So obviously it’s Valentine’s Day, but can we talk about the real celebratory moment that is today?  The one year anniversary of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo.  This seventh studio album of the Chicago native is one of my favorite albums and has been in rotation monthly since it dropped a year ago.

And what’s even cooler is that he premiered it during his Yeezy Season 3 fashion show at Madison Square Garden.  He SOLD OUT MSG all for a fashion show.  How amazing!  I remember watching it at work at my last job during my free month subscription to Tidal (only subscribed for that reason) and was just in awe the entire time.  Seeing how happy Kanye was dropping new music for his fans, family, and friends… seeing the audience go wild… watching the models in his fashion show stand as still as a statue yet shed tears.  Like what were they thinking?!  So incredible.  And I think it’s amazing Kanye gave those involved with his show that once in a lifetime opportunity.

But yeah, this was very far from your standard album release.  It was an EXPERIENCE which more and more artists are doing when it comes to music drops.  I think I need to write a post on that.

Okay, back to the album.  Or do we call it an art piece?  A work of art?  Some people were (and still might be) annoyed by the fact that Ye continued to change the album once it officially dropped, but I’m not mad about it.  Kanye is known to be quite the perfectionist so it’s not surprising that he wanted to alter the album once it released.  Yes, he could have made sure it was all up to par before officially releasing it, but I think his approach to TLOP created a more personal connection to his fans.  Almost like you were part of the process – watching it happen and anticipating what more could he do.

It gave the album life in a way.  That it was still growing… transforming.  This is a bit dramatic, I know, but think about it.  Something is born and it grows and changes.  This is what TLOP did.  Any who.

From the opening sounds of the little girl in “Ultralight Beam” to Kanye straight up rapping bars and truth on the last track, “Saint Pablo,” so much greatness and emotion took place.  The beginning of the album started with gospel vibes and uplifting tones and yet ended in an almost angry, sad, frustrated Kanye.  We sort of heard that transition in “I Love Kanye.”  He’s acknowledging the ups and downs that is Kanye West, and I think that’s refreshing.

Having Chance the Rapper start on his first track is a major key.  No, really.  Now look at Chance.  He just won three Grammy Awards.  Not saying Kanye had anything to do with it, Chance is extremely talented, but the motivation and inspiration from Kanye probably had a slight influence on him as an artist.

“I met Kanye West, I’m never going to fail
He said let’s do a good ass job with Chance three
I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy”
-Chance the Rapper, “Ultralight Beam”

This is the album that introduced us to Desiigner who we all thought was Future at first.  And now look at Timmy Turner.  He’s dropping mixtapes, going on his own tours, and being seen at exclusive events with a large fanbase.  The “Famous” music video?  So full of controversy, yet you remember the song and the video.  Even cooler, he premiered the video in movie theaters at a few cities, one being Los Angeles.  And for LA, Kanye was there!  How epic is that?  The truest of the true fans watching a music video in a movie theatre and the artist who released the video is behind you vibing out with you.  Kanye does it for the kids, bro.  And have you heard “Waves” featuring Chris Brown?  That song is fy-er.  I get the chills every time I hear it.

To top it all off, he tacked on a pretty epic tour to sum up The Life of Pablo.  And what’s sort of crazy, now that I think about it is the kickoff to his tour began quite uplifting and full of energy.  Towards the end, he was canceling shows and acting a little off.  Sort of like the album.  Maybe it was to mirror the life of Pablo.  Regardless, TLOP was for sure one of the best albums of 2016 and continues to be one of my favorites.

I’m looking forward to Yeezy Season 5 tomorrow and am very curious to see what the following means.  It’s been circulating on Twitter for a few hours now.  There’s talks that Kanye and Drake have a joint project, so I would be pretty pumped to at least hear one track from that.  Maybe a song from Drake’s More Life will drop?  I do not know.  All I need to do now is sign up for Tidal again for a hot minute to watch and see.

Alright, yinz.  Valentine’s Ye is almost over so want to publish this post before the day’s end.  Talk soon!

OH!  And we can absolutely not forget that today, February 14, is also the 11 year anniversary of Drake’s very first mixtape, Room for Improvement.  Definitely check that out if you haven’t.  You can hear what all the Drake fuss is about and where it began 🙂

In short, Drake and Kanye both share the same project anniversary day for two monumental pieces of work they’ve created, so I would be very excited for them to drop a collab project tomorrow.  And then next year on February 15, I can write a one year anni post on that.

Okay – night, fam!