Round of 64: (2) Kanye West - MBDTF vs. (63) Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher Bracket • Page 6

I remember the reaction when it dropped (for me this would have been reading on ap or atease or both) being that Stronger was incredibly weak in that it was basically Kanye rapping over the Daft Punk track as is. Hilarious, hilarious take in hindsight. I do remember that the hype was very high by the time the album release week came around.

808s reaction was pretty mixed if I remember right. I know I loved about 4-5 songs but thought it was a little boring as a whole and I think that was on the more positive end of the opinion spectrum at the time, at least here. By Yeezus release time I feel like ap was hugely hugely pro 808s and I think it has only gotten better with age. I think MBDTF is the better album and was obviously bigger, but 808s being the more influential record as a whole feels like a pretty easy argument to make.

 

I had a pretty big Kanye phase around the time Yeezus came out, so I say this as a former fan.

I've been lurking these brackets and this thread in particular made me return to MBDTF given how much I used to look up to Kanye and how much Punisher currently means to me. Like pretty much everyone around here I despise what Kanye has become and have been seriously turned off from revisiting his music because of it. However, I went into this listen with as open of an mind as I could.

Ultimately, it was really, really hard for me to get through. But I get it! It's an album full of life, color, and so much of it is fun and soulful. It's a big, grandiose statement, and I see the appeal. That being said, I think it's overblown, overindulgent, and can't really separate it from the foreshadowing of what Kanye would become.

Punisher, on the other hand, was easily my favorite album of 2020 and has become an all-timer. I think it's an extremely cohesive album, moreso than her debut, and both lyrically and sonically has some of my favorite world-building qualities I've honestly ever heard. Maybe it's because I'm close to her in age, but I just have such a strong, visceral reaction to Phoebe's music. There are only a handful of artists who I have a stronger personal connection to, and because of that, yeah, I'd vote Phoebe.

 

Definitely of the camp that TLOP was the last genius Ye album, not the first weak one. Basically given up hope that he would even know how to return to greatness at this point.

 

K.T.S.E. was really good

 

Kids See Ghosts was good too, even moments of ye ("Ghost Town"), but it's hard to really engage with those records because of the MAGA stuff. I mean, he specifically went on SNL and changed the lyrics to "Ghost Town" to be about the red hat or whatever. Shit sucks and unfortunately everything is pretty much soured after Pablo, regardless of quality

 

Also worth mentioning that I just finished the Netflix doc (finally) and the last episode gave me insight into two discussions we've had a lot on this site in regards to who he's become. First, I have no doubt that the pivot to Christianity was genuine. He seems to prioritize that above everything, regardless of whether he's talking about music, business, or family. So that's whatever, but I don't think that aspect was pure grift. Two, and more importantly, dude is straight-up watching Tucker Carlson cover his abortion breakdown and shouting about Tucker giving his words context. It isn't as innocent as some people have tried to say in terms of, "Oh, he just identifies with Trump as an outsider," or "Oh, he's aligning himself with conservatives but his actual ideals are different." He is 100% redpilled. Which, most of us knew, but actually seeing the confirmation in the doc was...unsettling. And a fucking bummer.

 

with 63% of the vote, MBDTF moves onto the Round of 32