At 2:53pm CST, I popped myself a bag of kettle corn and waited for the TIDAL livestream of YEEZY SEASON 3 to begin. As I wait for for the YeezyS3 livesteam to stop buffering and begin, I can only think of the negativity and ridiculousness that has surrounded my beloved Kanye as he's been working to promote his long-awaited, post-YEEZYS album. And so, I shall refer to this album: Life of Pablo as The Album Formerly Known as SWISH**. **(Formery known as SWISH and then formerly known as WAVES.)
Until about 3:30pm, it was just a live feed of people walking into Madison Square Garden, some fog and spotlights, and covered platforms billowing.
3:23pm: The covered platforms seem to be moving as if by a strong breeze within the stadium. The whole thing seems to be an ominous overproduction right now.
3:35pm: Applause - a lot of applause. Half of my popcorn is already gone, but I still cheer from my living room couch at the arrival of North West and Kim Kardashian West and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner family into the arena. Kanye enters in a red shirt and black baseball cap with Lamar Odom.
3:39pm: Kanye speaks. And I love this man's voice because it's so nerdy, so opposite his ego. He begins with Ultra Light Beam. A slow, soulful Kanye begins to sing. At one point: "pray for Paris, pray for parents". A CHOIR. ALL I CAN SAY TO THIS IS YAS AND S/O TO THE SOLOIST. Secondly, Kanye hit some high notes and I honestly loved it. Thirdly, CHANCE THE RAPPER. FIRE. THIS ENTIRE TRACK IS FIRE.
(until this moment, I had feelings that this album would not be fantastic, that this album would not be the GOAT, and that he would even delay the album after three-title changes, and several track list changes, ultimately ending in a track list that did not seem to be 100% set.)
Track 2: Future? Autotune. Yes it is Future. My screen was frozen and now I realize that the models have arrived or possibly been uncovered and are standing upon the previously covered platforms. The models are wonderfully diverse, I can't actually believe it but I love it and they are all beautiful. They are all also very tall, skinny, and leggy. The YEEZY fashion color scheme has changed and the nude color scheme now includes oranges and maroons. A shot of the crowd/Kanye's entourage: they're all getting it to the beat, intense head bobbing and toe-bouncing.
Track 3: Oh shit, what an intro! The name "Pablo" has finally surfaced. Kanye and his entourage continue to get it to his own album, something that Sia once referred to as "masturbatory listening," I notice that the models have no body fat whatsoever. I definitely mess with this song because it's great, it's wonderful, it's glorious in all it's Kanye-ness. More models in black show up, they actually walk around the platform - one model looks familiar, I find out afterwards that this was indeed Naomi Campbell. Of course it is. Kanye refers to himself as Oprah and says, "You get a fur, you get a fur, you get a fur!" The entire Kardashian/Jenner family is covered in furs, so it must be true?
Track 4: RIHANNA BISH WHET? Yes, the voice of Rihanna peals in my ears just like if I were still listening to ANTI but instead it's on the album formerly known as SWISH and I reminisce to All of the Lights and that Kanye/Rihanna collaboration. In this reverie, Kanye says: "me and taylor might still have sex...i made her famous." W H A T. I note to the side, should Kanye be allowed to make another experimental album?
Track 5: These beats are fire and this album is very religiously driven. Things Kanye says: "I bet me and ray J would be friends if we didn't love the same b****" and "we [the Kardashian/Jenner/Kardashian West/West famliy] the new Jacksons" and "blac chyna f*****g rob helped him with the weight." I am left to think: who does this man think he is?
Track 6: Haunting beat, it makes me think that Drake is going to show up, but of course he isn't. I don't even want to discuss this song because it is essentially an I'm In It (circa YEEZUS) part 2. Instead, I wonder if the models like the music as they stand there.
(What I think is) Track 7: A Kanye freestyle! Yes! "I love you like Kanye loves Kanye"
(What I think is) Track 8: A thoughtful song - intuitive. "Revealing the layers to my soul" and the beat picks up and I am in love with the hook and need to know who is singing it. Yes, it's Abel aka The Weeknd and he croons, "wish I would go ahead and f*** my life up" and I'm enamored. I notice some of the models are now sitting.
(What I think is) Track 9: Real Friends. We all already know that this song is great. It only leads me to question why Kanye removed No More Parties in LA/Kendrick Lamar from his album. Why? Who does that?
Track 10: WOLVES. This is why I'm watching, this is what I've been waiting for because I haven't heard Wolves since Kanye performed the song during SNL while lying down underneath a low white platform with wild looking contacts in his eyes. IT'S STILL GOOD.
Afterthoughts: Yes, this album is very good and very different. No, it is not College Dropout or MBDTF. But it is also not YEEZUS. Lol at Kanye's "nerd in the back of the classroom" voice. Kanye plays his Jumpman (Remix) to get the already hype crowd even more hype. He refers to Kim constantly as "my wife." He asks the family to stand, to show off their outfits which were custom-made 2 weeks ago. The crowd begins screaming "f*** Michael Jordan!" and Kanye stops them and tells them to respect Michael Jordan. Clearly, Kanye is trying to make good with Michael Jordan after he declined his invitation to YEEZY Season 3. This makes me wonder if Kanye will also redact his offensive, Bill Cosby statement... There is an encore (he plays FADE). But still, no No More Parties... A miniature freak out a little North West judging "Aunt Koko" for dancing. Young Thug previews a new song. One model is shown nodding his head to the new Young Thug. Seems like no one knows how to use the aux cord as they begin passing it around to different artists to play songs on their phones. Kanye states that "this is a gospel album." Kanye says that he can just keep playing music and they can make it a party until curfew. He also previews a video game that he created based on his mother (RIP) traveling through the gates of heaven. The graphics are fantastic. The game is called Only One: The Game. It's beautiful.
My livestream freezes.
I'll have to listen to it again of course, but on first tastes, I definitely love most of this album already.
(these links all lead to Kanye's infamous twitter account)
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