The Life of Pablo
Kanye West
Def Jam/ G.O.O.D Music
Three-and-a-half stars
Listening to a Kanye West album is often a depressing exercise – it reminds you how narrow hip-hop has become, with its incessant bandwagon-ism, generic sonics and subject matter.
Each album by the 38-year-old is approached as a conceptual piece, a vessel to impart something – no matter how outlandish.
The flip side of such a curated approach is that it relies on West having something to say. On this score, despite The Life of Pablo's many high points, West's lack of message ultimately fails his seventh album and his missionary zeal to change the game.
But having said that, it is a rather beautiful failure.
Where the album's venomous predecessor, Yeezus, was 40 minutes of barely contained rage, this hour-long follow-up is pure psycho-drama.
The gospel-tinged opener, Ultra Light Beam, shows the dichotomies inherent in West the person and West the artist.
Over lush keys he serenely prays to “deliver us serenity, deliver us peace, deliver us loving, we know we need it”, before a choir unceremoniously crashes in to declare “I’m tryna keep my faith, but I’m looking for more”.
More is an apt description – each of the 18 tracks is crammed with a fistful of ideas.
In the cinematic two-part Father Stretch My Hands, West is almost Jekyll and Hyde. In a moment, he details his hedonistic exploits before guilt creeps up to unleash a torrent of memories about his father's struggles.
In the highlight, Famous, the team of producers – including West, Swizz Beats and Mobb Deep's Havoc – take the vocal loop of Sister Nancy's Bam Bamm to create a swaggering beat that has West dropping a few truth bombs: "I've been outta my mind a long time. I've been saying how I feel at the wrong time."
In Highlights, West returns to using auto-tuned vocals. However, he is not interested in perfecting his delivery. His unrestrained vocal lines are used as wild and vibrant brush strokes over the subdued production.
Waves is a thing of beauty. West and his team use staccato synth lines and busy drum patterns to create a dense yet uplifting backdrop for troubled guest vocalist Chris Brown to deliver a heartfelt chorus refrain, "waves don't die, let me crash here for the moment, I don't need to own it".
Too bad not all of West's declarations are so poetic. In his collaboration with The Weeknd, FML, the navel gazing is nauseating as West drawls over a creeping piano about "revealing layers of my soul" before declaring "only I can mention Me".
30 Hours seems like a lost opportunity. Guest vocalist André 3000 doesn't do much here other than hum away at what is, at best, a placid beat.
The Life of Pablo is both messy and concise, odious and tender, selfish yet humanist in its approach to share art. To sum it all up: it's pure Kanye West.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
