My friend, I have been through the mud with Kanye on so many occasions I can't even count. I've defended him to friends, family, students, coworkers, just about everyone I could. I had to justify the use of his music in my classrooms and I did a pretty damn good job. I have followed his career and been supportive and critical at every step. I have 15 years of history with the dude, he changed so much about how I listen to and write about music. I hope you're not referring to me as a person who is hating for the sake of hating. He has done enough to warrant the criticism.
i'm not pointing you out it's more the internet in general. many people here have valid complaints about the album but on other sites it's just painful from both sides
To be fair, nothing that I've said has really been valid since I listened to it from classroom projector speakers while kids asked me questions about writing a paper and made fun of the album with me. I'll give it as much of a fair shake as I can later, if I feel like it.
Listen to New Slaves and then listen to anything on this record...it’s shocking how shallow and immature this album sounds. Yeezus sounded like someone taking a buzzsaw to hip hop...this sounds like half fleshed out ideas and lazy production.
The On God beat is incredible. God Is sounds really nice but Kanye sounds like his voice is going on it.
To be fair I think I have explained in other spots of the thread, but fair point. Basically I think it’s sloppy and put together in a rush and the lyrics are heavy handed and in spots the production is flat despite being busy.
Only skimmed through this. Will listen in full later, but even just hearing a few seconds here and there, the gospel elements are pretty obvious.
Did not enjoy this album at all. I think the only song that kinda caught my attention was Follow God, but I don't see myself coming back to it. The pacing was weird. When Every Hour opens up, it feels like an intro track that's gonna lead into an explosion on track 2, but then Selah starts and the tempo and mood just drops. Also I was hyped for the Clipse verses, but something just seems off with the way their vocals were mixed.
Just finished my first listen and I think I would agree with this. Nothing on here tops Ghost Town but it's more consistent I think. Production is incredible throughout and he actually sounds really good singing on a lot of these songs, but the lyrics are the pretty easy lowpoint. I'm not religious at all but it's actually not as grating as I thought it was, it's about the same level of gospel/religion as a lot of Coloring Book which is fine with me. I've also always liked when gospel music is incorporated with hip-hop sounds, a lot of his old stuff is like that actually Selah, On God, Follow God and Use This Gospel are probably my favorites off first impression. Surprised that Malice has the coke reference instead of Push lol
That being said I will not be surprised when this gets trashed in reviews, although I think it will be really divisive (clearly)