Mar 28, 2026 at 11:42 AM

Gonna check the record out in a bit. Heard pretty mixed things, especially about the back half

Been bumping FATHER all morning though, f---ing killer

 

Mar 28, 2026 at 12:40 PM

My first impression (kinda long, but I'd love to hear what people think!!!)

I know that many posters have different opinions on when Ye's streak ended. Like, I remember @Michael Myers saying that he felt the bs started around Yeezus, some say TLOP, others KSG, etc. For me, I think that he was mostly incredible from TCD to Donda (I've been more mixed on ye and JIK recently, so they weaken that streak a bit for me). I thought that Donda 2 had a lot of potential, and even though I grew to like a lot of those songs, it's clearly weaker than almost everything that came before. I've been considerably more positive to VULTURES 1 than most, but there's no denying that Ye's bars are mostly garbage aside from something like "BURN". VULTURES 2 is Revival levels of bad. And even though it wasn't released officially, CUCK has to be one of the most embarrassing projects a legend has ever worked on.

The elephant in the room has to be the 3 year long tirade that Ye has been on. Time will tell if that apology from January was genuine, but there's no denying that this will follow him forever. Even if this record is completely devoid of nazi lyrics (high bar, I know!), I really don't blame anybody for refusing to check this out because of it.

I think the first 2 thirds are incredible. "KING" is an incredible intro, and songs like "FATHER", "ALL THE LOVE", and "WHATEVER KNOWS" are awesome. The new version of "BULLY" is stellar too. I know that there are some Donda haters itt, but I think that album is mostly great, and these songs are on that level.

And then, we get to the last few songs. I think that if the album had kept the momentum the first 12 tracks did, this could've been incredible. As I mentioned with my response to @DKC yesterday, most of the songs from the V1 version of the album just don't fit anymore, and the fact that they're mostly tacked on at the end makes it even worse. Those songs worked because of the empty feel that the demo had, so pairing them with these maximalist tracks just feels off. I think "d---" is good, but I don't think I'll revisit most of tracks 13-18.

While I absolutely LOVE the first two sections of the record, the last one brings it down for me. Feeling a 7 on this first listen, which granted, is much higher than I thought I'd give it. I think that this will do pretty good commercially (especially with a song like "FATHER"), but I can't really predict about the general reception. Similar to the D1 LP's, I feel like this could've used some more time to be refined, but as it stands, this is a pretty good return to form

 

Mar 28, 2026 at 12:42 PM

I'm pretty mixed on Last Breath. I think Peso does a good job, and the verses are pretty good too (that might due to my my bias for spanish tho lmao). But the placement and the beat are kinda weird for me. I feel like the stripped down minimal production the demo had worked better, and it feels odd to have a song like this near the end instead of in the middle.

 

Mar 28, 2026 at 1:03 PM

I have to give this a few proper listens first. Got a 4 hour flight tomorrow morning so a good chance to listen!

Responding to your other points:

To me MBDTF is his last true masterpiece (and WTT for that matter). Yeezus is great imo but not on that level to me personally.

TLOP still has some of his prime moments but most of the songs are half assed and he only has a few bars (like Waves, the Weekend collab). Not even gonna talk about how he ruined Wolves lol
It's just a mess. A decent mess.

The albums after idk they had some gems. Off The Grid, Come To Life, Yikes, Jail, Hurricane, Pure Souls come to mind.

Donda 2 I remember liking Off The Grid part 2 (City Of Gods) without the dying dogg sounds.

Vultures I hardly remember except that it has a cool Wayne song.

So yeah I'm having very low expectations when it comes to Kan(ye).

I will never not listen to him because of the s--- he says though. Personally I think you're an idiot if you deprive yourself of good music just because someone says stuff you don't agree with. Being a s-----y human doesn't -have to- make him a bad artist.

 

Mar 28, 2026 at 1:26 PM

I think it meshes a little better than I initially felt after a few listens but yeah there's still some points a little bit odds with each other. I like Last Breath and This One Here to close the album but I think a couple songs like Preacher Man and Beauty & the Beast shoulda been integrated in earlier, cuz as it stands there's kinda a weird shift at the end like you said that feels a little tacked on

I like it for the most part, esp as far as late career Kanye goes I think it's pretty good!

 

Mar 28, 2026 at 2:10 PM

https://x.com/yzycrave/status/2037934801781432373?s=46&t=UcPAKOsU8Ham7VoxOl6Lrg