Easily one of the best Kanye albums. Maybe tied with MBDTF, but definitely better than the rest of his discography. The beats are just insane, the opening samples are perfect, the production of each song meets the overall message of the respective song. The lyrics are Kanye, no better or worse than any Kanye song before. Some funny lines like the Asshole, Taylor, Ray J lines, and some deep stuff but really some hot bars and classic kanye one liners.
When people say the album lacks cohesion, i really disagree. Heres my breakdown of cohesion. I think the point of all the samples before the songs is to really illustrate the messge in each song behind the order of songs, and the messages of each song makes it cohesive. The beats are supposed to match the messages/moods of each song, not flow smoothly with the song before it.
Ultra Light Beam - Intro to the album, the point is that this album will mirror the life of Pablo (picasso and the apostle, not really escobar imo). The opening line is a young boy saying he wants the lord in his house, not the devil. I think this is supposed to be like a young kanye or kanye at the start of his carrer as he tries to enter the music business with soul and positive sound, as seen on college dropout and late registration.
Father Strech my Hands pt 1 - Kanye has made his two albums and is enjoying being famous (light beat, Cudi's melodious beautiful morning). At the same time, with his new fame, new problems in his life are arising. There so much fake shit and drama around his new life, he doesnt know whether to keep it in and just tolerate it or call everyone out on their bs (if i ever instiagted im sorry - he cant keep it to hiself, he must point out how flawed everything is and this adds more drama and controversy to his life)
pt2 - Kanye goes ham in this song. He's made his decision - hes not going to keep anything in. Not a goddamn thing, hes full steam ahead exposing all the bullshit and making quality artisitc music. The trap beat, the future-esque verse, he goes ham. The point of Father Stretch My Hands (1&2) is that he doesnt really know how to express himself because his father never taught him (sorry i never called you back, same problem my father had). The lyrics in this song deal a lot with whats going on in his life as he goes full steam ahead (driving fast, fuckin models, just going crazy in life, "trying to be liberated" through this fast lane) I love the ending of this song, the techno voice is like his inner conciousness trying to figure itself out. Was making all this drama the best decision? Is this how he figures it out? He says "how can i find you? Who do you turn to?" Its like he reflecting is this truly him? Does the things he has done make him who he yearns to be?
Famous - Rihrih fuckin kills this track. Its reflective, he talks about the taylor controversy, but he owns it. hes not regretful at all. Like hes answering the questions he asked at the end of pt2. Hes had more time to think about it and hes come to this conclusion. "they mad they aint famous, they mad they still namless." Hes saying the things hes done has made him famous because he has done it, and he didnt listen to other people. I love the part when it says "Wake up mr. west" [clear allusion to graduation] and then it goes 'hes up.' Hes saying hes thought it through and he sees the truth in life, by calling people out he stayed true to himself even thought it added a lot of drama to his life, and now everyone critizies him because of it because they just want to dick ride and be famous like him. the ending bababedumdum is like his not even paying attnetion to them, hes in his zone exactly where he wants to be
feedback - dope fuckin beat. total banger. hes saying he didnt sell out at all, all the actions hes taken in his life he did because he believed in them, not to become rich or be famous
Low lights - kind of an interlude. I think he describing what this album is going to be about. It even has a yeezus sample (i think part of the beat from new salves), so this is about him at a low in his life wheres hes made great albums but now has to escape the pod companies have placed him in. Hes affirming his own belief in himself by saying how he honesty in his own music has helped all the people who has listened to his music (and thus he should keep listening to himself and do what he wants to, now he makes yeezus and does the fashion thing)
7 - Highlights - thug kills it. Deinetly gets a bit of a graduation feel to it with the synthe cords.
ill explain the rest soon but this album is fuckin amazing