"Saint Pablo" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featuring prominent vocals by British singer Sampha. [203] The album dropped 95% in pure album sales, selling around 1,000 copies. The release of The Life of Pablo was preceded by several promotional singles, including the tracks "Real Friends" and "No More Parties in LA". COMPLEX participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means COMPLEX gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. [122][123] The performances featured a floating platform, marking the first time that West had used one in his career. [89] On August 16, 2019, "Real Friends" was certified silver in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 200,000 units. [141] McCormick wrote, "The Life of Pablo is certainly rich in musical scope, chock a block with inspired ideas", but also felt the work to be "so self-involved it crosses over into self-delusion, marked by such a tangible absence of perspective and objectivity". This is nothing new for the Chicago rapper, either, who had upwards of 40 people writing, producing, and brainstorming song ideas with him in the studio for Yeezus. [71], The song "Famous" includes the controversial lyric "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? [72] McCormick described West as "constantly veering between swaggering bravado and insecurity bordering on paranoia, smashing the sacred against the profane and disrupting his own flowing grooves with interjections". 1 − Chart History", "Gold & Platinum − Kanye West − Father Stretch My Hands Pt. [203] The album ranked as the 27th most popular album of 2016 on the Billboard 200, while ranking at number 88 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for that year. West also enlisted guest vocals for the album, including Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Desiigner, Rihanna, The Weeknd, Ty Dolla Sign, Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Sia, Vic Mensa, Chris Brown and Young Thug. [52], Discussing The Life of Pablo's continued alterations, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote "at what point is a record 'over', and who gets to make the call? [221] On the UK Albums Chart, the album charted at number 30. The song was later added to West's seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016) on June 14, 2016. [69] However, Kot concluded by calling West "more preoccupied with gospel text and the notion of redemption". "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. In November 2013, Kanye West began working on his seventh studio album,[4][5] under the working title of So Help Me God for a 2014 release date. [76], "Feedback" features West responding to his critics, with the song including him using the lyric "Name one genius that ain't crazy" to do so. [150] Cleveland.com listed The Life of Pablo as the 97th best album of the 2010s, with Troy L. Smith of the website viewing it as "all over the map". Saatchi Art is pleased to offer the painting, "Life of Pablo (Ed. [138] Writing for The Guardian, Jonathan Jones drew an artistic comparison between West and Picasso, claiming that West's sampling of music, "reworking old songs" and "mixing it all up" is similar to the way in which Picasso "first put bits of the real world into modern art". [92] West announced that the album would be available outside of Tidal a week late, while also imploring people to sign up for the service. [63] Referencing West's lyrical performance, Sheffield wrote that he "knows he's got some issues to work on". [11] This also signified a revival of the GOOD Fridays initiative in which West releases new singles every Friday. [140] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? [119] Seeking class-action status was the level of the lawsuit, which claimed that Tidal and West never intended to have the album as a Tidal limited exclusive forever, but decided to say so in an attempt to boost Tidal's struggling subscriber growth; the subscriber numbers tripled at the time. [111] It peaked at number 54 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for three weeks. 1” f/ Kid Cudi. [8][9] In 2015, West announced the album's new title as being SWISH, though he simultaneously clarified that the title could still be subject to change. Want to hear 'The Life Of Pablo' on iTunes, Tidal or Spotify? [100] The album's initial exclusive release on Tidal resulted in a large increase in subscribers to the service, 250 million streams in the first 10 days, and 400 million streams in the first six weeks before its release to other streaming platforms. He was just a normal guy, like me, and super cool. ", "Sorry, Kanye. The song has four credited vocalists: Young Thug, El Debarge, The-Dream, and Kelly Price, all of whom appeared at Kanye's recent "SNL" performance. On February 9, 2016, Kanye announced that the title [72], Chance the Rapper explained that certain lyrics on his "Ultralight Beam" verse are in reference to Chance the Rapper's "own leadership of all other artists towards independence and freedom". 2 of 6)," by Campbell La Pun, sold and originally listed for $1,290 USD. [99] West later tweeted that he "was thinking about not making CDs ever again", and stated that he would never release The Life of Pablo outside of Tidal. [13][14] In January 2016, West became involved in a short-lived social media altercation with American rapper Wiz Khalifa on Twitter that eventually involved their mutual ex-partner, Amber Rose, who protested to the former's mention of her and Wiz Khalifa's child. [65] Throughout the song, West references the fame and wealth that he's gathered during his career, and he also showcases braggadocio. “Feedback”. And that mix between message, art, and product is The Life Of Pablo . [106] "I Love Kanye" was the next song from the album to be released on streaming services other than Tidal on March 30, 2016, also being made available on Spotify and Apple Music. 2" and "Freestyle 4". gave it 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [149] On the Top 50 Songs of 2016 poll, "Ultralight Beam" ranked at number one. [63] He claimed for the interjections to sound as if "they are spilling over from another studio altogether". [120] It was also claimed within the lawsuit that "Kanye has the power to send one tweet out into the world and get 2 million people to act on it" and suing West "is about holding him accountable when he abuses that power". 2", which includes "two entire verses of an entirely different song about drug-dealing and cars" from Desiigner,[71] with his single "Panda" being sampled. [7] Early recording sessions resulted in several tracks that were released as standalone singles or given to other artists, including West's Paul McCartney collaborations "All Day", "Only One", and the McCartney and Rihanna collaboration "FourFiveSeconds". For most people, the answer is likely “not much.” American rappers Pusha T and Consequenceconfirmed that they had ended their feud in order to work with West on music to be re… [79] The interlude "I Love Kanye" features self-aware a cappella lyrics referencing West's changing image with the public. [218] The album reached number eight on the Dutch Album Top 100 and ranked as the 72nd most popular album on the chart in 2016. Follow @iTunesEra. The rapper also revealed the final track list for the record with another photo of a notepad. [47] On March 13, 2016, over a month after The Life of Pablo's release, West uploaded an updated version of "Famous", swapping out the lyric "She be Puerto Rican day parade wavin'" for "She in school to be a real estate agent", as well as making slight tweaks to the overall mix. The Life of Pablo. [130] De Potter's level of fame at the time was not as high as that of artists who had previously designed cover art for West, such as George Condo and Takashi Murakami. 1" and "Pt. A largely updated version of it, including alternate mixes and other changes, was made available on other streaming services and for digital purchase on his website on April 1, 2016. [84] West unapologetically declares his greatness within "No More Parties in LA", while fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar adds to the backdrop of the song. ", "Kanye West Updating 'The Life of Pablo' Is A Gamechanger That Everyone Should Copy", "Young Thug Adds Quavo to 'Beautiful Thugger Girls' Album", "Future updates 'HNDRXX' LP with new Nicki Minaj collaboration, "You Da Baddest, "Best albums of 2016: No 4 The Life of Pablo by Kanye West", "The Time Kanye West Totally Botched the Release of 'The Life of Pablo, "Kanye West on His Next Album, Designing Yeezy, and Kobe Bryant", "Kanye West, The Life of Pablo, review: "much to admire, less to enjoy, "From 'Dark Fantasy' To 'Ye,' Kanye West's Decade-Long Slide From Greatness To Mediocrity", "Kanye West – 'The Life of Pablo' Review", "Kanye West's bewildering, frustrating 'Pablo, "Kanye West's "Low Lights" Lyrics Feature the Most Biblical Meanings in 'The Life of Pablo, "The Life of Pablo: Kanye West's Opus of Chaos", "Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo': EW Review", "Chance The Rapper Annotated His Verse on Kanye West's "Ultralight Beam, "Kim Kardashian Leaks Video Confirming Taylor Swift Signed Off on Kanye's Infamous "Famous" Line", "Kanye West "Highlights" Lyrics: Meaning of New Song Off 'The Life of Pablo, "Your Track-by-Track Guide to Kanye West's The Life of Pablo", "Frank Ocean Makes Somewhat of a Comeback on Kanye West's "Wolves" on 'TLOP, "Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo': Every Song Ranked Worst to Best", "Kanye West – 30 Hours – Stream [New Song]", "Kanye West Officially Returns To His Zone On "No More Parties in L.A." Feat. [53] Winston Cook-Wilson of Inverse described the album as "a fluid construct", writing that "as a way of holding the public's attention span, Kanye's choice to continue to tweak The Life is Pablo indefinitely is genius". [206] This made it stand as the first streaming-only album to go platinum in the US and also gave West his eighth album to achieve an RIAA certification of platinum or higher. West urged the public to download the application to hear the album, which resulted in it temporarily reaching the number one spot on the US App Store. Here are our top 10", "PLATZ 2: KANYE WEST – "THE LIFE OF PABLO, "Les Inrocks – Les 50 meilleurs albums de 2016", "Beyonce, Nick Cave, Frank Ocean and the 20 best albums of 2016", "Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Is Us' Best Album of 2016: Read the Full List! [86] A new version of the song was released on The Life of Pablo under the title of "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)". [54] The unconventional updates post-release inspired other artists to do the same, with Future and Young Thug making similar alterations after the release of their albums. [188][189][190][191] Writing for Bustle, Sam Rullo called West not receiving a nomination for the award "so disappointing", though claimed that "the snub can't be deemed surprising, because it follows in a long tradition of the awards show shying away from his more experimental albums". [149] "Real Friends" and "No More Parties in LA" also appeared on the list as the 13th and 16th best songs, respectively. [224] The tracks appearing on the charts lead to West reaching a new peak of number three on the Billboard Artist 100, which was the first time that he reached the top ten of the chart. It’s ephemeral. [187] Despite The Life of Pablo being more successful in terms of Grammy nominations than Yeezus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak (2008), several publications viewed the lack of a nomination for Album of the Year as being a snub. ", "Arthur Russell, Kanye West and the Restless Creative Genius", "Kanye West The Life of Pablo highlights", "Kanye West Madlib Made No More Parties in LA for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Interview Video", "Kanye West's New Album Title: 'So Help Me God, "Kanye West Postpones Australian Tour to Record New Album for 2014", "Q-Tip Will Produce Kanye West's Next Album With Rick Rubin", "Kanye West's "God Level", Co-Produced by Hudson Mohawke, Featured in Adidas Ad", "Travi$ Scott Says "3500" Was Meant For Kanye West", "Kanye West Announces New Album Title, Shares Final Tracklist", "Taylor, Trump and Twitter – a year in the life of Kanye West", "Kanye West Declares Bill Cosby 'Innocent, "Kanye West's response to Wiz Khalifa's waves comments", "Kanye West & Wiz Khalifa Are Feuding, Yeezy Unleashes Rant That Mentions Amber Rose and Son", "Kanye West's 'Bill Cosby Innocent' tweet sparks outrage", "Kanye West Defends Controversial Taylor Swift 'Famous' Lyric", "Kanye on Taylor Swift Controversy: "It's Actually Something Taylor Came Up With, "Kanye West addresses Taylor Swift controversy", "Kanye West Defends Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric in Twitter Spree", "Kanye West defends controversial lyrics about Taylor Swift in Twitter rant", "Kanye West finally decides on album title – and everything else we know so far", "Kanye says album being mastered for release today with added tracks", "Kanye West Reportedly Had a Meltdown Before Going on, "Kanye West updates 12 tracks on The Life of Pablo, album available everywhere on Friday", "Kanye West tells Twitter Waves is a gospel album", "Kanye West's 'Gospel Album' Features Kirk Franklin Praying in 'Ultra Light Beam, "Here's a Video of Kanye West Rapping "No More Parties in LA" in 2013", "Kanye West Recorded 'No More Parties in LA' With Madlib During the 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' Sessions", "Ty Dolla $ign Says He, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney Are Dropping A Song Together", "Kanye Taps Pusha T + Consequence for New LP", "Kanye West requests Otis Redding, Mobb Deep-style beats for his new album", "Kanye West says his new album will be a surprise, thereby ruining the surprise", "Post Malone talks Kanye West collaboration", "Our only comment is 'T.L.O.P.' It was reported by American musician Ty Dolla Sign that writing and recording for the album took place in Mexico in September 2014, with him recalling McCartney and Rihanna being present. Dummy ranked the album as the best of 2016, claiming that "it delivered some of the hugest musical moments of the year", noting elements of songs such as "Ultralight Beam" and "Pt. [72], "Wolves" sees West show fear of being possibly viewed as a guilt-ridden son. [222] It stood as West's eighth top 40 album in the UK and spent 47 weeks on the chart. Featured Stories I by Claire Lobenfeld and Miles Bowe I 14.02.16 Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo : Exploring the songs behind its samples When it … [61] He elaborated, writing that "West just drops broken pieces of his psyche all over the album and challenges you to fit them together". Kanye West’s roster of featured artists on The Life of Pablo matches the high-profile platform he used to debut the album. [192] The Life of Pablo was nominated for Best Album at the 2017 NME Awards. [43][44][45] Following the album's premiere at Madison Square Garden, it was revealed that Brooklyn-based rapper Desiigner contributed vocals to "Pt. 1 Debut on Billboard 200, Despite Wild Rollout", "Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo' Debuts at No. Following the official streaming debut, West continued to make changes to The Life of Pablo. [70] "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. Author: I made that bitch famous". It originally surfaced online on March 31, 2016 after it had been leaked onto Apple Music by mistake before being removed hours later. [134], By titling his album The Life of Pablo, West confused people as to which person named Pablo he was referencing with the title. So how much do you really know about the cover art for The Life Of Pablo? [69] Greene wrote that the lyric "feels like a piece of bathroom graffiti" and viewed its intention as being to "reignite the most racially-charged rivalry in 21st-century pop". The Life of Pablo is the seventh album from American hip-hop artistKanye West. [132] West also shared another cover for The Life of Pablo on the same date with the phrase "which one" on it that was included on the notepad of the final track list, and a cropped photo of British model Sheniz Halil that shows her bottom;[133][134] this artwork was used for the official release. [31] Prior to the release of The Life of Pablo, West had tweeted out that it was a hip hop album, as well as a gospel album. [40] In an October 2015 interview with The Fader, Post Malone, who is featured on the track "Fade" alongside Ty Dolla Sign, discussed his experiences with West: I met Kanye at Kylie Jenner's party and Kanye was like, 'Let's make something'. 2". 1" is "a gospel song about fucking models" and described it as transitioning into "a soul-baring confessional dance track" in "Pt. Following Tidal's initial disclosure of its streaming data and release to competing streaming services, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming the first to reach the summit primarily through streaming, and was ultimately certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 2" Goes Platinum Two Years After 'The Life of Pablo, "Award − Kanye West/Post Malone/Ty − Fade", "Tidal, Kanye West Face Class Action Lawsuit Over 'The Life of Pablo, "Kanye West Tricked Fans into Subscribing to Tidal, Lawsuit Claims", "Kanye West settles lawsuit with fan who thought Life of Pablo would remain a Tidal exclusive", "Kanye West Soars Above Crowd To Kick Off Saint Pablo Tour", "Kanye West might have called out Drake for stealing stage design", "Kanye West Reschedules 'Saint Pablo' Tour Dates Following Kim Kardashian Robbery", "Kanye West cancels remainder of Saint Pablo Tour", "Kanye West Hospitalized After Canceling Tour: Sources", "Kanye West's doctor called 911 during breakdown, report says; Kim Kardashian skips public return", "Meet the Artist Behind Kanye's 'The Life of Pablo", "Here is the cover art for Kanye West's new album, The Life of Pablo", "Here's the Cover Art for Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo, "Meet The Miss London Model Who's Top of the Bots For Kanye West – Butt Kim's Not Cross", "Kanye West Finally Says Which "Pablo" Inspired His New Album Title [VIDEO]", "The Life of Pablo by Kanye West reviews", "Reviews for The Life of Pablo by Kanye West", "Kanye West – The Life of Pablo review: 'You can see why his immodesty rubs people up the wrong way, "Review: Kanye West Finally Buys His Way to Heaven on 'The Life of Pablo, "Review: Kanye West reaches peak on soulful 'Pablo, "G.O.O.D. No such luck just yet! “Famous” f/ Rihanna. [85] "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)" is a Nike diss track that features West bragging about the success of his Yeezy shoes. [102][108] Though "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 Pt. [34][35] It was reported by American musician Ty Dolla Sign that writing and recording for the album took place in Mexico in September 2014, with him recalling McCartney and Rihanna being present. [74] Miles Raymer from GQ wrote that "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. Cali Thornhill DeWitt is the artist behind ‘The Life of Pablo’ merch. [80] Forrest Wickman from Slate wrote that "Fade" is where "West, R&B singer-songwriter Ty Dolla Sign, and 'White Iverson' singer Post Malone alternate verses", with Wickman viewing the lyrics as being centered around "trying to hold on to a love that's fading". [137] MTV pointed towards the title being in reference to Picasso, as West said during a 2015 lecture at the University of Oxford that if he "was going to do art, fine art", then he would've aimed "to become Picasso or greater". [94] On the same day, Pigeons & Planes detailed that the version of the album which was made available for streaming on Tidal was not its final version. [62] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick claimed that the album sounds like abstract hip hop work and noted the somewhat disjointed sound. [10] West had changed the title of an album in the past, as his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) was originally slated to be released under the title of Good Ass Job. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 35 reviews. [81] Raymer claimed that the lyric "You ain't never seen nothing crazier than this nigga when he off his Lexapro" is confirmation of West's major sources of criticism. Pablo Escobar was the biggest mover of product, and Pablo Picasso was the biggest mover of art. [119] The lawsuit was filed on behalf of California resident Justin Baker-Rhett, with accusations of false advertising. [105] On May 12, 2017, "Fade" was certified silver in the UK by the BPI for selling 200,000 units. [200] The Life of Pablo ultimately experienced a chart-topping debut on the chart, giving West his seventh consecutive number one album in the United States and selling 94,000 album-equivalent units. [195] The album was reportedly subject to over 500,000 illegal downloads within 24 hours of release, becoming the most illegally downloaded album ever and causing a resurgence in torrenting of music. [46], Following The Life of Pablo's initial Tidal release, West declared his intentions to continue altering the songs, declaring the album a "living breathing changing creative expression". [219][220] The same position was attained by The Life of Pablo on the Irish Albums Chart. [202] 28,000 of the album-equivalent units for The Life of Pablo were pure album sales, which came from album/ticket offers with West's Yeezy Season 3 fashion show and its simultaneous live stream movie theater event, while the remaining 66,000 units were streaming equivalent albums that equated to over 99 million streams and accounted for 70% of the units. [66] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica stated that West "has perfected the art of aesthetic and intellectual bricolage, shape-shifting in real time and counting on listeners to keep up", concluding that "this is Tumblr-as-album, the piecing together of divergent fragments to make a cohesive whole". [185] The album received a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards, ultimately losing to Chance the Rapper's third mixtape Coloring Book. [1], The Life of Pablo was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. It turns out that notepad was just a preview of who Kanye worked with on this album. [186] At the same ceremony, "Ultralight Beam" and "Famous" were both nominated in the categories of Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song. [18] Raymer noted that after Desiigner's vocals, the song resolves "into a meditative piece for vocoder" from contemporary classical composer Caroline Shaw. [6] Production work by Rick Rubin and Q-Tip was announced to be included on the album, the former of which was one of the executive producers of West's sixth studio album Yeezus (2013). [54] He elaborated, claiming: "It encourages people spend time processing an album that deserves it: a bewildering, sprawling, and controversy-courting piece of art". [149] In February 2016, Inverse named The Life of Pablo as West's best album. [64][109] On the Billboard Hot 100, "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. Among his best-known works are Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1909) and Guernica (1937). Last night, Kanye West revealed the final The Life of Pablo tracklist. [105] On January 19, 2018, "Famous" was certified gold in the UK by the BPI for sales of 400,000 units. [144] Greg Tate of Spin wrote that "even if Mr. West feels (for now, at least) that his best years as a rap superstar are behind him, there's still hella great beats roaming around that dazed and befuddling noggin per The Life of Pablo for dang sure" and described the album as "long on musical confidence and short on inspirational verses", though viewed the "plaintive vulnerability and alienation" expressed by West as at least seeming "cathartically crafted". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, with particular attention being drawn to the fragmented, unfinished nature of the composition and release. [51] Finally, on June 14, The Life of Pablo was updated to include an additional track titled "Saint Pablo" featuring vocals from British musician Sampha, with other miscellaneous alterations throughout the album. 1" features vocals by, "Freestyle 4" features vocals by Desiigner, "Frank's Track" features uncredited vocals by, "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission" features vocals by, "No More Parties in LA" features vocals by, "Wolves" contains samples of "Walking Dub", written and performed by, Zeke Mishanec – vocals recording for Swiss Beatz, Marcos Tovar – vocals recording for Rihanna, Shin Kamiyama – vocals recording for The Weeknd, Joe Balaguer – vocals assistance for Rihanna, This page was last edited on 6 April 2021, at 00:42. [52], West marked his first release of music since "All Day" with the release of the promotional single "Facts" on December 31, 2015. [216][217] In the week of Jesus Is King's release in 2019, The Life of Pablo rose 93 places from number 159 to number 66 on the Canadian Albums chart, increasing in consumption units by 51%. [38] Christ said that West is "a dream to work with", adding that when it comes to creative freedom, West is on his own level in terms of the freedom. [146] Caramanica also named The Life of Pablo the best album of the year and called the album: "A grand, caustic album about grace: finding it, praying for it, falling from it". [126] West was admitted for psychiatric observation at UCLA Medical Center later that month. Anything but a rap beat'". [206] The album was certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA for selling 2,000,000 album-equivalent units on February 27, 2020. [201] By doing so, the album blocked American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton's debut studio album Traveller (2015) from the top spot, which sold 73,000 units.