#14. Donda 2
Donda 2 is tough to listen to for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that the only way you could initially hear the album would be to purchase Kanye's exclusive $200 streaming device that it's trapped within. Like some kind of lost relic you downloaded from Limewire in 2003 and is now forever housed in your ancient MP3 player among Bright Eyes bootlegs and Jerky Boyz prank phone calls. But this is also clearly a snapshot of a man in the midst of a total mental and emotional collapse, breaking down over the split with Kim. Hearing him repeat "Do I look happy to you?!" followed by a sound clip of his ex-wife praising him publicly is too uncomfortable for words. It's really for the best that this never got a proper release because it's also his sloppiest production work of his career, with so many unfinished ideas that make the majority of the songs sound like middling interludes that never progress in any way.
#13. Jesus is King
This record is beyond corny. Unsurprisingly, Kanye's manufactured pivot to "spiritual" music lacks all of the uninhibited bravado that makes his work so fascinating and replaces it with dull, try hard, feel good nonsense. I tried to go in with an open mind but after the first three tracks, the album is without a doubt the worst material he's (officially) released in his entire career. I'm still not sure if Donda 2 counts or if that was just a fever dream we're all going to ignore. "Selah" and "Follow God" had a couple moments where they actually got their hooks into me here but from the Chick-fil-a chorus on "Closed on Sunday" to the unbearably repetitive verses on "Water" - this is absolute rock bottom. Production, lyrics, delivery - just an escalating series of cringe-worthy material that pretty well matches his series of public embarrassments as of late.
#12. Donda
After 2 months of delays and 3 live listening events, Kanye finally delivered the album he promised for over a year and unfortunately it's his most obnoxiously repetitive and long winded effort to date. At 27 tracks and 108 minutes long, Donda feels like a sloppy sketchbook of unfinished material rushed to the public without more than a handful of tracks that even resemble full songs. It's like he accidentally e-mailed his record label an entire draft folder without fine-tuning the final product. The album kicks off promising enough with the stand-out track, "Jail", but then we hit 14 straight fillers. It isn't until the second half of the record when we finally feel like the introspective MC even unveils himself in any candid fashion before quickly retreating with alternate takes of "Jail", "Ok ok", "Junya" and "Jesus Lord" to close out the underwhelming return of Yeezus and the most over hyped album of Ye's career.
#11. Kids See Ghosts
This long gestating collaboration with Kid Cudi just doesn't have the production quality of any of Ye's other work. It feels incredibly redundant and just never really brings you in on any emotional or technical level. The borderline hedonistic approach to production Ye is famous for is smoothed over into a ready-made exercise in formality. The 7 tracks are over before you know it, never leaving any lasting impression in the process. It's not terrible, it's just surprisingly bland. Even when he's at his worst, Kanye's almost always memorable. But not here. KSG sees Ye safe and presentable, like he's putting up a front to mix in with a crowd he's not quite comfortable enough to be himself with.
#10. ye
Right out of the gate with "I Thought About Killing You", this record feels like a therapy journal set to music. It's the dawn of a more introspective era of Kanye, one more focused on his own wellness than his drive for success. Which is a great thing for Kanye's own mental health, as he seemed stretched way too thin on The Life of Pablo rollout. But I'd be lying if I said this doesn't sound like one of his least dynamic records. "Ghost Town" is a welcomed throwback to that old Kanye feel good sound that his fans have been clamoring for and may be the best single he's put out in a decade. But the rest of the album is so bland that there isn't much here worth revisiting.
#9. 808s & Heartbreaks
After the massive critical and financial success of Graduation, 808s and Heartbreaks definitely feels like a bit of a victory lap for West. It's got some momentarily great material sprinkled in but overall it just doesn't feel like he's putting the same creative energy into this one that he gave his previous 3 albums. It definitely broke ground for infusing synth embellishments and emotionally dense lyrical content into mainstream rap when it was released; but among Kanye's personal catalog, it doesn't have nearly the same staying power his other releases do. Even the singles, "Amazing" and "Love Lockdown" feel pretty minor. "Paranoid" was fun though.
#8. Vultures 1
For the first time since Yeezus, Kanye West has composed a fully developed album in Vultures 1. The production is absolutely stellar, sounding like it's picking right up from where he left off with The Life of Pablo and maybe most important of all, Ye seems to finally be enjoying himself again. With incredibly loose and fun moments like the "Back That Ass Up" beat switch on "Do It" or turning the ridiculous sound clip from Dogma "Beautiful, big titty, butt naked women just don't fall out of the sky, y'know" into an absolute fucking banger of a track. We also get some classic chipmunk soul tracks like "Burn" and "Problematic" that resemble early Ye and even a Yeezy trap song in "FUK SUMN". But it's obvious Kanye doesn't have much to say here lyrically, hence the collaboration with Ty Dollar $ign as he outsources most of the verses. It's not quite back on the level of greatness Kanye achieved at his peak but this is definitely a good sign that he's headed back in the right direction.
#7. Watch the Throne
Speaking of victory laps, Watch the Throne is maybe the penultimate example. But unlike 808s, Watch the Throne feels like a much more concentrated effort and the combined talents of Jay-Z and Kanye help to bring the best out of one another. Admittedly the album does sound a bit more like a collection of singles than a cohesive record but with standout tracks like "No Church in the Wild", "Lift Off", and "Who Gon Stop Me" you can hardly fault it for that. The only downside is when the singles don't exactly work, like their first release - "Otis". But the hits far outweigh the misses, especially given the fact that the album features one of the best hip hop songs of the 2010s and arguably a career best for either K or J with "N*ggas in Paris". That shit gets the people going.
#6. The Life of Pablo
This may be one of the most frustrating records ever released. There are some absolutely incredible moments on The Life of Pablo, from the epic introduction on "Ultralight Beam" to the phenomenal arrangements on "Feedback", "FML" or "Fade" - this record has all the makings of another potential masterpiece. It's just clearly the result of a rushed release. Instead of curating the tracklist into a cohesive collection, we get what sounds like a mix cd of everything Kanye tried out in the studio during these sessions set on shuffle. Songs like "30 Hours", "No More Parties in LA" or "Facts" really have no place on the final release. West's focus was clearly pulled into too many directions with starting a family, launching a clothing line, and that weird video game thing where you fly his mom to heaven.
#5. Graduation
With Graduation, it feels like Kanye established himself as the unquestionable king of his craft. Taking down 50 Cent in the process with a head to head sales competition upon release was just icing on the cake. Graduation would have thrived regardless of any comparisons to 50 Cent's "Curtis". But aside from the massive radio hits like "Stronger", "Good Life", and "Flashing Lights"; West stays true to the well rounded sound that brought him into the lime light with grounded and emotional deep cuts like "Everything I Am" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing". The record is absolutely stacked, front to back and feels like an artist certifying himself as the new contemporary standard that all newcomers will be measured against.
#4. The College Dropout
Maybe one of the strongest debuts in hip hop history, The College Dropout is oozing with personality in every single song. Dropout was incredibly innovative in it's unique level of relate-ability and humor expressed within a genre that was up to it's eyeballs in superficiality and self serious tough guy rhetoric at the time. It's an outstanding cover letter for the wide array of emotions that Kanye can tap into so well - from the laughs on "The New Workout Plan", the desperate sense of hopelessness in "We Don't Care" and "All Falls Down", to the absolute bangers "Breathe In Breathe Out" and "Jesus Walks". It's all punctuated spectacularly by the showcase of Kanye's dedication in "Through the Wire" that caps off a soulful introduction to one of music's most unique voices.
#3. Yeezus
This is Kanye in full-on rock star mode and it's absolutely intoxicating to behold. Rather than coasting on the success of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezy pushes the boundaries of his production even further into borderline experimental/industrial territory. "On Sight" sets the tone perfectly for the innovation at hand and yet somehow still retains an ability to hook you in with pop sensibilities. It's wholly remarkable to see an artist pushing boundaries this successfully while maintaining mainstream accessibility in a way that no artist has been able to accomplish on this level since maybe Prince. The second half of the record loses a little of the manic energy that makes the first 6 tracks so remarkable but the finale with "Send It Up" and "Bound 2" wraps things up perfectly.
#2. Late Registration
After the breakout success of his debut, Kanye's follow up only worked to further stoke the hype surrounding his young career. "Gold Digger" put Ye on the map with his cynical sense of humor and throwback soul aesthetic which made him stand out in a crowded field of auto-tuned pop-rap copycats. Late Registration has so much of West's personality and insight wrapped up in it that you can feel the authenticity expressed every song. Each bar feels genuine. And the fact that it was basically the big budget, polished up version of his debut - enhancing everything that made his prior record great while trimming the few sections of fat - made for a nearly flawless marriage of methodically executed precision and endearing personality.
#1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Hellbent on rewriting the narrative surrounding his career after his VMA outburst, Kanye returned after a two year hiatus with arguably one of the best hip hop albums of all time. The production retains the soulful exuberance of his earlier work without relying as much on samples but instead crafting his own blend of neo-soul layered vocal harmonies, stripped down pianos, spastic electronic percussion, and the crunchiest bass lines you've ever heard. The features are absolutely perfect - from the star making performance from Nicki Minaj to the genre bending work of Bon Iver to an onslaught of incredible bars from Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Pusha T. Hip hop was stuck in a dark place between the Lil John crunk rap movement and T-Pain's overly auto-tuned everything but My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy almost single-handily revived rap's credibility in the mainstream. It brought legitimacy back to a genre that was stuck in a cycle of bad gimmicks. It also cemented Kanye West's place as one of the most crucial and innovative talents in all of music.
#music #musicblog #hiphop #rap #boombap #Kanye #Yeezy #Ye #Yeezus #KanyeWest #JayZ #MBDTF #MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy #Discography #top10 #list #LateRegistration #Graduation #TheCollegeDropout #WatchtheThrone #808sandHeartbreak #TheLifeofPablo #JesusisKing #Donda #KidsSeeGhosts #internetkilledthevideostore