or scatterbrained the execution is

I suspect the clothing design is shtick, but to me it's the visual design equivalent of his current music production.

xp absolutely otm

i tried to come up with a controp position about this record being good not bad but it's objectively fucking terrible

hallelujah

https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/kanye-west-new-album-jesus-is-born.html

xxp Kids still love Michael Jackson's music. His hits are in Beatles territory whatever weirdness/criminality he devolved into.

Here it is, the sole authoritative review:

https://www.pluggedin.com/music-reviews/album/jesus-is-king

love the "objectionable content" section

I applaud you, kind sir :D

When a well-known artist embraces Jesus with passion and fervor, it can be hard to know how to respond. Is this for real? Is it a phase? Is it going to last? Is it a gimmick?

Otm!

Kanye West’s laser-like focus on Jesus here is breathtaking. But Kanye suspects that some Christians may still have doubts about his sincerity—an experience it seems that he’s already had, according to the song “Hands On”: “What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?/They’ll be the first one to judge me/Make it feel like nobody love me.”

None of us can know whether Kanye will sustain his current level of Christian conviction in the years to come. But his earnest spiritual fervor is undeniable on Jesus Is King. On this album (and in the accompanying short film of the same name), Kanye West takes the spotlight off of himself and shines it unabashedly on Jesus Christ, proclaiming Him King and Savior.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled etc

Courtesy of the guy on the left:

https://www.pluggedin.com/about-us/adam-holz

Through our reviews, articles and discussions, we hope to spark intellectual thought, spiritual growth and a desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

A few of these might be growers?

Ron Howard voice: they weren’t

He should've got into Satan. The record would have been a lot better.

― billstevejim, Friday, October 25, 2019 2:16 PM bookmarkflaglink

It'd be pretty easy to shop him onto the cover of that Louvin Brothers record. (Him being Satan *or* Kanye.)

chick-fil-a!

was “follow god” on this? I loved that one.

yeah it was. there were a couple bangers even if there was much that was, um, objectionable about the project.

given the rate at which kanye puts out music, I wonder if he might have another release sometime this year. If you've ever wondered what a kanye west divorce album might sound like, it could be imminent

also amazing how I absolutely love at least four of kanye's albums, and yet I never even bothered to listen to this one. he's just fallen so far.

Wasn’t Kanye’s breakout hit “Jesus Walks”?

this is so much worse it's not funny. the problem isn't the christianity it's the sactimonious misogyny and conservatism and really bad music

turns out i like Follow God -it's short , memorable and bounces around like a hit - this was peak Kanye 'uncool'/ I love trump etc phase though wasn't it- which prob explains why it didn't go over

its kinda sweet and funny too

*the giant voice* it is happening again

Kanye played his new album for me & @KDTrey5 last night in Vegas. Man listen! The production is light years ahead of it’s time, and the bars sound like he’s broke & hungry trying to get signed again. Any artist who plan on dropping soon should just push it back 😤 #Respectfully

— Respectfully Justin (@JustinLaboy) July 18, 2021

I seriously doubt it

#Respectfully

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/768x768/public/images/methode/2018/10/12/c2c40512-cd7c-11e8-9460-2e07e264bd11_1280x720_122011.jpg?itok=wvD4xG2X

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w65aTy-XGDE

he's announced a listening event in atlanta so it most likely is coming out soon but i wouldn't put it past kanye to change his mind and scrap everything after such an event

as a (former?) ilxor pointed out on twitter, he himself hasn't released a single statement about this and has only appeared in masks in the photos about it. which, whatever, another weird album rollout from the king of weird album rollouts, but notable that he's (so far) remaining mum himself.

Feels like the same jockeying he was doing around Drake’s last major album release.

i look forward to another album that will be all anyone talks about on social media for two days then never listened to again

The production is light years ahead of it’s time

😑

I don't know if even someone on Kanye's level can survive three flops in a row. if it sucks I feel like it'll be mostly ignored

achieving levels of digital clipping heretofore unknown to human ears

let's be honest, has a Kanye album ever had production light years ahead of its time?

He's a great producer but I don't think I'd ever use 'ahead of its time' let alone "light years ahead of its time" to describe it.

maybe light years into the future the trend becomes bad mixing and noticeable clipping.

I would check out a Kanye/clipping. collaboration

I need this to be real

ALBUM COVER
Kanye West - Donda

(Artwork by Louise Bourgeois) pic.twitter.com/G8Im71lrbC

— TeamKanyeDaily (@TeamKanyeDaily) July 19, 2021

lmao

these people are demented

https://i.postimg.cc/Hs6RB66x/Screen-Shot-2021-07-20-at-9-16-41-AM.png

Oh my god, that's not even... wow.

I reviewed one Kanye album on RYM and it's funny to constantly see an album of his on my "upcoming" feed that gets delayed over and over and then just deleted

i'm just amazed he's apparently stuck with the donda name for the album for over a year, normally he'd have changed his mind a few more times by now

i'm still waiting on yandhi

still haven't canceled my pre-order for Good Ass Job tbh

it's more of a half ass job now

never giving up on "Big Hat Club" being released

why is it surprising he used a louise bourgeois painting as his album cover? kanye loves those big names, those blue chip artists.

i imagine that, to a person like kanye, someone who sees any kind of humility or doubt as a profound threat to his ego, that louise bourgeois room at dia:beacon would be terrifying. i'll bet he's been there. it's like a dungeon. her work is brutal; the unconscious, to her, is an abattoir, a place where forms are violently disintegrating into primordial soup of nothingness. there is a real sense of evil in this gallery, it's hard to describe how she achieves it but it's palpable. in fact, it was her work, and the fact that some DNC leaders collected it, that sparked the pizzagate conspiracy theory. people couldn't believe it was art and imagined that this must be some fucked up cult shit.

n.b. the spider sculptures she is best known for are cool in outdoor spaces, but when exhibited indoors, as they are at dia, it's totally different.

https://i-d-images.vice.com/images/2016/04/04/louise-bourgeois-art-is-a-guarantee-of-sanity-body-image-1459767004.jpg

i just wonder what kanye sees in this work. it's about depersonalization, dehumanization, dissolution. that's how i read her anyway. whereas he is all about being the hero of his own drama.

i don't like her work at all to be honest. and the sort of dark surrealist impulse in contemporary art, the trend toward provoking queasy discomfort, is really something i feel done with personally. but what does kanye think--why choose her for the cover. just because the artist's name carries a certain cache?

agreed, I intensely dislike all Gaspar Noe films for that very reason

it's probably that Virgil Abloh charlatan dude who got it

I just thought the dude really likes ugly album covers.

what yall gonna do when Kanye new album open with a monologue by Candace Owens over the roars of the Jan 6th crowd set to Miri Ben-Ari violins?

— Recording Academy Member Class of 2022 🏆🇵🇸 • ☭ (@fwmj) July 21, 2021

just because the artist's name carries a certain cache?

― treeship., Tuesday, July 20, 2021 4:30 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

as it ever been anything else?

Lol I actually like the album cover

That said I can’t tell if the comments from people on twitter that seem to like it are insane or trolling.

i can imagine her artwork speaking to his own feelings of depersonalization, dehumanization etc which he absolutely has experienced and which are more than compatible with overcompensation in the ego department

but what would happen if the album was actually good? not just "not a trainwreck" but also more than just "fine"? i'm not expecting it at all but i am interested hypothetically in what an appropriate response to that might look like at this point

i’d welcome a “fine” effort from him. im sure it’ll have its moments in its production, but there’s no way the lyrical content on this album will be anything but inane garbage

A concept album about scooping poop.

I dgaf about Kanye, but Bourgeois made art about her mother (including this piece) and this new album is named after West's mom. I mean sure, obvs he's not going to pick an unsung artist, but I don't think the thematic connection is hard to figure out guys.

FPing frogs for comparing LB to Gaspar Noe

If that really was the album cover, wouldn't some higher profile music sites have posted stories about it by now?

it hasn't been officially confirmed at all and i haven't been able to track down any sort of source for the claim that it's the cover

This album rollout seems very… tame so far? It’s almost making me optimistic. Almost.

half an hour into the livestream, I count one sorta good song

my fondest wish: not to awaken in a few hours to read a track-by-track analysis of a Kanye album released in 2021.

Alfred, can I write a guest post on your blog

fuck you
pay me

I have a feeling Ye’s verses aren’t done yet and album not coming out today

— scott vener (@brokemogul) July 23, 2021

welp at least he showed up!

welp

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/768x768/public/images/methode/2018/10/12/c2c40512-cd7c-11e8-9460-2e07e264bd11_1280x720_122011.jpg?itok=wvD4xG2X

grifters gonna grift.

don't you need something to sell if you're a grifter

wasn't he selling $40 hot dogs last night

b-b-but the Twitter stans tell me "Ye is back baby!" and it's an amazing record! could they be wrong?

$80 chicken nuggets, from the screenshot i saw

Lol

A friend went and wrote this:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xgqa/kanye-west-donda-listening-party-atlanta-review

Good piece.

The image of him walking alone on the field, wandering aimlessly and mutely as the crowd watched, is actually kind of interesting. Like, reducing performance down to its most minimal element, the mere presence of the artist. It’s probably also some kind of comment on his celebrity and how his good fortune just leaves him feeling more isolated and confused. Echoes of the Christian idea of pilgrimage, “Jesus Walks,” idk there seem to be layers

He’s embarrassed himself a lot over the years. Seems like a big burden to carry, the fact of much of america thinking you are an asshole

lol, or maybe he just awkwardly wandered around while a crowd listened to his new album in a setting with shitty acoustics. there are no "layers", come the fuck on.

I’m mostly going off his admiration of marina abramovic, her “artist is present” performance. He draws from contemporary art a lot. Sometimes he does this to very stupid ends but this seems ok

Literally the only interesting thing about Kanye West in 2021 is the contortions his remaining fans will put themselves through in a search for meaning in his half-assed flailing.

I'm just tired of having smoke blown up my ass that Kanye is some sort of unique genius that approaches everything from some deep conceptual level that I'm just too dumb to understand instead of just a formerly very talented producer and decent rapper who has clearly suffered from some mental health issues and is surrounded by people who refuse to tell him when his ideas are shitty.

i didn't say it was "genius." my words were "actually kind of interesting."

The bright white light and emptiness reminded me of Roger Waters onstage, wandering outside the wall during "Comfortably Numb".

tbf, treesh, your post wasn't that bad, just the straw that broke the camel's back this morning. though i genuinely don't believe Kanye has done anything even close to "kind of interesting" since Yeezus.

there's some clips of music floating around twitter

hope you like synth pads!

i genuinely don't believe Kanye has done anything even close to "kind of interesting" since Yeezus.

the life of pablo was an incoherent mess of an album but i'd easily give it "kind of interesting" and it still had some pretty good moments. it was very much the beginning of the end with kanye's quality control though

See TLOP was the last Kanye album I actually spent time trying to get a handle on, but I never could do it and thought it was really bad. I listened to Ye once, but basically gave up after that and never heard Jesus is King at all. The MAGA shit just sealed the deal that I don't even have to pretend to be interested in where he is right now, beyond hoping he is getting some level of professional help.

the life of pablo was an incoherent mess of an album but i'd easily give it "kind of interesting" and it still had some pretty good moments. it was very much the beginning of the end with kanye's quality control though

Same here. It's not a great album, but it's interesting with merit, and unless Kanye turns it around, it'll be the last one he's done that I'll play in its entirety.

I like that he's trying to say something. He hasn't found the words yet, though, as evidenced by the many long segments of him repeating the same koan over and over.

Musically, quite dull.

^^

which gets to the heart of my distaste for everything post Yeezus. the lyrics and rapping were always hit or miss, when not being outright cringeworthy. once the production fell off there was nothing worth listening for, ime.

his tracks now, actually Otis was the first time I really noticed, but they don't feel minimal rather undercooked. Everytime you make a song there's that initial germ of an idea - a little riff, or drum pattern, or brief melody, or sample, etc - but they need to be developed into an actual song, his stuff now just seems like he gets that little hint of an idea and says ok it's done that's the track

i think he is trying to separate himself from other hip-hop producers by making tracks that "show the seams" and frustrate listeners' expectations. not saying this is genius -- it could easily be seen as a cheap ploy for an "arty" or modernist effect. but that's why i think his stuff sounds like this now.

have you considered it doesn't mean anything, that he's just unable to finish things properly?

like the album "jesus is king" ends super abruptly in a way that feels insane and almost like a parody of everything that came before it.

i dropped into kanyetothe (always fun on a fake release date) and learned about this collab he did with Teenage Engineering that was supposedly in use last night.

https://lindynews.org/10131/entertainment/new-kanye-west-stem-players-leaked-online/

i think the recent albums actually sound cool from a production standpoint and he attempts to grapple with difficult emotional terrain. the big problem is that many listeners are not going to extend patience and good will to him now for a whole bunch of reasons. i think these are fair and good reasons, honestly -- who cares about the travails of a narcissist with a persecution complex? much less one who supported trump? but these concerns aren't really him falling off as a producer or rapper.

i would never recommend "jesus is king" or "ye" to someone. but i have found them both to be rewarding listening experiences.

honestly I think that line of thinking, an army of writers, hangers on, starfuckers, online stans, insisting each half baked pinch loaf (to borrow a phrase) of an album, every 7-year-old with Photoshop level $300 t-shirt design, every horrid "HR Giger designing $49.99 JC Penney grandpa New Balances" Yeezys is actually profoundly terrible and propping up a very obviously sick man for profit and "content" for the social media gristmill

He can still be a great producer - he's still producing great records, but none for himself.

yeah, i see that too.

i felt like "jesus is king" was an interesting failure. like, it's a turn to christianity, there is an acknowledgement that narcissism has poisoned him, he wants to turn to a higher power. but then all he finds is this very american, i guess i would say degraded form of christianity that is just another way to worship the self. so he just finds the same old path again, the one that leads to despair.

i think of kanye as like robert lowell or something, creating artistic failures that reflect his own personal failures. but maybe he is less self-aware of this process? he skates around the idea that he is unhappy and that he is holding onto illusions. but he always seems to get close, i guess. there is enough hope in there to make the enterprise not totally grim.

xp

Matt consistently otm

but yeah, squint, look at it from another angle, and he is just the hip hop version of trump. america has a long tradition of these kind of sloppy figures, these people who are at once abject and grandiose, who channel the fears and aspirations of the public, but this might just be a sick tradition. he gains nothing by believing himself to be a "genius" or a "prophet" (he's compared himself to st. paul). and like, america is a dumb country to the extent that we encourage people to take up similarly grand and unrealistic ideas about themselves.

KANYE WEST WILL MOVE THE RELEASE DATE OF DONDA TO AUGUST 6TH. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE ❤️ HE WANTS TO GIVE HIS FANS THE BEST POSSIBLE PRODUCT WITHOUT RUSHING ANYTHING. HE LOVES YALL WITH ALL OF HIS HEART. GOD BLESS 🙏🏾 #DONDA #RESPECTFULLY

— Respectfully Justin (@JustinLaboy) July 24, 2021

It’s never coming out

it'll come out in a few months and still seem obviously unfinished

Gap execs must be getting ulcers.

Chinese Dondacracy

He and Lana Del Rey are in a race not to finish and release their new records.

https://www.revolt.tv/news/2021/7/23/22590491/atlanta-proclaims-july-22-kanye-west-day

Ffs

Lana Del Rey?

They both missed recent album release deadlines.

LDR has released good albums in the past decade though.

Ok ok Yeezus and KSG were decent I admit it.

The funny thing about that Kanye West Day thing is that the only source of it seems to be someone sending TMZ a pic of a certificate that he was presented backstage – it hasn't been announced or reported in local Atlanta media, etc. It's like they decided to do it on the DL, for his eyes only.

Yeezus was decent but the idea that kids see ghosts was especially interesting in some way is pure RYM brain

I agree but wanted to avoid the pitchforks. Imho Yeezus is the last thing he did worth anyone’s time.

He and Lana Del Rey are in a race not to finish and release their new records.

Speak to me more of this blessed paradise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sN7kgEw954

yeah i don't get at all why the reddit/rym/fantano etc. axis adores ksg so much, on rym it's got a higher rating than yeezus lol. it's not terrible but it's hardly some kind of masterpiece

lol rym also has ye above watch the throne? come on lol

that's fucking insane

Setting up my turntables while the all ages rock show is still going pic.twitter.com/iSnEDATgar

— Ghostly (@ghostly) July 25, 2021

can think of no better place to finish an album

https://www.tmz.com/2021/07/24/kanye-west-hunkers-down-mercedes-benz-stadium-finish-donda-album/

Living in the venue, you say? Masked, you say? Kanye is going full phantom
https://imaging.broadway.com/images/ipad-show-list-photo/w1470/102183-32.jpg

The phantom of the opera did it first

Lol I see TMZ made that same sort of observation in the article and here I was thinking I had made a good joke.

TMZ did it first.

I have to be honest I find the idea of him living in the stadium hilarious if true.

Do u have Josh muted? lol

Lol when I opened the thread his message was still not posted.

So both TMZ and Josh did it first lol

wtflollllllllll

Honestly this rocks - kanye living in a stadium and wearing the same clothes for days, haven't listened to any of donda, don't know if I will

This man is a content creator