No Frills Reviews

As the never-ending cycle of controversies rolls on, can Kanye still produce the art to counteract his increasing toxicity?

Just listening to Kanye West nowadays provokes the old conundrum of separating the art from the artist. Conveniently, he’s made it fairly easy not to have to do that recently as his increasingly problematic public persona has coincided with one of the biggest artistic drop-offs in memory. And that’s no coincidence because with Kanye, the artist was always at the forefront of the art.

His art gave us a glimpse into the contrasts of his psyche; the good and the bad; the flippancy with the thoughtfulness; the bravado alongside the self-reflection. He’s never been a stranger to controversies, but his art allowed us to see past his misdeeds and there was a tendency to excuse him as a misunderstood genius (maybe even a tortured poet). So, does his first album since his descent into full-blown anti-Semitism offer up anything that might bring out the old Kanye apologist in you? Well, it’s not the unmitigated disaster that his biggest critics will write it off as. But it’s also not good.

Oh and BTW, this is a collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign. Admittedly, I don’t have much context for Ty, I’ve never consciously listened to his stuff and only know him as a name that frequently pops up as a feature. But, realistically he’s an afterthought here and, appropriately, he’s a completely unremarkable presence. A perfectly good vocalist, who offers up little discernible personality. He’s a bland straight man to whatever Kanye is doing.

But, a bland collaborator feels fitting. As bizarre as Kanye’s life gets and despite him having no shortage of controversies to draw from, he really isn’t very interesting here. The only topic that is explored in any particular detail is womanising, which often turns uncomfortably misogynistic. He’s always had a propensity for shock tactics and contrarianism, but those habits now play out in their most tedious forms, like when he compares himself to Bill Cosby and R. Kelly.

There’s still plenty of Kanye’s typical bombast on display, although when he brags of setting trends it doesn’t ring true anymore. The closest we get to some of his old self-awareness comes in the form of a Mike Tyson sample where he calls out Kanye’s “delusional issue”. But otherwise, the deepest insight to be drawn is that this is a dude with extremely divorced energy. When he raps “when I was 15, my soul mate wasn’t born yet” it screams of someone trying to justify their midlife crisis, and is also a highly fucking questionable line to come out with.

The anti-Semitism is given a couple of cursory references; one-liners which serve to casually brush it away. The album’s longest track, BEG FORGIVENESS, seems specifically set up for a grand statement where he’ll try to explain himself or double down, and then he says…nothing. It’s like a big moment of redemption, except there’s no redemption arc preceding it. This issue reoccurs; the production providing a grandiose backdrop which isn’t matched in the lyrical content, so tracks like VULTURES and CARNIVAL end up as overblown and meandering messes. This sort of confusing tone is present throughout.

There are moments designed to inject soul and power, which are left feeling trite and unearned because of the lack of depth beneath them. And the jarring dissonance is even present within the same verse on VULTURES as Ty pays homage to late rappers Offset and G. Ca$$o in one line, before quickly returning to talk of European freaks sucking it dry in the next (and that’s probably his most memorable contribution).

Now, I did say this wasn’t a complete disaster, and despite its flaws, the production is the album’s saving grace. There’s still enough hints of Kanye’s quality as a producer to carve out enjoyable moments. The way a Wu-Tang sample is casually dropped mid-verse in KEYS TO MY LIFE, or how PROBLEMATIC ends up sounding like him rapping over a Neutral Milk Hotel instrumental. Standout, GOOD (DON’T DIE), interpolates a hook from an absolute classic in Donna Summers’ I Feel Love, and manages to add a couple more hooks that stand up to it. And there’s various nods to previous eras, like the breezy, BURN, which could comfortably fit into his mid-00’s catalogue.

Generally, the lower the stakes feel, the better this is. This is exemplified with the Jason Mewes (of Jay and Silent Bob fame) sample on BACK TO ME – “Beautiful, naked, big-titted women don’t just fall out the sky you know”. It’s a ridiculous choice for a 46-year-old man to be building a song around in 2024, but there’s a playful absurdity to it that recalls some of his earlier, more innocent work. And that song also includes the standout feature from Freddie Gibbs.

Gibbs is the only guest here who comes away with much credit. While the controversy over sample clearances shows that Kanye’s brand has become too toxic for many, he’s still able to call on some of hip-hop’s biggest stars, critical favourites…and also Chris Brown (who serves to fulfil the Marilyn Manson role from Donda of Kanye giving a platform to a sketchy dude that nobody wanted to hear from). Kanye as curator was always one of his best qualities, but the features here range from solid to forgettable. He might be able to attract the names, but he’s not getting the best out of them.

The album’s closer makes a suitable sign-off; his proclamation that despite it all, he’s still the king, which comes nowhere close to justifying that stance. It’s forgettable, charmless, confused, lacking in self-awareness, annoying (I haven’t even mentioned how many annoying moments there are on this album), and kinda sad.

Somewhat ironically, since finding out he was bipolar, the old sense of contrast that made Kanye so interesting and likeable has become increasingly sparse. Now, you’re mostly left with the feeling that he really is a dick. So, can we separate the art from the artist? Well, on this evidence, they’re intertwined and just as flawed as each other.

Best tunes: DO IT, BURN, GOOD (DON’T DIE)

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