To those who followed the rollout of The Life of Pablo, it might be difficult to determine whether Kanye West is perfectionist or the polar opposite – a highly intelligent student frantically throwing together his college thesis hours before the deadline, completely aware that whatever he submits will far surpass the sea of comparative mediocrity from his peers. Plenty of evidence points to the latter – West’s parade of capricious tweets, changes in album title, and dithering over the release date are some of the most evident. His erratic cries for help suggest an overwhelmed young guy struggling to cope with the enormous burdens of potential and expectation. The album itself comes across as a (beautiful) mess of inspiration as a result of the eclectic set of songs sampled and mix of artists that contributed.
Recent news, however, may suggest that Kanye is not the slacker we believe him to be. Since the release of Pablo, the mercurial rapper has been obsessively making small adjustments to his album. Now available on SoundCloud and Spotify are a clip of West wishing his fans a happy Easter and another of “Ultralight Prayer,” a new track, driven by a sample of the haunting gospel choir heard in “Ultralight Beam.” The song develops an alternative version of “Beam,” which kicked off West’s latest album with contributions from Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price, and Kirk Franklin.
The edit is not the first West has made to Pablo, and in all likelihood will not be the last. Earlier this month, the rapper made other changes, altering lyrics, adding tracks, and extending TIDAL’s complimentary 30-day trial for fans. Motives behind such changes were never publicly announced, but it’s hard not to speculate that West’s perfectionist tendencies have led him to obsess over the record so much that it is, in fact, becoming a “living, breathing creative expression.”
So who created this album – the procrastinator or the perfectionist? Have a listen via SoundCloud and decide for yourself.
It may be safe to assume that news of Ye’s music on new platforms will be welcomed by fans not subscribed to TIDAL. The rapper initially released Pablo exclusively through the streaming service and announced the discontinuation of physical formats of his work in series of tweets, declaring Yeezus an “open casket funeral” for CDs. Within a week, over half a million fans unwilling to jump through hoops to listen to Pablo downloaded it illegally through The Pirate Bay. Many considered the movement a backlash to the album’s inaccessibility.
While his new music is now accessible outside of TIDAL, the decision does not constitute a complete 180 for West. Pablo in its entirety is still unavailable in physical format and on Apple Music.
Update (3/30): “I Love Kanye” and “Famous” are now available on Apple Music and Spotify. The news follows TIDAL’s announcement that The Life of Pablo has exceeded 250 million streams. (Source: NME)
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