Kanye West - ‘Ye’ Album Review

Released by G.O.O.D Music / Def Jam 2018

Kanye West's eighth studio album is one that comes at possibly the lowest point of his career - after he recently posted pictures on Twitter of him wearing a 'MAGA' hat and his somewhat outrageous claim that 'slavery was a choice' - a remark which he addresses on numerous songs throughout the album. 

The opening song on the album 'I Thought About Killing You' reveals Ye's struggles with mental health and his opioid addiction. His dark thoughts are discussed for the opening two minutes of the song, with an emotional spoken passage detailing his struggles with thoughts of suicide. As the passage goes on, Kanye's uses pitch effects on his voice to signify the bipolar conversation he is having with himself. 

Kanye's recent outbursts on TMZ and Twitter have led to Ye facing the most criticism of his career, with music artists such as Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar unfollowing West on Twitter. "Just imagine if they caught me on a wild day", Ye raps on 'Wouldn't Leave' - a song dedicated to his wife Kim Kardashian and her loyalty towards him. Kanye posits that he is capable of doing and saying much more outrageous remarks if he was encountered on a "wild day", which implies he was fairly levelheaded when the incident with TMZ occurred. 

West has a history of writing himself into headlines, we can even go as far back as 2009, when he interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMA's to proclaim 'Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you and Imm'a let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!'

The feud between the two is still ever-present and Ye even shouted her out on his last album 'The Life of Pablo' on the song 'Famous' when he rapped 'I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous'.

On 'No Mistakes' - a song featuring longtime friend and collaborator Kid Cudi, Kanye takes shots at Drake following Drake's "Duppy Freestyle" where he addressed both Kanye and Pusha T. 

One thing that stands out from this album, is the outstanding production and features. Kanye never just chooses 'anyone' for a feature, he is very selective as he has proven in the past on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and other albums in his discography. He has the ability to make artists seamlessly fit onto his songs, and the features on 'Ye' fit each song perfectly.

'Violent Crimes' echoes my previous point, the standout track on the album - featuring vocals on the chorus from GOOD Music artist 070 Shake and Ty Dolla $ign. Kanye raps about how his perspective has changed towards women with the birth of his two daughters, North and Chicago, and the way they will be treated in the world - mainly by men because he knows exactly what men want. 

The track also features an outro from Nicki Minaj, her first appearance on a Kanye album since her intro that began Kanye's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and her feature on 'Monster', often regarded as one of her best verses. 

'Ye' - for an artist with as much talent as Kanye West, it is below his usual standard, as was his previous album The Life of Pablo. Don't get me wrong, the production is great, which was expected with a Kanye album, the features fit very smoothly, and Ye does talk about important issues, but it is an extremely short album; 7 songs, 24 minutes in length just feels way too short for an artist like Kanye, who always seems to have something to talk about.