Kanye

On my 3rd listen now and man. I'm just happy for the guy.

He's extremely excited about his freshly renewed faith and you can tell he just wants to tell everyone! Does it get corny and repetitive at a few points? A little bit at times, and at times it goes hard as shit and I can't help but get hype too!!!

Kanye is like the kid that just got into vinyl, and wants to tell everyone how awesome the medium is compared to past ways! He'll get over exubrant with stuff we have heard before but that is ok...much like finding joy in seeing my brother get his first five records at his AT-LP60, I am finding joy in Kanye getting his wings back.

It takes a real man to make this much of a change from where they were, and not let the past, shame from others, or hate distract you from your goal! 20 years later this man has given us classic after classic and now he's showing us his spiritual change through his music.

What a wholesome day today has been!
 
ayayrawn said:
I mean, just strong disagree.

It's all a matter of personal opinion, of course, but defending the lyrics on this thing by arguing he's never been that good doesn't cut it for me. The bars on JiK left me feeling legit sad and second-hand embarassed.
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I never defended the lyrics on the new one, if anything I was agreeing the lyrics arent that good. Kanye has much more cringe inducing/embarrassing lyrics than the ones on this one. TLOP alone runs circles around this album in the embarrassing category. I was just stating that the music on this new album is good and that's what I'm looking for from a Kanye project.

Also theres a major difference between good lyrics and a good rap and your example is a mediocre rap.
 
My initial feelings on Jesus is King are that, while I'm happy that Kanye’s faith is giving him something to believe in and I support him making choices that will better himself, this album does not really do much for me. And it's not just that it's a religious project, I really don't care if it's secular or not, but there is just no substance to anything. I have no doubts Kanye has a very strong faith in God and that he really wanted to make an album about how God has helped him. But that really isn't represented much in the content beyond a bunch of cliche platitudes and vague references… it just feels very empty. Sonically, the mixing is just off and, like ye, it doesn't sound like a finished product to me. There's definitely some good beats but it all just sounds like demos.

I get that this album wasn't really made for me. But I should be able to enjoy it even if I'm not a Christian. Compare this album to “How Much a Dollar Cost?” by Kendrick Lamar. That song gives a much stronger and more impactful religious message in 5 minutes than this album does in 27, and does it creatively without muddling the main idea. I don't need to be religious to understand or feel the impact of that song. But throughout this project, Kanye doesn't ever get specific enough for me to care about why he is so thankful for God and how religion has changed his life.

If you enjoyed this project and the religious themes resonate with you, then I'm not trying to detract from your experience in any way. But I just wish it wasn't so surface level. Kanye had the potential to make a really emotionally and spiritually transcendent work of art, and to some he might have, but for me he really missed the mark here. I'm glad Kanye is in a better place and I have a feeling this album will mark a turning point for the future of his music and I'm fine with that. It just probably won't be music that appeals to me personally.
 
sorcerer said:
you just described every single rap verse ever.
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I disagree. There are tons of rappers that stay away from that rap tropes displayed in that song. There are also tons of rappers that live in those rap tropes who rap those tropes in a more interesting way than that verse.

I'm not bashing that song either, it's a fantastic song, it's just not that special of a rap.
 
I think religion is an overall bad thing too (good on a micro level, bad on a macro level) but I dont need relate to lyrics personally to enjoy the music. Yes it keeps it from being a Great/great or even Good album, but it's a good album because the actual music has multiple good moments. A solid 7.5 on the woobfork rating scale.
 
gaporter said:
My initial feelings on Jesus is King are that, while I'm happy that Kanye’s faith is giving him something to believe in and I support him making choices that will better himself, this album does not really do much for me. And it's not just that it's a religious project, I really don't care if it's secular or not, but there is just no substance to anything. I have no doubts Kanye has a very strong faith in God and that he really wanted to make an album about how God has helped him. But that really isn't represented much in the content beyond a bunch of cliche platitudes and vague references… it just feels very empty. Sonically, the mixing is just off and, like ye, it doesn't sound like a finished product to me. There's definitely some good beats but it all just sounds like demos.

I get that this album wasn't really made for me. But I should be able to enjoy it even if I'm not a Christian. Compare this album to “How Much a Dollar Cost?” by Kendrick Lamar. That song gives a much stronger and more impactful religious message in 5 minutes than this album does in 27, and does it creatively without muddling the main idea. I don't need to be religious to understand or feel the impact of that song. But throughout this project, Kanye doesn't ever get specific enough for me to care about why he is so thankful for God and how religion has changed his life.

If you enjoyed this project and the religious themes resonate with you, then I'm not trying to detract from your experience in any way. But I just wish it wasn't so surface level. Kanye had the potential to make a really emotionally and spiritually transcendent work of art, and to some he might have, but for me he really missed the mark here. I'm glad Kanye is in a better place and I have a feeling this album will mark a turning point for the future of his music and I'm fine with that. It just probably won't be music that appeals to me personally.
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I think it definitely needs more listens from me to digest. I love the production on some of the tracks and hate a lot of the mixing. I was hoping Mike Dean wasn't doing the mix/master but it definitely sounds like he did...

I really enjoyed Ye and find myself going back and listening to a bunch of the tracks on that somewhat regularly. And that was ultimately an EP to me so it didn't bother me that much that it didn't feel super cohesive. Lyrically, this album so far does nothing for me. There's no emotion behind it. And I agree with you that it seems so surface level--like somebody read the spark notes of the Bible and wrote an album about it. For something that should have been ultimately a very personal album after what he's been going through and how he says religion helped him get through it, it just has nothing personal in it and feels like anybody could have written the lyrics. I've always maintained that he's a much better producer than rapper and this reinforces it. Still going to give it a ton more listens I'm sure though so reserving overall judgment on the album for now.
 
Woob_woob said:
I keep seeing people bashing the lyrics and keep thinking "who goes to a Kanye project for the lyrics?!?!?" Even at his best he was a mediocre lyricist. If I want lyrics I go to lyricist, I go to Kanye for the music and the new album succeeds there
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Dark Star Boogie said:
Perfectly stated, Kanye has never been a great lyricist.
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Yes with kanye it is 100% always about the overall sound of the project for me never about lyrics at all. This isnt the gospel album we thought we were getting. This is very much a kanye album with new bells and whistles. I'm really enjoying it. There is a lot to like. Follow god production is 🔥
 
So the thing that I really most enjoy Kanye's music for is his beats. Even when he is producing for other people......Jay's "The Blueprint", Common's "Be".......he's had a long standing record of bringing some magic in his production, even when he starting bringing in a bunch of collaborators on MBDTF and Yeezus.

There's a reason why, last year, I enjoyed Kids See Ghosts so much more than Ye. I felt like Ye had maybe two or three really great beats, and some others that had potential but meandered in a way that lessened them. Kids See Ghosts had such killer beats almost top to bottom.

Jesus Is King, to my ears, has one great beat: "Follow God". The rest either seem unfinished or lazy.

Case in point: When the percussion kicks in on "Use This Gospel" at 3:08, it kills it. The problem is that the song ends 25 seconds later. Why withhold the beat that long? Pusha's verse would have sounded amazing with the percussion going, and you could have dropped it out for the sax solo to heighten the impact of that. Instead the song sounds like a semi-interesting non-starter.
 
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Delta Don said:
No doubt it will get bumped , maybe 12th day if Christmas so we are looking at a January release ha.
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It will be one hour from release on Christmas day, he will catch a glimpse of an old donnie darko dvd in his studio under the shelf and say fuck it no I'm doing an evil easter album instead see you in march/april
 
BattleFlag said:
So the thing that I really most enjoy Kanye's music for is his beats. Even when he is producing for other people......Jay's "The Blueprint", Common's "Be".......he's had a long standing record of bringing some magic in his production, even when he starting bringing in a bunch of collaborators on MBDTF and Yeezus.

There's a reason why, last year, I enjoyed Kids See Ghosts so much more than Ye. I felt like Ye had maybe two or three really great beats, and some others that had potential but meandered in a way that lessened them. Kids See Ghosts had such killer beats almost top t bottom.

Jesus Is King, to my ears, has one great beat: "Follow God". The rest either seem unfinished or lazy.

Case in point: When the percussion kicks in on "Use This Gospel" at 3:08, it kills it. The problem is that the song ends 25 seconds later. Why withhold the beat that long? Pusha's verse would have sounded amazing with the percussion going, and you could have dropped it out for the sax solo to heighten the impact of that. Instead the song sounds like a semi-interesting non-starter.
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Interesting...I couldn't get into Kids See Ghosts. I'll have to revisit it though. I'm just not really a huge Cudi fan outside of his hooks on some of Ye's tracks. I love a bunch of the songs on Ye though. "Use This Gospel" is my favorite song on the album so far after a few listens and I personally kind of love that the percussion doesn't come in until late in it. It's a bit less predictable. I like that it adds more in the background each verse and then you have Kenny G slappin that sax solo and the drums come in. Agree that it cuts off so soon though--would have liked the beat to ride a bit longer.
 
BattleFlag said:
Case in point: When the percussion kicks in on "Use This Gospel" at 3:08, it kills it. The problem is that the song ends 25 seconds later. Why withhold the beat that long? Pusha's verse would have sounded amazing with the percussion going, and you could have dropped it out for the sax solo to heighten the impact of that. Instead the song sounds like a semi-interesting non-starter.
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Personally I think this is the most perfect song on the album and I love that the beat kicks in when it does. I wouldnt mind if it lasted a bit longer tho, so I agree with you there
 
MikeH said:
Interesting...I couldn't get into Kids See Ghosts. I'll have to revisit it though. I'm just not really a huge Cudi fan outside of his hooks on some of Ye's tracks. I love a bunch of the songs on Ye though. "Use This Gospel" is my favorite song on the album so far after a few listens and I personally kind of love that the percussion doesn't come in until late in it. It's a bit less predictable. I like that it adds more in the background each verse and then you have Kenny G slappin that sax solo and the drums come in. Agree that it cuts off so soon though--would have liked the beat to ride a bit longer.
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Kids see ghosts was one of my favourite (maybe even no.1 favourite) album of last year I think it's incredible. Give it a few more spins
 
Jmcg85 said:
Kids see ghosts was one of my favourite (maybe even no.1 favourite) album of last year I think it's incredible. Give it a few more spins
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I bought the vinyl of it when it was first announced and never even opened and then sold it haha. I'll give it a listen again though. Out of all of those projects Kanye released last year, I think I liked Ye the best. I dug the Pusha record too.
 
So I didn't pay attention to the lyrics so I could focus on the music and... it feels like Kanye put all his energy on the lyrics and the delivery. It feels not uninspired, but lazy. In Argentina we call it "así nomás". I felt it like he made a beat, added two or three small things over here and there and that's it, let's talk about how god saved my life.
I'll come back to it later and see if I can find anything more interesting.
 
I'm also very interested to hear how people views of Kanye the person/personality affected their views of Kanye the artist. Like I feel like a lot of the hate I'm seeing for this album is because he said some good words about Donald Trump before and that's just silly imo.
 
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