The Life of Pablo, released in February of last year, has been streamed over 3 billion times worldwide, and has just hit 1.5 billion streams in the US — making it the first album to be RIAA-certified platinum from streaming alone. The album was also on West’s website, but downloads contributed only 0.7 percent of its first-week units, and TLOP meets the “platinum” condition without those numbers.The certification was first, and confirmed to The Verge in an email from Kanye West’s management.The Life of Pablo continues to for streaming, though its tiny number of actual album sales disqualified it from some records that Chance the Rapper’s May 2016 release Coloring Book then snatched up — like the first streaming-only album to and the first streaming-only album to be or a Grammy.
The Life of Pablo is the seventh studio album by American rapper and recording artist Kanye West, released on February 14, 2016 by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016 in Italy, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. 'The Life of Pablo' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It debuted on 12 February 2016 during Kanye's Adidas Yeezy 'Season 3' fashion show event and was subsequently released exclusively on the streaming service TIDAL.
. 'Released: March 28, 2016. 'Released: June 7, 2016. 'Released: September 20, 2016The Life of Pablo is the seventh by American rapper and recording artist, released on February 14, 2016.
Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016 in Italy, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Production on the album was handled by West and a variety of producers, including co-executive producers and Noah Goldstein,. He also enlisted a wide array of, including, and.The album was preceded by several as part of West's giveaways, including the tracks ' and '. In the months before its release, the album's title and tracklist went through several publicized changes, and West's erratic activity on became the source of several controversies. An early version of the album was premiered by West at on February 11, 2016, as part of his fashion show in collaboration with.
After several additional sessions and alterations, the album was launched exclusively for streaming on three days later.Following its official streaming debut, West continued to make changes to The Life of Pablo and declared the end of the album as a dominant release form; Def Jam confirmed his intention to continue making updates to the album over the subsequent months. A largely updated version of the album, including alternate mixes and other changes was made available on other streaming services and for digital purchase on his website on April 1, 2016; no official CD release was planned at the time.
The album was supported by the ', ', and '.The Life of Pablo received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with particular attention drawn to the fragmented, unfinished nature of its composition and release. Following Tidal's disclosure of its and the album's release to competing streaming services, the album debuted at number one on the, becoming West's seventh consecutive number-one album on the chart and the first to reach the summit primarily through streaming.
In April 2017, The Life of Pablo became the first streaming-only album to go Platinum in the US and West's eighth Platinum-certified release. It was named among the best albums of 2016 by multiple publications, and was nominated for at the, while ' and 'Famous' were nominated for. Contents.Background In November 2013, West began working on his seventh album, under the working title So Help Me God for a 2014 release date. The album was initially to include work. Early recording sessions resulted in several tracks that were released as standalone or were given to other artists, including his collaborations ', ', and the McCartney and collaboration '. Some of the earlier tracks to make the for The Life of Pablo were 'Famous' (formerly titled 'Nina Chop') and ', the latter of which West performed on the of (SNL) with Australian recording artist and fellow rapper.
In 2015, West announced the new album title SWISH, though he clarified that this could still be subject to change. West announced in January 2016 that SWISH would be released on February 11, and that month released new songs ' and a snippet of 'No More Parties in L.A.' This also revived the initiative in which West releases new singles every Friday.
On January 26, 2016, West revealed he had renamed the album from SWISH to Waves. Contributed to several tracks, including 'Ultralight Beam' and 'Waves.'
In the weeks leading up to the album's release, West released several changing iterations of the track list for the new album while becoming embroiled in several Twitter controversies. In February, West posted a tweet seemingly asserting 's innocence in the wake of over 50 women making directed at Cosby and became involved in a short-lived social media altercation with rapper on that eventually involved their mutual ex-partner, who protested to West's mention of her and Khalifa's child. The feud involved allegations by Rose concerning her sexual relationship with West, and received significant media attention. The track 'Famous' was met with scrutiny on for a controversial lyrical reference to American singer, partially in relation to West's of her acceptance speech.Several days ahead of its release, West again changed the title, this time to The Life of Pablo. On February 11, West premiered an early version of the album at as part of the presentation of his clothing line. Following the preview, West announced that he would be modifying the track list once more before its release to the public, and further delayed its release to finalize the recording of the track 'Waves' at the behest of co-writer.
He released the album for streaming on February 14, 2016 following a performance on SNL. Following its official streaming release, West continued to tinker with mixes of several tracks, describing the work as 'a living breathing changing creative expression' and proclaiming the end of the as a dominant release form. Although a statement by West around Life of Pablo's initial release indicated that the album would be a permanent exclusive to Tidal, the album was released through several other competing services starting in April. Recording Initial sessions The album was recorded between 2013 and 2016, with recording for the track 'No More Parties in LA' starting in 2010, during the sessions for West's fifth studio album. Reports stated that the album was written and recorded in several locations; including, the. West's recording in Los Angeles was rumored to be at Shangri-La Studios, which is the home base of executive producer. The production in Mexico occurred with and frequent collaborator.
American rappers and confirmed that they had ended their feud in order to work with West on his eighth album, with Consequence saying in an interview: 'Pusha and I deaded everything and we creatively vibed with Kanye for this new LP.' In April 2014, in an interview with Self-Titled, 's producer Evian Christ explained that while West wasn't always musically clear, he seemed '.interested in pushing aesthetic boundaries as far into the Avant as possible. Kanye is the one dude who's like, 'This is not enough. Make something else.'
The other guys are like, 'We don't get it.' ' Christ said that West's 'a dream to work with,' adding that '.no one else gives you that level of creative freedom.
When he wants you to work to a blueprint, the blueprint is: 'Don't make a rap beat. Anything but a rap beat.' ' In May 2014, in an interview with, of spoke of his recording sessions with West and said, 'I went in there and did some stuff on that shit.
I sang shit on there and left. We'll see how it turns out, when I went in it was early, during the early stages. I know there will be a lot more other people, a lot of interjections.' In February 2015, while West was continuing to work on the album, he confirmed that the album is at about 80% completion. He went on to say that:I'm trying to get it finished. I'm trying to get it to the people Release dates is played out. So the surprise is going to be a surprise.
There go the surprise. It's cookout music that just feels good. My last album was protest music. I was like, 'I'm going to take my ball and go home.'
Vocals from are featured on the third single ' and '.In March 2015, in an interview with, spoke about the multiple recording locations involved this album, whilst promoting his own third studio album,: '.We done did a couple, to like Mexico, like how we did Hawaii and stuff like that. We work as unit for sure, that's all I'm gonna say I'm not gonna drop nothing else.' In an October 2015 interview with, who (along with Ty Dolla Sign) is featured on the track 'Fade', discussed his experiences with West:I met Kanye at 's party and Kanye was like, 'Let's make something.' So I went over to Ye's and we just started working and then we just started talking.
And we just kept on going. I went in the studio with Kanye and we just recorded the scratch vocals and then I wrote over it He was just a normal guy, like me, and super cool.
He was wearing all camo, just all camo. He was very quiet and he was very, very humble.On January 27, 2016, West revealed the update of the final track listing on his official Twitter account. This updated track listing also revealed a number of the unannounced potential collaborators, which included, and, as well as a return of his frequent production collaborators, such as, and Noah Goldstein. Following his album's premiere at, it was revealed that -based rapper contributed vocals to ' and 'Freestyle 4'. Post-release updates Following the album's initial Tidal release, West declared his intentions to continue altering the music, declaring it a 'living breathing changing creative expression.'
On March 13, 2016, over a month after the album's release, West uploaded an updated version of 'Famous', swapping out the lyric 'She be Puerto Rican day parade wavin' for 'She in school to be a real estate agent,' as well as making slight tweaks to the overall mix. Three days later, West updated the album's Tidal track list with a reworked version of 'Wolves', which included previously removed guest vocals from Vic Mensa and Sia, and separated the ending portion sung by into a separate track called '. On March 30, the album received a major update, with at least 12 tracks appearing in altered forms. Updates included prominent vocal additions, new lyrics, and altered mixes.
Def Jam confirmed this incarnation to be 'a newly updated, remixed and remastered version,' and clarified the album would continue to appear with 'new updates, new versions and new iterations' in the following months, calling it 'a continuous process.' On April 2, a corrected version of '30 Hours' was quietly released, fixing the off-time vocals that plagued the March 30 reissue. Finally, on June 14, The Life of Pablo was updated to include an additional track titled ' featuring Sampha, with other miscellaneous alterations throughout the album.Discussing the album's continued alterations, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote 'at what point is a record 'over', and who gets to make the call? Kanye West is seeing how far he can stretch the point right now, in a way no pop star has ever quite tried,' describing West as 'testing the shifting state of the 'album cycle' to see if he can break it entirely, making his album like another piece of software on your phone that sends you push updates.'
Winston Cook-WIlson of described the album as 'a fluid construct,' writing that 'as a way of holding the public's attention span, Kanye's choice to continue to tweak The Life is Pablo indefinitely is genius. It encourages people spend time processing an album that deserves it: a bewildering, sprawling, and controversy-courting piece of art.
The album's unconventional updates post release inspired other artists to do the same, with and making similar alterations after the release of their albums. Music and composition The Life of Pablo was noted for its 'raw, occasionally even intentionally messy, composition' in distinction to West's previous albums. Rolling Stone wrote that 'this is a messy album that feels like it was made that way on purpose, after the laser-sharp intensity of Yeezus,' stating that 'It's designed to sound like a work in progress.' Carl Wilson of suggested that 'the point is that in the context of all this sonic landscaping, in West's kamikaze, mood-swinging way, Pablo now seems undeniably (not half-assedly, as I'd been about to conclude) like an album of struggle,' adding that the album created 'strange links between Kanye's many iterations—-sample enthusiast, heartbroken crooner, hedonistic composer, shit-talker' while making use of bass and percussion lines 'that are only the tail-end decay of some lost starting place, some vanished rhythmic Eden.' Described The Life of Pablo Pablo as 'an album on which, at a moment's notice, Kanye veers from futuristic beats on the likes of 'Feedback' to bog-standard modern – as when up coming rapper turns up on 'Father Stretch My Hands, Pt.
2' – to vintage on 'Ultra Light Beam'. Corbin Reiff of claimed that the album only works 'as a gospel record if, as a listener, you worship at his altar.' Similarly, Madison Vain from called The Life of Pablo 'a gospel album that journeys through grief, a meditation on internal wounds, and an unapologetic assertion of where'Ye believes his rightful place is in the world is.' The song 'Famous' features a segue from 'braggadocious, bell-ringing hip-hop' into samples of 's song ' chopped up over the chord progression featured in 's 'Do What You Gotta Do.'
Prior to the album's release, West tweeted out that the album was a hip hop album, as well as a album. Additionally, in an interview on Big Boy Radio, West stated 'When I was sitting in the studio with Kirk, and we're just going through it, I said this is a gospel album, with a whole lot of cursing on it, but it's still a gospel album,' adding 'The gospel according to Ye.' West elaborated, explaining that his gospel is somewhat different from, 'but it's this story idea of becoming Mary.' 'Ultralight Beam', particularly, is noted to feature several gospel elements, from 'the sound of a 4-year-old preaching gospel, some organ,' as well as a church choir singing the refrain of 'This is a God dream.'
Gospel elements similar to those of the song are included in '. Chance the Rapper and his instrumental collaborator, Donnie Trumpet bring elements of soul revivalism into the track during Chance's guest verse. Of the contrasted Chance the Rapper's 'gospel-informed hip-hop tracks' with West's take on that tradition, stating that 'West's version of gospel touches on some of those sonic cues – heavy organ, soaring choirs – but seems more preoccupied with gospel text and the notion of redemption.' Lyrics and themes Ray Rahman of Entertainment Weekly noted the album's frequent meditations on matters of faith, family, and West's own role as a cultural figure while observing that ' Pablo frequently (some might say abruptly) toggles between Sad Kanye and the bombastic and celebratory Kanye.' Of described West as 'constantly veering between swaggering bravado and insecurity bordering on paranoia, smashing the sacred against the profane and disrupting his own flowing grooves with interjections that sound like they are spilling over from another studio altogether.' Chance the Rapper explained that certain lyrics on his 'Ultralight Beam' verse are in reference to Chance the Rapper's 'own leadership of all other artists towards independence and freedom.'
Wrote that the two-part ' 'begins as a gospel song about fucking models, transitions halfway into a soul-baring confessional dance track, then drops in two entire verses of an entirely different song about drug-dealing and cars by an 18-year-old Brooklyn rapper, before resolving into a meditative piece for vocoder by a composer and ending with a snippet of the sampled gospel song that the whole thing started from, just to remind you how far we've traveled from there in the span of four minutes.' The song ' included the controversial lyric 'I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous.' The lyric refers to country/pop singer, whose at the, and was heavily publicized and criticized by media outlets and listeners.
Kot called the song 'an example of just how brilliant and infuriating West can be at the same time.' Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote that the lyric 'feels like a piece of bathroom graffiti made to purposefully reignite the most racially-charged rivalry in 21st-century pop.' 'Feedback' features West's riposte to his critics: 'Name one genius that ain’t crazy.' The interlude ' features self-aware a cappella lyrics referencing West's image in the public. Tracks such as 'FML', 'Real Friends', and 'Freestyle 4' feature 'gloomy, doomy' discussions of trust issues, antidepressants, and familial problems. The song 'Wolves' features the lyrics, 'Cover Nori in lamb's wool/ We surrounded by/ The fuckin wolves,' among other Biblical allusions, offering a comparison between West and his wife to Mary and Joseph.
Promotion and release. West performed the in 2016 for support of the album.West marked his first release of music since 'All Day' with the release of the ' on December 31, 2015.
A new version of the song was released on The Life of Pablo titled 'Facts (Charlie Heat Version)'. On January 8, 2016, West's wife Kim Kardashian announced via Twitter the release of 'Real Friends', which initiated the return of West's; West had previously done this as a weekly free music giveaway leading up to the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. 'Real Friends' was released the day it was announced via West's account, simultaneously along with the album's release date and a snippet of the forthcoming GOOD Friday release, titled 'No More Parties in LA', which features guest vocals from Kendrick Lamar. 'No More Parties in LA' had its proper release on the following week, also through SoundCloud. The song was produced by and West, and contains a of 'Suzie Thundertussy' performed.
On January 25, 2016, West claimed for his then-upcoming album to be 'the best album of all time.' After a number of delayed premieres, West premiered The Life of Pablo at Madison Square Garden during his Adidas Yeezy Season 3 fashion show event on February 11. On February 12, West released a new track, titled '30 Hours', as part of his GOOD Fridays series.On February 14, West performed 'Highlights' and 'Ultralight Beam' on SNL.
That same day, The Life of Pablo was later released for streaming exclusively on. It was available for purchase at the price of $20 for a few hours, though reverted to streaming-only afterwards. West announced that the album would be available outside of Tidal a week later, however, on the following day, West claimed that he would never release the album outside of Tidal, encouraging his fans to sign up for the service.
On the same day, detailed that the version of the album, which was made available for streaming on Tidal was not its final version. After an active weekend, during which he was finishing his album, he stated that he was $53,000,000 in personal debt and called for Facebook founder to invest $1 billion in West's ideas. He also called on other tech billionaires to help him.
The albums premier and launch won multiple for its innovation Streaming and commercial release The album initially received an exclusive Tidal release on February 14, 2016. West urged the public to download the application to hear the album, which resulted in it temporarily reaching the number one spot on the US. West later tweeted that he 'was thinking about not making CDs ever again,' and stated that he would never release The Life of Pablo outside of Tidal. The album's initial exclusive release on Tidal resulted in a large increase in subscribers to the service, 250 million streams in the first 10 days, and 400 million streams in the first six weeks before its release to other streaming platforms. Following the Tidal exclusive release, it was announced that ' would be sent to radio stations in the United States on March 28 as the lead single from The Life of Pablo; the song was exclusively released for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music on the date.
It peaked at number 34 on the US and lasted for 34 weeks on the chart. The song was certified 2x Platinum in the US by the (RIAA) for selling 2,000,000 units on March 7, 2018. The song reached number 33 on the and remained on it for 16 weeks. On January 19, 2018, 'Famous' was certified Gold in the United Kingdom by the (BPI) for sales of 400,000 units. 'I Love Kanye' was the next song from the album to be released on streaming services other than Tidal on March 30, 2016.On April 1, 2016, West released an updated version of The Life of Pablo for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play.
He also made the album available for purchase on his official website. Though ' and 'Pt. 2' were released as separate tracks on the album, both parts of the song were serviced to radio stations across the United States as the second single, 'Father Stretch My Hands', on June 7. On the US Billboard Hot 100, 'Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1' charted at number 37 and spent 23 weeks on the chart. The song was certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA for sales of 2,000,000 units on March 7, 2018.
It peaked at number 54 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for three weeks. The song was certified Silver in the UK by the BPI for pushing 200,000 units on October 20, 2017. 2' reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted for three weeks on the chart. On February 1, 2018, the song was certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA for selling 1,000,000 units. The song reached number 70 on the UK Singles Chart and remained on the chart for three weeks, tying the chart stay of 'Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1' on the UK Singles Chart. 'Fade' was released as the third and final single to radio stations in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2016, while sent to US radio stations on September 20.
On the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 47 and spent 13 weeks on the chart. It reached number 50 on the UK Singles Chart and lasted for eight weeks on the chart.
On May 12, 2017, 'Fade' was certified Silver in the UK by the BPI for selling 200,000 units. Lawsuit The release on to other streaming platforms and West's website, along with his claims that the album would be a Tidal exclusive forever, caused a lawsuit to be filed on April 18, 2016 against West, Tidal, and (whose company, 'Project Panther Ltd.' Owned Tidal) by law firm, on behalf of California resident Justin Baker-Rhett, for false advertising. The lawsuit, which was seeking class-action status, claimed that Tidal and West never intended to have the album as a Tidal exclusive forever, but decided to say so in an attempt to boost Tidal's struggling subscriber growth. Tour In August 2016, West embarked on the in support of The Life of Pablo.
The performances featured a mobile stage suspended from the ceiling. West postponed several dates in October following the Paris robbery of his wife Kim Kardashian. The remainder of the tour was later canceled on November 21, 2016, following controversy over comments made by West that week regarding his support of president-elect and public criticism of other artists. West was later admitted for psychiatric observation at. Critical reception Professional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRating7.4/1075/100Review scoresSourceRatingB+4/59.0/108/10A−The Life of Pablo received generally positive reviews from music critics upon release. At, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an score of 75, based on 35 reviews, indicating 'generally favorable reviews.'
's dubbed it both a mess and masterpiece: 'This is a messy album that feels like it was made that way on purpose.' Sheffield elaborated, writing that 'West just drops broken pieces of his psyche all over the album and challenges you to fit them together.' Reiff opined that The Life of Pablo 'feels far different from any of the tightly constructed, singular works of West's past,' asserting instead that 'as a beautiful, messy, mixed-up collection of 18 songs, it's a brilliant document.' Writing for, Jon Caramanica stated, 'West. has perfected the art of aesthetic and intellectual bricolage, shape-shifting in real time and counting on listeners to keep up,' concluding that 'this is -as-album, the piecing together of divergent fragments to make a cohesive whole.' In a highly positive review, Jayson Greene of wrote that all of West's work is animated by 'a madcap sense of humor,' and claimed that ' The Life of Pablo has a freewheeling energy that is infectious and unique to his discography,' finding that 'somehow, it comes off as both his most labored-over and unfinished album, full of asterisks and corrections and footnotes.' Of found the record 'wittingly casual and easy on the ears,' writing that, 'unlike Yeezus, it won't top many 2016 lists—it's too blatantly imperfect, too flagrantly unfocused.
But that's also its charm, and I prefer it.' Of wrote that 'even if Mr. West feels (for now, at least) that his best years as a rap superstar are behind him, there's still hella great beats roaming around that dazed and befuddling noggin per The Life of Pablo for dang sure' and described the album as 'long on musical confidence and short on inspirational verses,' though viewed the 'plaintive vulnerability and alienation' expressed by West as at least seeming 'cathartically crafted.' Writing for, Patrick Ryan claimed that even though the album 'may not deliver on West's promise of being 'the album of the life,' it's undeniably the work of one of music's most boundary-pushing artists and will give fans plenty to unpack.' Rahman was somewhat less enthusiastic, calling The Life of Pablo 'an ambitious album that finds the rapper struggling to compact his many identities into one weird, uncomfortable, glorious whole. Like the man himself, the album is emotional, explosive, unpredictable, and undeniably thrilling.'
Was more critical in, finding it 'at turns, rambling, chaotic, deeply underwhelming, impressively audacious, and completely infuriating,' suggesting that 'it appears to have had ideas thrown at it until it feels messy and incoherent' despite concluding that 'when The Life of Pablo is good, it's very good indeed.' McCormick wrote, ' The Life of Pablo is certainly rich in musical scope, chock a block with inspired ideas,' but also felt the work to be 'so self-involved it crosses over into self-delusion, marked by such a tangible absence of perspective and objectivity it is as if West has actually lost sight of the elemental basics of his art.' Kot expressed the viewpoint that ' The Life of Pablo sounds like a work in progress rather than a finished album' and claimed that 'West comes off as a man with hundreds of ideas in play all at once,' though described him as lacking any filter. In another mixed review, 's Evan Sawdey wrote that ' The Life of Pablo 's obscurities and eccentricities make it ripe for endless dissection by West's fans and followers, but make no mistake: this album is flawed, it’s problematic, and most of all, it's no masterpiece.' Accolades The Life of Pablo appeared on year-end lists of the best albums of 2016 by multiple publications.
Dummy Mag ranked the album as the best of 2016, claiming that 'it delivered some of the hugest musical moments of the year,' noting elements of songs such as 'Ultralight Beam' and 'Pt. Of The New York Times also named The Life of Pablo the best album of the year and called the album: 'A grand, caustic album about grace: finding it, praying for it, falling from it.' Was among the three publications to list The Life of Pablo as the best album of 2016, writing that 'the incredible, exciting and daring ' The Life of Pablo' really does show Kanye as a restless, Jobs-esque genius, with a flair for convening talented people and getting exceptional work out of them.'
As well as ranking at number three on the Pitchfork Readers' Poll: Top 50 Albums of 2016, the album was voted by readers as the fifth most underrated and the most overrated album of the year, respectively. On the Top 50 Songs of 2016 poll, 'Ultralight Beam' ranked at number one. 'Real Friends' and 'No More Parties in LA' also appeared on the list as the 13th and 16th best song, respectively. In February 2016, Inverse named The Life of Pablo as West's best album and mostly praised the sonics of the album. PublicationAccoladeRankRef.The A.V.
Club's Top 50 Albums of 2016. Dean. Ritter.
Goldstein6:12Total length:66:39Notes. signifies a co-producer. signifies an additional producer.
'Ultralight Beam' features vocals by, and, and additional vocals by Natalie Green and Samoria Green. 'Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1' features vocals by and Kelly Price. 'Pt.
Comments are closed.
|
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |