He is a man deeply troubled by a great many things (not the least of which is his ego, which he freely admits), and his level of unabashed honesty on “Pablo” makes it really easy to empathize with a man who should be, by all rights, impossible to relate to.Ĭurrently “The Life of Pablo” is only available on Tidal because who the hell knows, but just snag dat free trial, and I would be really, really surprised if it never found its way to a real release. On “Wolves,” the beautiful and haunting closing track of the album proper, he worries that his deceased mother would disapprove of his life and art, that he’s “too wild.” He’s one of the biggest names in music, but can’t allow himself to take a break from work to tend to the rest of his life. He’s married to a woman who loves him and has guided him through his darkest times, not to mention mothered his children, and yet he still dreams of the destructive rock star life. I get this vibe from much of this album, and some of the tracks on “Fantasy” and “Yeezus,” that he is uncomfortably with finding himself happy. I recommend listening to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and “The Life of Pablo” to get a good idea of who Kanye West the Man is.

And while it’s unfair, it’s understandable. For people who don’t listen to his music or his interviews or anything, all they’ve got is the award show outbursts and the Twitter rants.

Look, my boy Kanye is a bit of a polarizing figure. It’s heavy and weird and-somehow-a little bit inspirational. I love the gospel sound with all my heart, plus it keeps the weird industrial synths and sudden tone shifts of Yeezus, and lyrically speaking this is an album of a man struggling with his faith, his fame, his marriage, his baser urges, his fans, and his own mythology. “The Life of Pablo” is the latest in a line of really great records. I dig his first three albums, but “808s and Heartbreak” is the first album of his I really, really dug, and I’ve only dug each subsequent one more and more.

This may end up as my favorite Kanye album.

Kanye life of pablo free listen