Albums

Kanye West’s ‘The Life Of Pablo’ Is Out Now—For Real This Time!

blame it on Meka February 13, 2016
kanye-west-pablo-coer

UPDATE (2/13): Following his SNL performance with Chance The Rapper, Young Thug and The-Dream, kanye FINALLY releases The Life of Pablo… on TIDAL for stream or purchase—for $20.

1 “Ultra Light Beams” f. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream & Kirk Franklin
2. “Father Stretch My Hands” pt.1 f. Travi$ Scott, KiD CuDi & Desiigner (prod. Metro Boomin)
3. “Father Stretch My Hands” pt.2
4. “Famous” f. Rihanna (prod. Swizz Beatz)
5. “Feedback”
6. “Low Lights”
7. “High Lights” f. Young Thug & The-Dream
8. “Freestyle 4”
9. “I Love Kanye”
10. “Waves” f. Chance the Rapper & Chris Brown
11. “FML” f. The Weeknd
12. “Real Friends” f. Ty Dolla $ign
13. “Wolves” f. Frank Ocean
14. “Silver Surfer Intermission”
15. “30 Hours” f. André 3000 & Yasiin Bey
16. “No More Parties in L.A.” f. Kendrick Lamar (prod. Madlib)
17. “Facts”
18. “Fade” f. Post Malone

Sigh.

I’m tired of talking about Kanye West. No, seriously. It’s quite cumbersome to hear, read, watch or write about Kanye West so much. It’s either about the shoes, the clothing line, his former relationship, his current relationship with his wife, his wife’s siblings, his wife’s siblings’ relationships, his wife’s siblings’ former relationships, his wife’s siblings’ former relationships’ current relationships… essentially, everything but his music. And even when music comes along? The results have been either esoterically electronic (the hyper-experimental Yeezus in 2013), tepid (I’m still trying to forget that “Facts” exists), or frustratingly brilliant (“Real Friends“).

Which is why I’m “tired” of talking about Kanye West. It’s not that I don’t understand and appreciate his impact, influence, legacy, whatever you want to call it, because I do. However, I’m not exactly thrilled that all of that comes with everything else: the rant on on Wiz Khalifa, the constant album name changes (So Help Me God, to me, still remained the best title), the sporadic Twitter musings (remember when he used to not own a cell phone?); for every “HOW SWAY?!” we got a “BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” For each “No More Parties In LA” we got… “Facts.”

Which is why I’m hoping that his seventh album, The Life Of Pablo, is really, really good. With virtually everybody who has liked at least one of his songs, and enough people citing their joy in the new project, ‘Ye has taken to one of the biggest stages of them all – Madison Square Garden – to unveil the project, as well as the third season of his Yeezy clothing line. For those who weren’t able (or willing, or wanting) to shell out up to $500 for a ticket (nevermind the resale prices), he teamed with TIDAL for a live-stream of the presentation/show for the armchair critics. Let’s hope that it’s worth all of the distraction/madness.

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Earlier this week, Kanye debuted the album during his Yeezy Season 3 unveiling at Madison Square Garden. If you happened to miss it, a replay is available on TIDAL. Or you can scroll through our play-by-play below.

3:55 p.m EST: The show is set to start in five minutes, but the house is looking pretty empty (maybe they’re streaming footage from a while back). Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s delayed a couple minutes.

4:15 p.m: After the last update, a technician said “20 minutes” to show time. It’s been 20 minutes, and bupkis. Should be going live when Madison Square Garden gets a little more full. I mean shit, the Knicks had more people there at tipoff last year when Alexey Shved was running point at the end of the season last year.

4:21 p.m.: According to Complex’s Pchopz, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T, Sqaggy P, Blac Chyna’s baby daddy, 50 Cent, Big Sean and more are all in attendance.

4:33 p.m.: Kanye, Kim and North West just showed up alongside the rest of the Yeezy/Kardashian clan (including Lamar Odom). We should be getting started soon.

kanye-msg-laptop Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris

4:37 p.m.: Kanye and Don C are hooking up a laptop. Looks like we’re ready. “I’m about to play the new album”… Damn straight you are. First up, “Ultra Light Beam.”

4:42 p.m.: A little bit of gospel, a little bit of autotune, and CHANCE THE RAPPER. Nice.

4:44 p.m.: Here comes the fashion show and “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 & Pt. 2” with METRO BOOMIN. Damn.

4:47 p.m.:”Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 & Pt. 2″ has a lot of Travi$ Scott influence on it.

4:50 p.m.: Seems like “Freestyle 4” is playing now. “I’m the ghetto Oprah! You get a fur, you get a fur!”

4:54 p.m.: Here’s “Famous,” which features a “diss” toward Taylor Swift. Song features Rihanna and production from Swizz Beatz. Samples “Bam Bam” by Sister Nancy. Naomi Campbell showed up during the fashion portion!

4:57 p.m.: “Highlights,” which has that Ray J/Kim K line Ebro revealed yesterday.

5:00 p.m.: We’re halfway done with the album. “Feedback” definitely has Travi$ Scott in some formation.

Models pose during Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 on February 11, 2016 in New York City.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris

5:02 p.m.: Is it me, or is he cutting off some of these songs? Either way, he just killed this freestyle at the end of “Feedback.”

5:05 p.m.: Seems like Kanye is skipping over “Fade” for now. Bring on “FML” featuring The Weeknd.

5:07 p.m.: Here’s the one we all know: “Real Friends.” There’s no way he’s playing the entire album now. Even better.

5:11 p.m.: FULL CDQ OF “WOLVES.” FINALLY.

5:14 p.m.: We’ve waited a gotdamn year for the CDQ of this. Comes with a verse from ‘Ye and FRANK OCEAN.

5:17 p.m.: SPEEEEEEECH. Kanye telling the crowd how hard it’s been to break into fashion being a big rap star, but he thanks his friends, family, Vanessa Beecroft and more.

5:19 p.m.: Here’s “Facts,” which came out the New Year’s Eve. Guess Kanye’s still mad Michael Jordan didn’t show up.

5:21 p.m.: FAAAAAAAAAADE. This is gonna be special.

5:24 p.m.: Post Malone was on “Fade,” then Young Thug hopped in to play a new song. This is hilarious.

5:26 p.m.: New Vic Mensa coming, too. He was dropped off “Wolves,” it seems, but he gets a spot here. People are filing out of MSG now, too. Get ready for the full album to drop any minute now.

5:32 p.m.: Kanye is just having fun passing the AUX cord at this point. Carry on.

5:35 p.m.: Another speech. Seems like Kanye is just killing time at this point. Now he’s showing footage from a video game of his mom traveling through heaven? Showing to the tune of a holy version of “Only One.”

5:39 p.m.: More speeches. This is Kanye’s version of a “party.”

5:42: p.m.: Here comes “Highlights” again. We’re gonna be here a while, I think.

5:45 p.m.: Correction: We’re gonna be here “All Day.”

5:50 p.m.: Yeezy left the building.