Kanye West: "Ye" Album Review

It has been two years since the release of The Life Of Pablo and admittedly, it has been a rough couple of years for Kanye West and his fans.

In the lead up to his highly anticipated release post public mental breakdown, Kanye has been drumming up controversy after controversy, like posting a selfie wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap which was autographed by his friend President Donald Trump and who can forget his controversial thoughts on slavery in the TMZ interview where he basically said slavery was a choice.

At first, fans chalked up Kanye's rants, statements, breakdowns and opinions as being misunderstood and that he is just a tortured genius who struggles to communicate with the common folk who aren't on the same wavelength as him. But even so, it is getting harder for fans and non-fans alike to defend Kanye's questionable actions.

Being honest here Ye isn't a complete disaster, but it's not a story of redemption either. One might think after the warm reception of The Life of Pablo and Kanye seeking treatment for his issues, that this album would be a return to form for the music artist many have put on a pedestal and idolised for a long time now.

Like his previous record, the production is all over the place yet again. In some songs, it literally sounds like Kanye started writing one song and then changed his mind half-way through which is a problem that plagued The Life of Pablo. No smooth transition, nothing. You're listening to one song and then BAM! another song starts playing.

You're going to hear this a lot, but the track "Ghost Town" featuring young signee to GOOD Music 070 Shake is one of the best on the album thanks to the cameo which helps this record retain some form of integrity. However, it's a band-aid on a sinking ship.

At 23 minutes, Ye is Kanye's shortest record. The reason for the length could be the fact he has a collaboration with Kid Cudi coming out very shortly called Kids See Ghosts and perhaps (hopefully) Kanye saved some of his former creative self for that effort because while Ye isn't a complete trainwreck, it's not a memorable release by any means.

The most frustrating thing about this album is we know when Kanye really knuckles down he has the production and songwriting chops to produce some absolute classics. When West released Yeezus in 2013 while more experimental for Kanye, it was well-received because the production was top-notch and way in which Kanye delivered was energetic and memorable. It's one of his more memorable albums.

The only way I can describe Ye (and it may seem harsh) is lazy. It feels like Kanye didn't even try to redeem himself. Once again, maybe this is a misdirect and the Kid Cudi collaboration is the real album we are holding out for. But given West felt comfortable enough to put his name to this, I am not so sure.

The more I think about it, Ye is more of a mixtape than a full-length. At 23 minutes, it would fit within the criteria for an EP. For someone who sees themselves as a genius, I would have thought that Kanye West would have held himself up to a higher standard and expected more from himself.

Has Kanye West given up, or is this all part of an act and we'll get an actual release sometime later in the year? Or maybe I am just in denial that a once great artist appears to have lost the spark and settled for less than his former self would have been happy with.

Unlike a traditional review, I didn't go into detail on individual tracks because well, this sadly feels more like a eulogy than a review to be honest.

Really, this is just sad to hear. How could such a promising and well-respected artist put out something like this? It's bizarre and disheartening. Although, Kanye West doing bizarre things has become so frequent that it is the new normal.