Not quite interesting enough to call a mess.
Kanye’s always been a king of controversy in pop music. Never shy to speak his mind, proclaim his superiority, and back it up with groundbreaking music. An anti-hero, who could make albums like films with blockbuster grandeur that were alternative enough for the arthouse crowd.
But his past few years have been ugly, suffocated in alt-right leanings, loss of commercial support and a whirlwind personal life eclipsing his creative endeavours. While all the extra BS is never good, he always had something interesting to say about it in his music. You’d think with all the drama he might have something to ponder in his lyrics. But this Vultures era is the first time where it feels like he has no identity, no message and no aim.
Never has controversy sounded so boring.
Opener “Slide” kicks things off to a decent start. It’s Pablo-esque synths and distorted drums are nice. Ty’s vocal intro on this is catchy enough to enjoy, and while Kanye isn’t saying anything particularly captivating, it’s not a bad vocal performance, I guess.
But how has the bar been set so low that I count that as a victory? Just listen to some of the later tracks on this…
“Field Trip” is an okay slice of psychedelic trap that would probably be put to better use on a Travis Scott record. “Fried” continues the use of the hooligan choir from the previous Vultures instalment. Again, not a bad beat, but let down by meaningless lyrics.
Past the first four tracks, I can’t say much – everything becomes so forgettable. In “Promotion”, an attempt at a glorious callback to the “Good Life” chorus feels more like a forced catchphrase on a TV show. A beautiful instrumental on “5:30” is let down by a badly flowed verse and whole lotta mumble in the second half – wake up, Mr West!
And the rest of it is a slog. This guy used to be the gold standard of hip hop production, so why does it sound like he typed in “Future X Drake Type Beat” on YouTube and picked the blandest ones he liked on tracks like “Husband” and “Dead”?
A testament to the effort put into this record is on the snoozy gospel/dancehall closer, “My Soul”, where Ye raps “What if I start off the track, hum the beginning, fuck up the middle part and mumble the ending?” – a big meta middle finger to anyone expecting the quality songwriting he’s displayed on older projects.
Rewind a few years back. In my opinion, Donda was a great album. Although maybe slightly too long, every track seemed a fitting piece of the puzzle. Full of emotion, reflection, spirituality and classic Kanye humour. Large ambient production with gothic overtones that felt hand in hand with both the dark concepts and stadium rollout.
To go from that, to this? It’s a little depressing. Right now, the constantly delayed rollouts and album quality fit with the title of “Vultures” – as we wait and wait eagerly to tear the scraps off another lifeless body of work.
RATING : 2/10
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/5RV2TNyjylqWJNxQyHBTeJ?si=un14pWPaTf2Q-XgsB6dXJw