’Ye. Photo: Scott Dudelson/FilmMagic Good Friday! Almost everything to do with Kanye West these days is seemingly sporadic and lacking thought, but not his release schedule. Kanye’s new album, YE, has arrived just like Kanye declared that it would. It features everyone from Kid Cudi to Nicki Minaj (via voice message), touches on mental health, #MeToo (particularly the Russell Simmons allegations), his wife Kim Kardashian’s loyalty, Stormy Daniels, and drugs. Also, its album art, which reads “I hate being bi-polar. It’s awesome,” was photographed by Kanye on the drive to the album’s listening party, per Kim. This is a tight ship ‘Ye is running this release season, promising five albums across his label, GOOD Music (and Nas), within the span of a month. Up first was Pusha-T’s Daytona last week; now, the spotlight is turned to Kanye, with his self-produced, seven-song eighth album. And then it’ll be Kanye’s turn again in another week, when he and Kid Cudi release their collaborative album Kids See Ghosts. Just, you know, mark all your calendars, set Google alerts, put sticky notes all over your desk, your bedroom, your bathroom, everywhere. YE first premiered at a listening party in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where it was livestreamed on a mobile app. But it has since hit streaming services. Now go forth and chatter!<doc-sep>Kanye West’s new album ye is here. Listen to it below via Tidal. He originally premiered the seven-track LP during an outdoor listening event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Chris Rock introduced him. The album art reads, “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome.” Guests on the LP include Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla $ign, Kid Cudi, Jeremih, and more. Across the record, Kanye references Russell Simmons, Wiz Khalifa, North Korea, #MeToo, Stormy Daniels, and much more. ye marks the second of five promised projects from Kanye West. Read Pitchfork’s report from the listening session in Wyoming. Last week, Pusha-T released Daytona, produced by West. Coming up, West plans to issue Kids See Ghost (a collaboration with Kid Cudi), a Nas album, and a Teyana Taylor album. He recently previewed some working song titles from the records. In recent weeks, West has shared the unusual song “Lift Yourself” and the contentious political track “Ye vs. the People.” He also appeared on Travis Scott’s “Watch” and produced Christina Aguilera’s “Accelerate.”<doc-sep>After a long-running buildup — including a series of controversial tweet storms and ending with a listening party in Wyoming — Kanye West has finally dropped his latest album on streaming services. Prior to this, the album had only been heard on live streams from the exclusive listening party. Titled ye, the seven-track project features guest appearances from artists including Young Thug, Jeremih, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Willow Smith and Nicki Minaj. Perhaps unsurprisingly, neither of the tracks Kanye dropped in the run-up to the album — “Lift Yourself” and “Ye Vs. The People” — found their way onto the album. The lyrics for the album include references to West’s comments about slavery, his previous drug use and his relationship with his daughter, North. According to Kim Kardashian West, the cover art for ye — which features the words “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome” – was shot by Kanye on his iPhone as he made his way to the party in Wyoming. Stream the album below, and check out our recap of the album listening party.<doc-sep>Kanye West has made good of his promise to release his new album on 1 June, holding a listening session near where the LP was recorded in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Thursday night. It was live-streamed to the public worldwide through the WAV app. The record, titled YE, has yet to hit Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music etc in high quality (we'll update this post when it does), but the listening party stream can be viewed below (YE starts around 2:36:52). According to Kim Kardashian-West, her husband shot the album cover on his iPhone on the way to the party, which was held outdoors around a bonfire. Kanye held a similar listening event surrounded by friends and collaborators for his last album, The Life of Pablo, though it took place in the more grandiose location of Madison Square Garden. UPDATE: The album has dropped on streaming services - listen below. Loading.... Loading.... Loading.... The new album opens with the spoken lines: "Most beautiful thoughts are always beside the darkest / Today I seriously thought about killing you / I contemplated it / Pre-meditated murder / And I think about killing myself and I love myself way more than I love you, so.." Sonically, YE doesn't appear to be a huge departure, the beats having a similar feel to those on the previous album, TLOP, while some tracks have an almost 808s and Heartbreak-esque pop feel. It is light on features, though Kid Cudi helps out on the sixth track. It is his first release since his breakdown ("breakthrough", as he likes to call it), and sees him discuss his mental health and experience with coming on and off medications. The lyrics are as provocative as one would expect from Kanye, and include "Russell Simmons wanna pray for me too / Wanna pray for him ’cause he got MeToo’d”, with Stormy Daniels also being name-checked. 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes Show all 10 1 /10 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes "I was the best new artist this year" Kanye asserted this after losing the New Artist of the Year award at the 2004 American Music Awards Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes “I am the number one human being in music. That means any person that's living or breathing is number two.” Kanye made this claim while appearing on the Wendy Williams show in 2007. He had recently released the album 'Graduation' to critical acclaim Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes “Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” In arguably the most famous incident of his career, Kanye bravely stole the microphone from then 19 year old Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for the Female Music Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards REUTERS 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes "I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street and people look at me... like I'm Hitler" Kanye said this during a mid-set rant while on stage at the Big Chill festival in 2011. Despite releasing the acclaimed 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' in 2010, he was still widely disliked following the Taylor Swift incident PA Archive/PA Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes "I am Picasso. I am Michelangelo. I am Basquiat. I am Walt Disney. I am Steve Jobs" Kanye compared himself to these visionaries in a mid-set rant on stage in Paris, 2013 AFP/Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.” In 2013, Kanye opened up to reveal more Kanye. His pain is understandable, considering such performances as his at the BRITs in 2015, where he came on stage with an entourage of flamethrower wielding grime artists (pictured) Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes “I have to dress Kim everyday so she doesn’t embarrass me.” Kanye tweeted this in 2014, around the time that he was designing the first Yeezy range AFP/Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes “By 50 percent [I am more influential than] Stanley Kubrick, Apostle Paul, Picasso… f***ing Picasso and Escobar. By 50 per cent more influential than any other human being.” Kanye made this claim backstage after appearing on Saturday Night Live in 2016, he did not show his working out Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes "My wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does. I don't agree 100% with anyone but myself." This quote followed Kanye's recent expression of love for Donald Trump on Twitter, in which he claimed that he and Trump were "dragon energy" Getty Images 'Imma let you finish' - Kanye West's most controversial quotes "When you hear about slavery for 400 years... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice." Kanye made this comment in a May 2018 interview with TMZ. He later clarified that, in saying slavery was a choice, he meant "we can make our own reality" PA Wire/PA Images If the version played in Wyoming is final, YE will be just shy of 30 minutes. Earlier in the week, Pusha T's Kanye-produced album Daytona was released, which clocked in at just 21 minutes. According to Pitchfork, the “digital album will be delivered via e-mail upon global release on 1 June.”<doc-sep>
Kanye West released his eighth studio album, "Ye," on Friday. Early fan reactions to the album — and to its livestreamed listening party in Wyoming on Thursday night — were largely positive. The album is available to stream now on all major services. Kanye West dropped his eighth studio album on streaming services early Friday, hours after livestreaming a star-studded listening party for the project on a ranch in Wyoming. The album, "Ye," is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. It clocks in at just over 23 minutes for seven songs. Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign, and Nicki Minaj are among the handful of guest artists who appear on the LP. The album's cover features a photo of a mountain range in Wyoming; Kim Kardashian West said in a tweet that her husband shot it "on his iPhone on the way to the album listening party." The words "I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome" appear in green, corresponding with West's frank lyrics on the album discussing his mental health. Kanye West's "Ye." G.O.O.D. Music Early fan reactions to the album on social media were largely positive, particularly amid the livestreamed unveiling. The album's release follows a promotional cycle that saw West draw intense criticism for his vocal support of President Donald Trump and his calling slavery "a choice" in an appearance on "TMZ Live." Nonetheless, the majority of social-media chatter about the music on the album — an eclectic mix of trap and electronic influences, gospel and soul, featuring a good deal of humor and some affecting lyrics about his relationships with his wife and his children — appeared to be positive as of Friday morning. —luka fallback sabbat (@whoisluka) June 1, 2018 But several ostensibly former fans of West were not looking to downplay his latest controversies. Listen to the album below: