I'm not sure I can make it through this. But Kanye was never really for me.

even despite your illuminating some of the deeper meanings here -- which, thank you for this, i always appreciate posts of this sort -- i just will never care about kanye west as a person; i find his commoditization of his own ego so boorish and uninteresting. i really dig his beats on this album though, so i'm getting more excited for the Nas record.

the spoken word stuff on this first song seemed pretty amateurish.

I don't think these beats or good. or maybe it's just the way kanye raps that makes them feel flat because I really liked the beats on the Pusha T album.

Leave Me was better but why is he talking half the time rather than rapping?

i dig when he goes minimal and spacious (808s, Yeezus, Ye); and he does stuff with sounds that comes across as quite edgy within the popular hip hop realm...But his rapping usually ruins it for me

Ghost Town is the best song.

Dev, I think you’ll find a lot to relate to here if you focus less on the sound/rapping and more on what’s being said.

I'm with you. I like lot's of the lyrics. Some of his philosophy is good. But I'm not sure that's enough in itself. You gotta be into the vibe.

Yeah, that’s totally fair. I’m sure there’s some cool lyrical stuff going on on that Pusha album but I can’t get past the sound.

Honestly, I think I'm more about aesthetic than lyrics. I love some music with some really bad lyrics. But I also appreciate good lyrics and sometimes lyrics are a big factor in the music I like.

But actually yeah, I did notice some lyrics on the Pusha T album that were cool.

Ghost Town seems like a new direction for Kanye. I dig it.

LV, that write up was excellent.

This album makes me wish I cared more about Kanye's ongoing narrative about Kanye. The way LV frames the opening track is compelling. I just don't have the energy to appreciate it on that level. I do enjoy Ghost Town quite a bit on it's own merits. Painful to listen to. This is a dark album.

Yea i read LV's write up and listened.

It just does nothing for me. I have tried Kanye so many times but most current Hip Hop doesnt land for me. I wish it did because I know there are some legends currently putting music out there that im missing.

you ever tried? one of the funnest albums i've ever heard.

Also 8 years old... not sure I'd call it representative of "current hip-hop"

that shit is timeless plat

I would because i haven't really loved anything in my adult life. Thats on me. I can't get over how much I love G Funk and Ice Cube and Co.

And of course you made fun of me once about how much i love white rappers (atmosphere and brother ali but i pointed out that brother ali is actually black)

Okay done.