Round of 64: (2) Kanye West - MBDTF vs. (63) Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher Bracket • Page 4

I think the comeback he’s referring to is the massive turn of public opinion against Kanye in the wake of the Taylor Swift incident.

 

i doubt it, many people viewed 808s as his flop, incorrectly, prior to the recent string of releases

 

I’d absolutely call it a “comeback” album in any sense of the word, regardless of the reappraisal of 808s now

 

it isn’t really a reappraisal when it’s been going on since the album’s release

 

Had to think a little bit but I do think I've got to go MBDTF for this. I love Punisher and in a few years I may have a different opinion but at the moment MBDTF is too undeniable for me. Punisher I could argue is a really good album with a handful of exceptional songs, whereas MBDTF is an album of mostly exceptional songs and a few that are really good.

And also only one has Nicki MInaj's Monster verse

 

Going on from whom, lol? The general consensus from just about everyone I can recall (who wasn’t a critic) at the time was that it was a misstep because he wasn’t rapping. Coupled with what was going on with him in pop culture, he bottomed out a bit there.

 

808s was released in a Carter III world. I remember skipping to the Wayne track immediately and thinking it sucked because they didn’t “rap”. That’s what the convo was any time the album was brought up. It didn’t fit with what was popular, which is why it’s so fascinating how quickly it became this genre warping classic.

 

It's a comeback to rap?

 

After an album of “not rapping”, yes haha. I can’t recall what song it was (Forever, Knock You Down?), but people were so hype that it was Kanye rapping again, not singing with autotune

 

Yeah that’s what I remember too, but I didn’t think that type of thinking was going on outside of rap fandom

 

The perception of that really depended on the scene lol (Vocal) Rap fans by and large definitely thought that was funny then

 

Oh, there were definitely many people who thought it was funny! I recall most of the internet being on the "Turn this into memes of Kanye interrupting shit" trend. But he also had a sitting president calling him a jackass and the mainstream cultural narrative seemed to be "Oh, this guy is a villain now."

 

Anecdotally, I remember having to defend 808s as good to a bunch of people who thought it was a huge flop off the internet.

 

Also probably worth noting that this is the narrative Pitchfork was going with when they ranked Late Registration at number 18 on their end-of-the-decade list:

 

Late Registration is a perfect rap album and also Kanye’s best album

 

graduation is his worst of the run through pablo

 

That statement is correct

 

thank you

 

Graduation was an big drop in quality, but a lot of people acted like it was his best at the time

 

On most days, Graduation is my favorite Kanye record.

 

Yeah, I still dig Graduation. Definitely works better as an album for me than TLOP.

 

Barry Bonds and Drunk and Hot Girls alone are enough for it to be my least favorite of that run

 

Graduation felt absolutely massive when it dropped. Again, looking back now you could (kind’ve) call it a weaker album, but at the time he just continued his streak. 808s was the clear outlier in the moment

 

It’s also definitely better than Pablo

 

Pablo rules