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[BlazinSkatinAxel]

Kardashians destroy everything.

 

[ThisGuy]

Yep.

Yep.

 

[orochi91]

Saint Pablo is brilliant, especially lyrics-wise.

He's still got it, but his overall stuff is just way too inconsistent these days.

 

[idlewild_]

I mean, real friends is right before wolves and that's one of his best songs.

 

[chekhonte]

Being this crazy is time and energy consuming.

 

[Draper]

Drugs.

 

[Owari]

He fired his ghostwriters.

Also Saint Pablo lyrically redeems all of the cringe lyrics in TLOP.

 

[Ne0n]

He's slippin cuz

 

[Aizen.S.Kennedy]

I always say it feels like new Kanye is the kinda person old Kanye wouldn't fuck with.

Those early freeestyles and albums were as much about bars as they were about beats.

Kanye used to have actual introspective witty and emotional bars now it just sounds like random self felating nonesense that barely rhymes.

My favorite Kanye songs are

Never let me down
Living a movie
My way home
I wonder
Good morning
Gorgeous
Devil in a new dress
Blame game ( my shit when I was going thru my first real Break up. For real go listen to it y'all)
All of the lights
Murder to excellence
Welcome to the jungle
No church in the wild
Still dreaming ( technically a nas song but damn that verse)

So all this yezus/ Pablo shit does nothing for me.

I just want " mayonnaise colored benz I push miracle whips" back smh lol.

 

[Dali]

It's hard to listen to that and imagine people that loved it, and still love his current stuff. The contrast is so.... blinding. I love his early stuff but his newer stuff after MBDTF is just loony. Shit he was already leaning into it in MBDTF but I just ignored it...

I mean it's tough when you want Andre 3000 to just fucking rap but he wants to do whatever stupid shit he's on at the moment but if it's good then I'll still listen. Kanye is the same way. I like yeezus. Not a fan of Pablo. All in all though I could go for more lyrical integrity and decent beats.

I always say it feels like new Kanye is the kinda person old Kanye wouldn't fuck with.

Those early freeestyles and albums were as much about bars as they were about beats.

Kanye used to have actual introspective witty and emotional bars now it just sounds like random self felating nonesense that barely rhymes.

My favorite Kanye songs are

Never let me down
Living a movie
My way home
I wonder
Good morning
Gorgeous
Devil in a new dress
Blame game ( my shit when I was going thru my first real Break up. For real go listen to it y'all)
All of the lights
Murder to excellence
Welcome to the jungle
No church in the wild
Still dreaming ( technically a nas song but damn that verse)

So all this yezus/ Pablo shit does nothing for me.

I just want " mayonnaise colored benz I push miracle whips" back smh lol.

I love never let you down. Geez this thread really makes me realize how much I miss soulful Kanye. Ultra light beams is a pale comparison to the feelings evoked by that song. The spoken word part and his production are really moving. I'm not religious or even spiritual in the least but really moved when it seems like other people are laying themselves bare and you pretty much don't get that from him anymore.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I always say it feels like new Kanye is the kinda person old Kanye wouldn't fuck with.

Those early freeestyles and albums were as much about bars as they were about beats.

Kanye used to have actual introspective witty and emotional bars now it just sounds like random self felating nonesense that barely rhymes.

My favorite Kanye songs are

Never let me down
Living a movie
My way home
I wonder
Good morning
Gorgeous
Devil in a new dress
Blame game ( my shit when I was going thru my first real Break up. For real go listen to it y'all)
All of the lights
Murder to excellence
Welcome to the jungle
No church in the wild
Still dreaming ( technically a nas song but damn that verse)

So all this yezus/ Pablo shit does nothing for me.

I just want " mayonnaise colored benz I push miracle whips" back smh lol.

My man, those mixtapes were fiyah. Some of those I never heard so I will need to check them out. Where is gorgeous and murder to excellence from?

 

[Kyzer]

OP posted one of his best lines...? Sandwich line is exactly old kanye genius. Simple, hip hop confuscianism

 

[ZeoVGM]

My man, those mixtapes were fiyah. Some of those I never heard so I will need to check them out. Where is gorgeous and murder to excellence from?

wat.

"Gorgeous" is MBDTF and "Murder to Excellence" is from Watch the Throne.

 

[Aizen.S.Kennedy]

My man, those mixtapes were fiyah. Some of those I never heard so I will need to check them out. Where is gorgeous and murder to excellence from?

Gorgeous is from MBDTF
Murder to excellence is from Watch the Throne
Go give em a try. I actually do miss the old Kanye no other rapper I've found has filled that niche he used to reside in. Sophisticated ignorance type shit.

 

[Syphon Filter]

wat.

"Gorgeous" is MBDTF and "Murder to Excellence" is from Watch the Throne.

Dam I forgot about it then lol.

 

[whitemex88]

his Lyrical ability peaked at Late Registration

 

[nickgia]

He lost his ghostwriters.

I do miss the old Kanye.

 

[Aizen.S.Kennedy]

his Lyrical ability peaked at Late Registration

Nah mbdtf

 

[gfxtwin]

Yep.

yep

 

[Wanda/Wander]

So, we're all going to pretend "Real Friends" doesn't exist?

 

[old manatee]

Drugs and depression would be my guess.

 

[Preacher]

He's had a few gems lyrically since his old stuff but honestly I'm not sure with me personally he's ever effected me as much as through the wire. It's like just so real and heart felt and he's literally mush mouthing the lyrics while his mouth is wired shut.



Please tell me you've heard the original mixtape version "Home." Another very real and heart felt song of his.

https://youtu.be/VhvVKdF4Nwk

Iirc that's John legend with the vocals. So good.

Edit: of course I had to listen to it again. This version is just so much better than the album version it's ridiculous. No interruptions by some shitty ass chorus, better beat, and the soulful crooning of John throughout the song just fills it with sadness, regret, and maybe longing. The final lines always bring a smile though:

Any interview I'm representing you, making you proud/shoot for the stars so if you fall, you land on the clouds/jump in the crowd, spark your lighters, wave 'em around/if you don't know by now, I'm talkin bout chi town.

That's my favorite version of the song. Only found out about it last year
The background vocals make it for me

 

[Lord Fagan]

Who's Kanye West?

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Lyrical Ability? Kanye West?

 

[FZZ]

Kanye is a certified bitch

dude is less relevant than Lavar Ball

 

[Bounceounce]

I thought Yeezus had great lyrics, Pablo on the other hand was poor aside from a few tracks and moments.

Kanye has some of my favorite lyricis over the course of his career, particularly 808s through WTT/Yeezus.

I mean it's tough when you want Andre 3000 to just fucking rap but he wants to do whatever stupid shit he's on at the moment but if it's good then I'll still listen. Kanye is the same way. I like yeezus. Not a fan of Pablo. All in all though I could go for more lyrical integrity and decent beats.



I love never let you down. Geez this thread really makes me realize how much I miss soulful Kanye. Ultra light beams is a pale comparison to the feelings evoked by that song. The spoken word part and his production are really moving. I'm not religious or even spiritual in the least but really moved when it seems like other people are laying themselves bare and you pretty much don't get that from him anymore.

Ummmm no ULB is incredible and plenty of songs on TLOP evoke a lot of emotion (at least for me).

 

[Syphon Filter]

Kanye is a certified bitch

dude is less relevant than Lavar Ball

lol you still hate him.

 

[DavidDesu]

Kinda thought the point was the "cringe" in the lyrics. I don't think he's trying to be Shakespeare, he knows that and he assumes you know that.

I really appreciate the crazy stupid lyrics, gives me a little snigger everytime. It's fun, a lot of his music that I really like is just fun to listen to. I'm not really expecting some super intellectually delivered theses on modern culture, I'm expecting amazing sounding superbly produced stuff that has a surface layer of just fun yet often does have meaningful subtext that is more succinctly delivered than people give him credit for. (and other times it's purely for comedic effect and to seek a reaction).

Robert Burns is a world famous Scottish poet and he could be very well known for using extremely vulgar and base language to get across a point, or just to be provocative, using the unique character of the Scottish language and slang to put forth his ideas. Kanye is no Burns but I daresay some of these commenters could take some Burns poems and slate him in the same way.

TLDR: lighten up, it's the music industry, and Kanye is on the celebrity end of the scale whether you like it or not. His shit's entertaining.

 

[IrishNinja]

stan TLOP while dumping on 444 brehs

 

[equippedwithtowel]

Saint Pablo and No More Parties in LA were solid. It's clear by this point that his focus on solid bars across an album has gone out the window but I'd still rather listen to Yeezus then LR any day. Pablo maybe less so but even that still has more creativity and personality then whatever Drake is putting out these days.

 

[Bounceounce]

Saint Pablo and No More Parties in LA were solid. It's clear by this point that his focus on solid bars across an album has gone out the window but I'd still rather listen to Yeezus then LR any day. Pablo maybe less so but even that still has more creativity and personality then whatever Drake is putting out these days.

Saint Pablo was horrible lyrically in my opinion, his voice was bassless and he was stumbling every other word, not to mention the portion where he threw poorly written shots at black people for no reason (especially when he's done similar lines to that better in the past).
Pales in comparison to actual old "spitting" Kanye, 30 Hours was the premier "Kanye's actually rapping again" track to me.

stan TLOP while dumping on 444 brehs

Because TLOP is better.

 

[Taco_Human]

You guys should listen to the Life of Paul. I can't go back to Pablo. Good fan mix of that album.

 

[IrishNinja]

Because TLOP is better.

444 was jay's best work since american gangster, the finest post retirement jay album after he lost his superpowers

TLOP remains the single most uninteresting & forgettable yeezy effort to date

these are facts

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

"Nobody knows what it means, but it's provocative. It gets the people going." became his modus operandi.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Saint Pablo was horrible lyrically in my opinion, his voice was bassless and he was stumbling every other word, not to mention the portion where he threw poorly written shots at black people for no reason (especially when he's done similar lines to that better in the past).
Pales in comparison to actual old "spitting" Kanye, 30 Hours was the premier "Kanye's actually rapping again" track to me.

Because TLOP is better.

Nah, it's kinda close but nah.

444 was jay's best work since american gangster, the finest post retirement jay album after he lost his superpowers

TLOP remains the single most uninteresting & forgettable yeezy effort to date

these are facts

My man, 4:44 is album of the year.

 

[blakep267]

He's always been a lackluster lyricist, he's lazier than ever now and in today's mumble rap era and the cult of personality surrounding him there's really no incentive for him to improve

Yup. People excused it back then because his beats and production were fantastic. But Kanye has never been a good rapper tbh. He's adequate with fantastic production

 

[commedieu]

Lol

 

[Barzul]

He can still spit when he feels like. I think he really just doesn't give a fuck. Saint Pablo, Real Friends, 30 Hours etc. The latter especially had some cool lyrics imo.

 

[torre_avenue]

He still has it, and he can say meaningful things when he wants to.

He just doesn't set a decent amount of time to write lyrics anymore.

Yeezus was the definition of a last-minute project. He basically had no idea what the project was till a month or so before the release date. TLOP was also a very creatively difficult project for him with at least one other "version" of it existing prior to its final form. I suspect he set a release date for himself just to set a deadline for him to work towards, otherwise he was never going to put an album out. Plus, there was the fact his daughter literally flushed his first set of lyrics by dunking Ye's phone into the toilet.

Kanye still has the ability to write amazing lyrics (Saint Pablo, Real Friends, and NMPILA) and produce amazing shit (Lunch Money by Pusha T) but I'd imagine the fact he's doing his entire fashion line, raising his two, soon to be three, kids, producing for friends, and then doing his own stuff took its toll.

The man's known to be ridiculous with his work ethic during creative stuff. Here's what his schedule was like during MBDTF:

Each morning begins with a 10 a.m. breakfast at Kanye's Diamondhead residence. Pusha, Tip, RZA, Cudi, Cons, and Kanye's crew slowly assemble to enjoy the absurdly tasty cooking of Kanye's in-house chefs. If you're smart, you order the French toast with the flambéed banana. An hour later, Kanye pulls up in his Porsche Panamera, fresh from the studio. That's right, from the studio. During my five days in Hawaii, Kanye never slept at his house, or even in a bed. He would, er, power-nap in a studio chair or couch here and there in 90-minute intervals, working through the night. Engineers remained behind the boards 24 hours a day.

 

[thestopsign]

Ye has always had a better feel and theme then excellent base lyrical skills. I enjoy his work because I like his voice and his production and generally find him fascinating from a career perspective. His work has an overarching perspective to it when you listen to it all, and it all feels unique.

 

[Jeronimo Jones]

I'm not trying to blame y'all, but people were calling TLOP GOAT after two listens. It's a combination of laziness and not even trying anymore.

 

[King Tubby]

Kanye's success has never been tied to his lyrical ability. Maybe a little in the early days, but that's not why 99% of people listen.

 

[Gorillaz]

Kanye does everything by committee. He hasn't done production himself since late registration and he definitely isn't a lyrical dude. He has some of the best ears and direction in hiphop and birthed alot of the sound now along with cudi.

 

[spelen]

Lyrically he was never that great 2 begin with but I do agree with the overall sentiment of the op Kanye needs to take his time and write something refreshing for his next one.


On a side note Best song on that album (ultralight beam) was written and arranged by chance the rapper. Imo wouldve been better served on chances recent mixtape

 

[Rawr Its Ry]

I thought Real Friends was one of the best tracks he's ever written.

Definitely. Love that track.

 

[wenis]

Rhymefest and Consequence stopped writing for him.

 

[ohlawd]

he started regressing in the order of his album release dates. dude and his ghostwriters were on fire his first two albums

College Dropout
Late Registration

regress a bit

Graduation
808s & Heartbreak

massive drop

MDBTF
Yeezus

haven't heard TLOP but looks like another stinker from Yeezy

 

[Chindogg]

He peaked at College Dropout.

 

[blame space]

he's fine. saint Pablo and real friends are great songs, lyrically. he's just being an asshole on purpose. and we deserve it.

 

[Stinkles]

He's surrounded by the most stupid facile garbage in the history of the nation and exposed himself as a puppet of it. Why would you think this would help his lyrical depth?