The always controversial megalomaniac Kanye West has his fingerprints all over some of the most anticipated albums of this 2018. West, and G.O.O.D Music alums Pusha T and Teyana Taylor were all slotted to put out solo albums this season. Yeezy would officially squash all beef with Kid Cudi as they would join forces on an album. And last but not least, West would lend his musical talents to producing a solo album for hip-hop legend Nas.
Reminiscent of the “G.O.O.D Fridays” of yore, these five albums would be released in weekly succession, with West as the through line for each. The opening salvo came on May 25, as Pusha T’s Daytona dropped, and was followed by West’s Ye, the collab Kids See Ghosts, Esco’s Nasir and Taylor’s KTSE (Keep That Same Energy).
Here are just a few takeaways from what so far has been a good summer for the hip-hop, thanks in large part to Mr. West.
1) Pusha T’s Daytona is not only the strongest album of the 5, but he landed a major victory over Aubrey Graham with “The Life of Addidon”. You know it’s bad when your big homie has to stop the fight for you Drizzy.
2) Not everyone wants to hear about Pusha T breaking down bricks of cocaine, but I am absolutely here for it. “Hard Piano” feat. Rick Ross is pure flames.
3) Kanye West is a narcissistic asshole, and an idiot…but he can make some absolutely incredible beats. He needs to have adult supervision both on the mic and off, like some kind of wrestling manager. Everything about “Ye” could been better if more time was put into it, yet still, “Yikes” and “Ghost Town” were great. If you can get through the weird monologue at the beginning, “I thought about Killing You” features more stellar production.
4) Kanye may just now work best only as part of a duo, with rotating guests playing the “straight man”. We saw Jay Z, now Kid Cudi…it’s a repeatable formula, for anyone who can tolerate working with Kanye. A primary example is “Reborn” off of the Kids See Ghosts project; the beat is tremendous, the entire song is draped in Kid Cudi’s signature brand of humming vocals and Kanye’s verse harkens back to when he hadn’t yet lived to become the villian. When Cudder and Kanye team up, it’s like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in their primes. I’m thrilled these two settled their differences and can work together again.
5) Much like how LaVar Ball is not genius for his antics, putting out these albums with seven songs each does not make anyone a genius. A project with seven songs used to simply be called an “EP”. A shorter album does lend itself well to our microwave culture, but let’s stop acting like Kanye reinvented the wheel. It’s been done before.
6) Also, if you are going to make an album with seven songs, please do not make it rushed! Both Ye and Kids See Ghosts felt rushed. Kanye literally finished Ye the day before it was revealed to the public, which is irresponsible at best and disappointing at worst. Though Kanye flirted with the idea of living album, constantly open for tweaking when he dropped The Life of Pablo in 2016, KSG doesn’t appear to be another venture of he same nature.
7) Maybe it’s me because I, too am completely washed, but it truly is enjoyable to see hip-hop evolving from being only a young man’s (or woman’s) game. Artists like Pusha T (41), Nas (44) and Jay Z (48) are still able to grab the limelight well out of their youth, which is incredible to see.
8) There’s a a good chance that 070 Shake becomes a star. The New Jersey singer/rapper laid down vocals on Ye tracks “Ghost Town”and “Violent Crimes”, along with “Santeria” on Daytona. 070 Shake has talent, a look and access to all of the resources that G.O.O.D Music as a label has to offer. It’s all right there for her.
9) If you are a female R&B artist you’d better pray to the sun, moon, stars, the old gods and the new that Queen Beyoncé does not drop anything near where you thought you were gonna release something. The Carters dropped their album between Nasir and “KTSE”, and lets just say it’s not looking good for Teyana Taylor’s album sales/stream hopes.
10) The public consciousness may have acted hastily in tossing aside Nasir. Nas’ album isn’t a classic, but is perfectly fine at worst—which we know will be lost on most of the twittersphere. No one is shedding tears for Nas but this album was hurt a bit by the expectations of the fans and the surprise release by Mr. and Mrs. Beyoncé Knowles Carter. There is a lot to like here, “Adam and Eve” and the jewel-filled “Not for Radio”, which is the spiritual sequel to “Hate Me Know”, both immediately come to mind. Amazingly, Nas somehow managed to make an album 15 minutes shorter than Illmatic. You could heat up a DiGiorno pizza in the time it takes to consume Nasir; fortunately, Nas will never let the streets go hungry.