Here, even dedicated fans are bound to wonder if West’s music is worth the constant drama behind-the-scenes. Most of West’s raps are thoroughly obnoxious, mixing references to his latest idiotic public statements with shallow, unsatisfying bouts of self-reflection. While West remains a gifted producer, the musical ideas on “ye” are uninspired retreads from earlier, better albums. It’s telling that the album’s best track, “Ghost Town,” is so packed with features it’s barely a Kanye West song. West’s recording process has been haphazard for most of this decade, but “ye” is the first time his finished product felt incomplete.
After Kanye spent months of trolling in every possible way, “ye” won some brownie points for being a semi-coherent album. While you’re at it, let me know your what favorite Kanye tweet and word pronunciation are (mine is this and “Abercrombie”).Īll things considered, it could have been worse.
#Best song in kanye west graduation album free#
Of course, this is completely subjective, so feel free to tell me how I’m wrong in the comments. I placed them in descending order, from worst to best. (That excludes collaborative albums like “Watch the Throne,” or production credits like “Daytona”). Yet I predict it’ll be a long time before pop culture can say the same thing.įor this ranking, I will only include West’s eight solo studio albums. I don’t blame anyone who wants to be finished with West’s work.
As wrongheaded as many of his statements are, West’s legacy as an unapologetic, brilliant black artist is wrong to completely dismiss. Now may be a poor time for a career retrospective, as West’s career is more fragile than ever. However, ignoring his influence somehow feels dishonest. Ironically, only one of the few to come anywhere close to that is Taylor Swift. No artist in the 21 st century has matched his combination of album sales, critical acclaim, influence and general attention. Even the most mundane celebrity events, from awards shows to Twitter promotions to late-night interviews, became unmissable cultural moments. West’s superpower - and curse - is his penchant for turning every public moment into unhinged performance art. Some have justifiably asked why we are waiting for an explanation at all, especially after so much of West’s worst behavior is excused and ignored. How did the man who declared, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” publicly support Donald Trump a little more than a decade later? This question might not be answered any time soon. He voiced support for President Trump, promoted alt-right figures and called slavery “a choice.” Even former fans started to agree with some of West’s harshest critics - maybe he was just a rich, out-of-touch bigot, or, to quote Barack Obama, a “ jackass.” In 2018, West’s high-wire act finally reached its breaking point. 2018 has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.