The Life of Pablo

The Life of Pablo
Studio album by Kanye West
Released February 14, 2016
Recorded
  • 2010
  • November 2013 – February 2016
Studio
Genre Hip hop
Length 66:39
Label
Producer
Kanye West chronology
Yeezus
(2013)		 The Life of Pablo
(2016)
Singles from The Life of Pablo
  1. "Famous"
    Released: April 1, 2016[1]
  2. "Father Stretch My Hands"
    Released: June 7, 2016[2]
  3. "Fade"
    Released: September 9, 2016[3]

The Life of Pablo is the seventh studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, by GOOD Music, Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in Italy, Mexico, Canada and the United States. Record production on the album was handled by West alongside a variety of producers such as Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein, Metro Boomin, Rick Rubin, Hudson Mohawke, and more. He also enlisted a wide array of guest vocalists, including Ty Dolla Sign, Desiigner, Kid Cudi, The-Dream, Chance the Rapper, Rihanna and Frank Ocean, among others. The album was preceded by the release of the promotional singles "Facts", "Real Friends", "No More Parties in LA", and "30 Hours" as part of West's GOOD Fridays giveaways.

West premiered an early version of The Life of Pablo on February 11, 2016, at the Madison Square Garden as part of his Yeezy Season 3 fashion show, in collaboration with Adidas. The album was initially launched exclusively through the streaming service Tidal after several last-minute recording sessions and publicized finalizations to its track sequencing and title. Following the album's streaming release on Tidal, West continued to make alterations to the music, declaring it "a living breathing changing creative expression."[4] A largely updated version of the album, which included alternate mixes and other changes, was made available on other streaming services and for digital purchase on his website on April 1, 2016; no official physical CD release is planned. Def Jam confirmed that the album would receive further alterations in the following months.[5] The album was supported by the singles "Famous", "Father Stretch My Hands" and "Fade".

The Life of Pablo received generally positive reviews from critics, with particular attention drawn to the fragmented, unfinished nature of its composition and release. On April 12, 2016, following Tidal's disclosure of its streaming data and the album's release to competing streaming services, The Life of Pablo debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming West's seventh consecutive number one album on the chart and the first album to reach the summit primarily through streaming, accompanied by 28,000 copies sold. Its initial exclusive release on Tidal resulted in a large increase in subscribers to the service and 250 million streams in the first 10 days. The album received over 500,000 illegal downloads within the first three days of its release.

Overview

In November 2013, Kanye West began working on his seventh album,[6][7] under the working title So Help Me God for a 2014 release date.[8] The album was initially to include production work by Rick Rubin and Q-Tip.[9] Early recording sessions resulted in several tracks that were released as standalone singles or were given to other artists, including his Paul McCartney collaborations "All Day", "Only One", and the McCartney and Rihanna collaboration "FourFiveSeconds".[10][11] Some of the earlier tracks to make the final cut for The Life of Pablo were "Famous" (formerly titled "Nina Chop") and "Wolves", the latter of which West performed on Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary episode with Australian recording artist Sia and fellow rapper Vic Mensa.[12]

Chance the Rapper has five writing credits on the album, as well as a feature on "Ultralight Beam".[13]

In 2015, West announced the new album title SWISH, though he clarified that this could still be subject to change.[14] West announced in January 2016 that SWISH would be released on February 11, and that month released new songs "Real Friends" and a snippet of "No More Parties in L.A." with Kendrick Lamar. This also revived the GOOD Fridays initiative in which Kanye releases new singles every Friday. On January 26, 2016, West revealed he had renamed the album from SWISH to Waves.[15] In the weeks leading up to the album's release, West became embroiled in several Twitter controversies[16] and released several changing iterations of the track list for the new album. Several days ahead of its release, West again changed the title, this time to The Life of Pablo.[17]

On February 11, West premiered the album at Madison Square Garden as part of the presentation of his Yeezy Season 3 clothing line.[18] Following the preview, West announced that he would be modifying the track list once more before its release to the public,[19] and further delayed its release to finalize the recording of the track "Waves" at the behest of co-writer Chance the Rapper. He released the album exclusively on Tidal on February 14, 2016 following a performance on SNL.[20][21] Following its official streaming release, West continued to tinker with mixes of several tracks, describing the work as "a living breathing changing creative expression"[22] and proclaiming the end of the album as a dominant release form.[23] Although a statement by West around Life of Pablo's initial release indicated that the album would be a permanent exclusive to Tidal, the album was released through several other competing services starting in April.[24]

Recording

Initial sessions

The album was recorded between 2013 and 2016, with recording for the track "No More Parties in LA" starting in 2010, during the sessions for West's fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.[25][26] Reports stated that the album was written and recorded in several locations; including Los Angeles, Mexico, the Isle of Wight and Florence, Italy. West's recording in Los Angeles was rumored to be at Shangri-La Studios, which is the home base of Yeezus executive producer Rick Rubin. The production in Mexico occurred with Paul McCartney and frequent collaborator Rihanna.[27] American rappers Pusha T and Consequence confirmed that they had ended their feud in order to work with West on his eighth album, with Consequence saying in an interview: "Pusha and I deaded everything and we creatively vibed with Kanye for this new LP."[28]

In April 2014, in an interview with Self-Titled, GOOD Music's producer Evian Christ explained that while West wasn't always musically clear, he seemed "...interested in pushing aesthetic boundaries as far into the Avant as possible. Kanye is the one dude who's like, 'This is not experimental enough. This is too poppy. Make something else.' The other guys are like, 'We don't get it.'" Christ admitted that Kanye's "a dream to work with", adding that "...no one else gives you that level of creative freedom. When he wants you to work to a blueprint, the blueprint is: 'Don't make a rap beat. Anything but a rap beat.'"[29] In May 2014, in an interview with Billboard, James Fauntleroy of Cocaine 80s spoke of his recording sessions with West and said, "I went in there and did some stuff on that shit. I sang shit on there and left. We'll see how it turns out, when I went in it was early, [during] the early stages. I know there will be a lot more other people, a lot of interjections." In February 2015, while West was continuing to work on the album, he confirmed that the album is at about 80% completion. He went on to say that:

I'm trying to get it finished. I'm trying to get it to the people… Release dates is played out. So the surprise is going to be a surprise. There go the surprise... [It's] cookout music that just feels good. My last album was protest music. I was like, 'I'm going to take my ball and go home.'[30]
Ty Dolla Sign is featured on the third single "Fade" and promotional single "Real Friends".

In March 2015, in an interview with MTV, Big Sean spoke about the multiple recording locations involved this album, whilst promoting his own third studio album, Dark Sky Paradise: "...We done did a couple, to like Mexico, like how we did Hawaii before and stuff like that. We work as unit for sure, that's all I'm gonna say I'm not gonna drop nothing else."[31] In an October 2015 interview with The Fader, Post Malone, who (along with Ty Dolla Sign) is featured on the track "Fade", discussed his experiences with West:

I met Kanye at Kylie Jenner's party and Kanye was like, 'Let's make something.' So I went over to Ye's and we just started working and then we just started talking. And we just kept on going. I went in the studio with Kanye and we just recorded the scratch vocals and then I wrote over it… He was just a normal guy, like me, and super cool. He was wearing all camo, just all camo. He was very quiet and he was very, very humble.[32]

On January 27, 2016, West revealed the update of the final track listing on his official Twitter account. This updated track listing also revealed a number of the unannounced potential collaborators, which included Earl Sweatshirt, Plain Pat, The-Dream, Tyler, The Creator, The World Famous Tony Williams, Diddy, Danny!,[33] A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi and French Montana, as well as a return of his frequent production collaborators, such as Mike Dean, Hudson Mohawke, Vicious, and Noah Goldstein. [34][35][36] Following his album's premier at Madison Square Garden, it was revealed that Brooklyn-based rapper Desiigner contributed vocals to "Pt. 2" and "Freestyle 4".[37]

Further updates

Following the album's initial Tidal release, West declared his intentions to continue altering the music, declaring it a "living breathing changing creative expression."[4] In March 2016, over a month after the album's release, West updated the album's Tidal track list with a reworked version of "Wolves", which included previously removed guest vocals from Vic Mensa and Sia, and separated the ending portion sung by Frank Ocean into a separate track called "Frank's Track".[38] In late March, the album received a major update, with at least 12 tracks appearing in altered forms.[4] Updates included prominent vocal additions, new lyrics, and altered mixes.[4] Def Jam confirmed this incarnation to be "a newly updated, remixed and remastered version", and clarified the album would continue to appear with "new updates, new versions and new iterations" in the following months, calling it "a continuous process".[5] On June 14, The Life of Pablo was updated again for the third time after the album's initial release. The update included an additional track titled "Saint Pablo" featuring Sampha, and other miscellaneous alterations.[39]

Discussing the album's continued alterations, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork asked "at what point is a record "over", and who gets to make the call? Kanye West is seeing how far he can stretch the point right now, in a way no pop star has ever quite tried", describing West as "testing the shifting state of the "album cycle" to see if he can break it entirely, making his album like another piece of software on your phone that sends you push updates."[40] 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 [...] It encourages people spend time processing an album that deserves it: a bewildering, sprawling, and controversy-courting piece of art.[41]

Composition

Music

The Life of Pablo was noted for its "raw, occasionally even intentionally messy, composition" in distinction to West's previous albums.[42] Rolling Stone wrote that "this is a messy album that feels like it was made that way on purpose, after the laser-sharp intensity of Yeezus", stating that "It's designed to sound like a work in progress." Carl Wilson of Slate suggested that "the point is that in the context of all this sonic landscaping, in West's kamikaze, mood-swinging way, Pablo now seems undeniably (not half-assedly, as I'd been about to conclude) like an album of struggle", adding that the album created "strange links between Kanye's many iterations—soul-sample enthusiast, heartbroken Auto-Tune crooner, hedonistic avant-pop composer, industrial-rap shit-talker" while making use of bass and percussion lines "that are only the tail-end decay of some lost starting place, some vanished rhythmic Eden."[43] The NME described Pablo as "an album on which, at a moment's notice, Kanye veers from futuristic beats on the likes of 'Feedback' to bog-standard modern trap – as when up coming rapper Desiigner turns up on 'Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 2' – to vintage soul on 'Ultra Light Beam'.[44] The song "Famous" features a segue from "braggadocious, bell-ringing hip-hop" into samples of Sister Nancy's dancehall song "Bam Bam" chopped up over the chord progression featured in Nina Simone's "Do What You Gotta Do."[45]

Prior to the album's release, West tweeted out that the album was a hip hop album, as well as a gospel album.[46] Additionally, in an interview on Big Boy Radio, West stated "When I was sitting in the studio with Kirk, Kirk Franklin, and we're just going through it, I said this is a gospel album, with a whole lot of cursing on it, but it's still a gospel album", adding "The gospel according to Ye. It's not exactly what happened in the Bible, but it's this story idea of Mary Magdalene becoming Mary."[47] "Ultralight Beam", particularly, is noted to feature several gospel elements, from "the sound of a 4-year-old preaching gospel, some organ", as well as a church choir singing the refrain of "This is a God dream."[48] Chance the Rapper and his instrumental collaborator, Donnie Trumpet bring elements of soul revivalism into the track during Chance's guest verse.[49] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote in his review of The Life of Pablo, "West's version of gospel touches on some of those sonic cues – heavy organ, soaring choirs – but seems more preoccupied with gospel text and the notion of redemption."[50]

Lyrics and themes

Entertainment Weekly noted the album's frequent meditations on matters of faith, family, and West's own role as a cultural figure while observing that "Pablo frequently (some might say abruptly) toggles between Sad Kanye and the bombastic and celebratory Kanye."[51] The Daily Telegraph 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 that sound like they are spilling over from another studio altogether."[52] GQ wrote that the two-part "Father Stretch My Hands" "begins as a gospel song about fucking models, transitions halfway into a soul-baring confessional dance track, then drops in two entire verses of an entirely different song about drug-dealing and cars by an 18-year-old Brooklyn rapper, before resolving into a meditative piece for vocoder by a contemporary classical composer and ending with a snippet of the sampled gospel song that the whole thing started from, just to remind you how far we've traveled from there in the span of four minutes."[53]

The song "Famous" included the controversial lyric "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous." The lyric refers to country/pop singer Taylor Swift, whose acceptance speech West interrupted at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and was heavily publicized and criticized by media outlets and listeners.[54] Kot called the song "an example of just how brilliant and infuriating West can be at the same time."[50] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote that the lyric "feels like a piece of bathroom graffiti made to purposefully reignite the most racially-charged rivalry in 21st-century pop."[48] "Feedback" features West's riposte to his critics: "Name one genius that ain’t crazy."[51] The interlude "I Love Kanye" features self-aware a Capella lyrics referencing West's image in the public.[49] Tracks such as "FML", "Real Friends", and "Freestyle 4" feature "gloomy, doomy" discussions of trust issues, antidepressants, and familial problems.[51] The song "Wolves" features the lyrics, "Cover Nori in lamb's wool/ We surrounded by/ The fuckin wolves", among other Biblical allusions, offering a comparison between West and his wife Kim Kardashian to Mary and Joseph.[48]

Promotion and release

West performing during the Saint Pablo Tour in 2016.

Promotion

On January 8, 2016, West's wife Kim Kardashian announced via Twitter the release of "Real Friends", which initiated the return of West's GOOD Fridays.[55] West had previously done a weekly free music giveaway leading up to the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. "Real Friends" was released the day and it was announced via SoundCloud, simultaneously along with the album's release date and a snippet of the forthcoming GOOD Friday release, titled "No More Parties in LA", which features guest vocals from Kendrick Lamar.[56][57] "No More Parties in L.A." had its proper release on the following week, also via West's Soundcloud account. The song was produced by Madlib and West, which contains a sample of "Suzie Thundertussy" performed by Walter Morrison.[58] West premiered The Life of Pablo at Madison Square Garden during his Adidas Yeezy Season 3 fashion show event. On February 12, West released a new track, titled "30 Hours", as part of his GOOD Fridays series.[59]

On February 14, West performed "Highlights" and "Ultralight Beam" on Saturday Night Live.[60] The Life of Pablo was later released exclusively through the streaming service Tidal on the same day.[61] It was available for purchase for a few hours but reverted to streaming-only after that.[62] West announced that the album would be available outside of Tidal a week later,[63] however, on the following day, West claimed that he would never release the album outside of Tidal, encouraging his fans to sign up for the service.[64] 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.[65] After an active weekend, during which he was finishing his album, he stated that he was $53,000,000 in personal debt and called for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1 billion in West's ideas. He also called on other tech billionaires to help him.[66]

Streaming and commercial release

The album initially received an exclusive Tidal release on February 14, 2016. 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.[67] West later tweeted that he "was thinking about not making CDs ever again", and stated that he would never release the album outside of Tidal.[68] Following its Tidal exclusive release, it was announced that "Famous" would be the lead single to the proposed "final album."

On April 1, 2016, West released an updated version of the album for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play. He also made the album available for purchase on his official website, www.kanyewest.com.[1][69] "I Love Kanye" was the next song from the album to be released on streaming services other than Tidal.[70] "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 & Pt. 2" and "Fade" would be released as singles in the following month. Neither physical nor digital copies of the album have ever been made available for sale outside of West's website, apart from very briefly being available for sale on Tidal. It is unclear if West plans to ever release the album for sale on third party outlets.

Lawsuit

The release on to other streaming platforms and Kanye's website, along with his claims that the album would be a Tidal exclusive forever, caused a lawsuit to be filed on April 18, 2016 against Kanye, Tidal, and Jay Z (whose company, "Project Panther Ltd." owned Tidal) by law firm "Edelson PC", on behalf of California resident Justin Baker-Rhett, for false advertising. The lawsuit, which was seeking class-action status, claimed that Tidal and Kanye never intended to have the album as a Tidal exclusive forever, but decided to say so in an attempt to boost Tidal's struggling subscriber growth.[71][72]

Tour

In August 2016, West embarked on the Saint Pablo Tour in support of The Life of Pablo.[73] The performances featured a mobile stage suspended from the ceiling.[73] West postponed several dates in October following the Paris robbery of his wife Kim Kardashian.[74] The remainder of the tour was later canceled on November 21, 2016, following controversy over comments made by West that week regarding his support of president-elect Donald Trump and public criticism of other artists.[75] West was later admitted for psychiatric observation at UCLA Medical Center.[76][77]

Reception

Critical reviews

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[78]
Metacritic75/100[79]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[80]
The Daily Telegraph[52]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[51]
The Guardian[81]
NME[82]
Pitchfork9.0/10[48]
Q[83]
Rolling Stone[84]
Spin8/10[85]
ViceA–[86]

The Life of Pablo received mostly positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 35 reviews.[79] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield dubbed it both a mess and masterpiece: "This is a messy album that feels like it was made that way on purpose [...] West just drops broken pieces of his psyche all over the album and challenges you to fit them together."[84] The A.V. Club's Corbin Reiff opined that "it feels far different from any of the tightly constructed, singular works of West's past", asserting instead that "as a beautiful, messy, mixed-up collection of 18 songs, it's a brilliant document."[49] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica stated, "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."[87] In a positive review, Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote that "a madcap sense of humor animates all [West's] best work, and The Life of Pablo has a freewheeling energy that is infectious and unique to his discography", finding that "somehow, it comes off as both his most labored-over and unfinished album, full of asterisks and corrections and footnotes."[48] Robert Christgau found the record "wittingly casual and easy on the ears", in his blog for Vice. "Unlike Yeezus, it won't top many 2016 lists—it's too blatantly imperfect, too flagrantly unfocused. But that's also its charm, and I prefer it."[86]

Ray Rahman of Entertainment Weekly was somewhat less enthusiastic, calling The Life of Pablo "an ambitious album that finds the rapper struggling to compact his many identities into one weird, uncomfortable, glorious whole [...] Like the man himself, the album is emotional, explosive, unpredictable, and undeniably thrilling."[51] Alexis Petridis was more critical in The Guardian, finding it "at turns, rambling, chaotic, deeply underwhelming, impressively audacious, and completely infuriating", suggesting that "[i]t appears to have had ideas thrown at it until it feels messy and incoherent" despite concluding that "when The Life of Pablo is good, it's very good indeed."[81] The Daily Telegraph's Neil 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 it is as if [West] has actually lost sight of the elemental basics of his art."[52] Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot felt that "The Life of Pablo sounds like a work in progress rather than a finished album."[50] In another mixed review, PopMatters's Evan Sawdey wrote that "The Life of Pablo's obscurities and eccentricities make it ripe for endless dissection by West's fans and followers, but make no mistake: this album is flawed, it’s problematic, and most of all, it’s no masterpiece."[88]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number-one for the chart dated April 12, 2016 with 94,000 album-equivalent units, with 28,000 of those coming from pure album sales. In its second week, the album fell 95% in traditional album sales to only 1,000 copies sold.[89] In its third week, the album sold only 78 copies.[90][91]

It was reported that West had lost $10 million in album sales due to the infringement, as Tidal did not report the streams to the Nielsen Music.[92] These details were later revealed to be deformed reports from news outlets, as Tidal had not yet revealed the number of streams or in the increase of subscribers following the album's release. It was later revealed that subscribers more than doubled to 3 million users after the album was released, with the album gaining an estimated 250 million streams within the first 10 days, proving the initial reports false.[93] On April 9, 2016, it was reported by Billboard that the album was set to debut atop the Billboard 200, making it the first album to reach the summit with over 50% from streaming.[94]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
American Songwriter Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016
The Independent Best Albums of 2016 2016
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2016 2016
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
The Skinny Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016

Track listing

Credits adapted from West's official website[102] and Tidal.[103]

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Ultralight Beam"  
 5:20
2. "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1"  
 2:15
3. "Pt. 2"  
  • West
  • Menace
  • Rubin
  • Plain Pat[a]
  • Shaw[b]
 2:10
4. "Famous"  
 3:16
5. "Feedback"  
  • West
  • Brown
  • Goldstein
  • Young
  • Darius Jenkins
  • K. Rachel Mills
  • Marcus Byrd
  • Bennett
  • Ardalan Sarfaraz
  • Manouchehr Cheshmazar
  • West
  • Charlie Heat[a]
  • Goldstein[a]
 2:27
6. "Low Lights"  
  • West
  • DJDS
  • M. Dean[b]
 2:11
7. "Highlights"  
 3:19
8. "Freestyle 4"  
 2:03
9. "I Love Kanye"  WestWest 0:44
10. "Waves"  
 3:01
11. "FML"  
 3:56
12. "Real Friends"  
 4:11
13. "Wolves"  
 5:01
14. "Frank's Track"  
  • West
  • Cashmere Cat
  • Sinjin Hawke
 0:38
15. "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission"  
West 0:56
16. "30 Hours"  
  • West
  • Riggins
  • M. Dean
 5:23
17. "No More Parties in LA"  
 6:14
18. "Facts (Charlie Heat Version)"  
  • West
  • Metro Boomin
  • Southside
  • Charlie Heat
 3:20
19. "Fade"  
 3:13
20. "Saint Pablo"  
  • West
  • M. Dean
  • Ritter[a]
  • Goldstein[b]
 6:12
Total length:
 1:06:39

Notes

Sample credits

Credits adapted from West's official website.[102]

Personnel

  • Virgil Abloh – assistant creative director, creative consultant
  • Nathaniel Alford – engineering (track 7)
  • Ian Allen – business affairs
  • Carrol Guido & Groffman, LLP – legal
  • David Baker – technical direction
  • Jose Balaguer – Rihanna vocals assistance (track 4)
  • Jennny Beal – production
  • David Bell – marketing
  • André Benjamin – background vocals (track 16)
  • Benji B – creative consultant, co-production (track 19)
  • Shanika Bereal – choir (track 1)
  • Rob Bisel – Shangri La Studios production assistance
  • Boi-1da – production (track 12)
  • Tristan Bott – Windmark Studios assistant engineer
  • Chris Brown – vocals (track 10)
  • Dee Brown – engineering (track 7)
  • Nate Brown – DONDA art director
  • Leesa Brunson – A&R coordination
  • Johnnie Burik – Shangri La Studios assistant engineer
  • Cashmere Cat – production (tracks 13, 14)
  • Chance the Rapper – production (track 1), vocals (track 1)
  • Charlie Heat – production (tracks 10, 18), co-production (tracks 4, 5), additional production (track 11)
  • Dave "Squirrel" Covell – Shangri La Studios assistant engineer
  • Don Crawley – creative consultant
  • Amy Davis – management team
  • Andrew Dawson – co-production (track 3), additional production (track 11), engineering (tracks 1–8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16–20), mix (tracks 8, 10)
  • Peter De Potter – album artwork design
  • Mike Dean – mastering, production (tracks 1, 2, 7, 13, 16, 20), co-production (tracks 8, 10, 11, 19), additional production (tracks 4, 6, 12), engineering (tracks 1–8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18–20), mix (tracks 6, 7, 11), keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 7, 11, 12), bass guitar (track 1), Moog modular (track 2), vocoder (track 16)
  • El DeBarge – additional vocals (track 7)
  • Desiigner – vocals (tracks 3, 8)
  • Kenyon Dixon – choir (track 1)
  • DJDS – production (track 6), additional production (tracks 1, 2, 8, 19)
  • Donnie Trumpet – trumpets (track 1)
  • Ryan Dwyer – photographer
  • Aaron Encinas – choir (track 1)
  • Eric Weissman Music Licensing, Inc. – sample clearances
  • Anthony Evans – choir contractor (track 1)
  • Donna Fetchko – business affairs
  • Frank Dukes – co-production (track 12)
  • Kirk Franklin – vocals (track 1)
  • French Montana – engineering (track 15), vocals (track 15)
  • Chris Galland – mix assistance (tracks 1–3, 12, 13, 16–20)
  • Joey Galvan – Ameryacan Studios assistant engineer
  • Dan Gieckel – management team
  • Lane Goldberg – web development
  • Noah Goldstein – co-executive producer, co-production (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11), additional production (tracks 1, 2, 7, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20), engineering (tracks 1–14, 16–20), mix (tracks 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 14)
  • Natalie Green – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Samoria Green – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Trevor Gureckis – additional production (track 7)
  • Kuk Harrell – Rihanna vocal production (track 4)
  • Havoc – production (track 4), co-production (track 12)
  • Jordan Heskett – Windmark Studios assistant engineer
  • Hudson Mohawke – creative consultant, co-production (tracks 8, 10), additional production (tracks 4, 11)
  • Jeff Jackson – mix assistance (tracks 1–3, 12, 13, 16–20)
  • Ibn Jasper – creative consultant
  • Tom Kahre – Ameryacan Studios assistant engineer, engineering (tracks 8, 10)
  • Shin Kamiyama – The Weeknd vocals recording (track 11)
  • Kimberly Katz – Ameryacan Studios assistant engineer
  • Kendrick Lamar – vocals (track 17)
  • Kez Khou – Jungle City assistant engineer, mix assistance (tracks 7, 11)
  • Kid Cudi – vocals (tracks 2, 10)
  • Anthony Kilhoffer – co-production (track 19), additional production (track 10), engineering (tracks 1–8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18–20)
  • Ricardo Kim – Shangri La Studios production assistance
  • Darren King – additional production (track 12)
  • Sean Klein – Jungle City assistant engineer
  • Julian Klincewicz – creative consultant
  • Paul Lane – production
  • Eric Lynn – Shangri La Studios assistant engineer
  • Madlib – production (track 17)
  • Mike Malchicoff – engineering (tracks 1, 7)
  • Manny Marroquin – mix (tracks 1–3, 12, 13, 16–20)
  • Jenna Marsh – assistant design to Joe Perez
  • Max B – vocals (track 15)
  • Menace – production (track 3)
  • Vic Mensa – vocals (track 13)
  • Metro Boomin – production (track 18), co-production (tracks 2, 10, 11)
  • Zeke Mishanec – Jungle City assistant engineer, Swizz vocals recording (track 3)
  • Mitus – production (track 11)
  • Mixed By Ali – engineering (track 17)
  • Brendan Morawski – Jungle City assistant engineer
  • David Moses – Ameryacan Studios assistant engineer
  • Tracy Nguyen – publicity
  • Plain Pat – A&R, co-production (track 3), additional production (tracks 1, 4, 7)
  • Joe Perez – DONDA art director
  • Greg Phillinganes – keyboards (track 7)
  • Che Pope – A&R
  • Post Malone – vocals (track 19)
  • Heron Preston – creative consultant
  • Kelly Price – vocals (tracks 1, 2), additional vocals (track 7)
  • Crystal Lewis Ray – choir (track 1)
  • Kyle "Don" Resto – Jungle City assistant engineer
  • Karriem Riggins – production (track 16)
  • Rihanna – vocals (track 4)
  • Allen Ritter – co-production (track 20), additional production (track 2)
  • Brian Rivera – assistant design to Joe Perez
  • David Rowland – engineering (track 19)
  • Elon Rutberg – creative consultant
  • Rick Rubin – co-executive producer, production (tracks 2, 3), co-production (track 1)
  • Sampha – vocals (track 20)
  • Sakiya Sandifer – management team
  • Justin Saunders – DONDA art director, creative consultant
  • Ike Schultz – mix assistance (tracks 1–3, 12, 13, 16–20)
  • Mark Seekings – DONDA art director
  • Lakesha Shantell – choir (track 1)
  • Caroline Shaw – additional production (tracks 3, 8, 13), vocals (track 3), additional vocals (track 11)
  • Sheniz H – photo model
  • Sia – vocals (track 13)
  • Sinjin Hawke – (tracks 13, 14)
  • Kevin Smith – Shangri La Studios production assistance
  • Southside – production (track 18), co-production (track 7)
  • Tiffany Stevenson – choir (track 1)
  • Chavonne Stewart – choir (track 1)
  • William Sullivan – Ameryacan Studios assistant engineer
  • Swizz Beatz – production (track 1), vocals (track 3)
  • Gabe Tesoriero – creative consultant, publicity
  • The-Dream – vocals (track 1), additional vocals (track 7)
  • Sevn Thomas – additional production (track 12)
  • Marcus Tovar – Rihanna vocals recording (track 4)
  • Antoinette Trotman – business affairs
  • Alex Tumay – engineering (track 7)
  • Ty Dolla Sign – engineering (track 12), vocals (tracks 12, 19)
  • Velous – co-production (track 7)
  • Ryan "Charlie Handsome" Vojtesak – co-production (track 19)
  • Derek Watkins – production coordination, co-production (track 1)
  • The Weeknd – vocals (track 11)
  • Kanye West – lead artist, executive producer, creative director, production (tracks 1–20)
  • North West – creative consultant
  • Saint West – creative consultant
  • Rachel Whitlow – choir (track 1)
  • Dion "No ID" Wilson – Def Jam A&R
  • Brandon Wood – Windmark Studios assistant engineer
  • Nicole Wyskoarko – legal
  • George Young – choir (track 1)
  • Young Thug – vocals (track 7)
  • Izvor Zivkovic – management

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[104] 6
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[105] 2
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[106] 8
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[107] 5
Irish Albums (IRMA)[108] 8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[109] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[110] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[111] 30
US Billboard 200[112] 1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[113] 2

Release history

List of release dates, formats, label, and reference
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various February 14, 2016 Streaming (Tidal exclusive) [61]
April 1, 2016 [114][115]
United Kingdom July 29, 2016 CD (unofficial) [116]

Citations

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  2. ↑ "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases - R&B Song and Hip-Hop Music Release Dates - ...". Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ fashionablyearly (June 20, 2016). "Kanye West is Releasing 'Fade' to Pop Radio Stations". Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Helman, Peter. "Kanye West's Updated The Life of Pablo Is Now on Apple Music And Spotify". Stereogum. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Coscarelli, Joe. "400 Million Streams Later, Kanye West's 'Pablo' Is to Get a Wider Release". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
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  8. ↑ Grow 2014.
  9. ↑ Rys, Dan (December 3, 2013). "Q-Tip Will Produce Kanye West's Next Album With Rick Rubin – XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
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  11. ↑ Hernandez 2015.
  12. ↑ Young 2015.
  13. ↑ Terry 2016.
  14. ↑ West 2015.
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  16. ↑ Wilstein, Dave. "Kanye West Declares Bill Cosby 'Innocent'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  17. ↑ "KANYE WEST on Twitter: @studio /final verses /new album title T.L.O.P.". Twitter. February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  18. ↑ Phillips, Amy (February 11, 2016). "Kanye West New Album The Life Of Pablo Debut Live Stream: Watch It Here". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  19. ↑ West, Kanye (February 12, 2016). "The album is being mastered and will be out today… added on a couple of tracks…". Twitter. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Chance The Rapper Annotated His Verse on Kanye West's "Ultralight Beam"". February 15, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
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  22. ↑ Dandridge-Lemco, Ben. "Kanye West Is Updating "Wolves"". The Fader. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  23. ↑ Hamilton, Jack. "The Life of Pablo Is an Attack on the Very Idea of the Album". Slate Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
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  30. ↑ McCown 2015.
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  37. ↑ Danny Schwartz (February 11, 2016). "Brooklyn Rapper Desiigner Signs To G.O.O.D. Music". HotNewHipHop.
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  39. ↑ Korhnaber, Spencer. "'Saint Pablo' and the Power of an Unfinished Album". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
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  47. ↑ Thomasos 2016.
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 Greene 2016.
  49. 1 2 3 Reiff 2016.
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  51. 1 2 3 4 5 Rahman 2016.
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  56. ↑ Feeney 2016.
  57. ↑ Minsker & Strauss 2016.
  58. ↑ Robertson 2016.
  59. ↑ Lilah 2016.
  60. ↑ Truong 2016.
  61. 1 2 Monroe 2016b.
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  70. ↑ "i love kanye".
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  73. 1 2 Mitchell, Chris. "Kanye West Soars Above Crowd To Kick Off Saint Pablo Tour". HipHopDX. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
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  80. ↑ Jeffries 2016.
  81. 1 2 Petridis 2016.
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  84. 1 2 Sheffield 2016.
  85. ↑ Tate 2016.
  86. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (February 26, 2016). "G.O.O.D. Music Abounds Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
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  89. ↑ "The Lumineers Score Their First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  90. ↑ "Prince Dominates Album Sales After His Death". HipHopDX. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
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  105. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Kanye West – The Life of Pablo". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  106. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kanye West – The Life of Pablo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  107. ↑ "Kanye West: The Life of Pablo" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  108. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 14, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  109. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kanye West – The Life of Pablo". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  110. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Kanye West – The Life of Pablo". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  111. ↑ 20, 2016 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  112. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Kanye West. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  113. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Kanye West. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  114. ↑ "Kanye West updates 12 tracks on The Life of Pablo, album available everywhere on Friday". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  115. ↑ "Digital Download". Tidal. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  116. ↑ "Kanye West The Life of Pablo IMPORT Sealed New Fast Ship Limited Stock BUY NOW!". Retrieved October 1, 2016.

Sources

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