Kanye West and Kid Cudi have made a whole album together. It was something that we didn't know we needed. Kids See Ghosts is the fourth seven-song album from G.O.O.D. Music, and there was a lot of speculation from late 2017 until when Kanye officially announced the album that these two would put out an album together and on June 8, 2018, it finally came to fruition. The rollout for this album wasn't as chaotic as the one for ye, but like that album, it came out pretty late on the day of release and also came with a livestream of a listening party. After I was let down by Kanye's album last week, my expectations for this album were much, much lower than they initially were.
Positives
First off, I just want to say that I absolutely LOVE the cover. It's definitely one of my favorites of this year, if not my absolute favorite. I also want to say that I love this album MUCH more than I did Kanye's. Unlike ye, this album doesn't feel rushed and it seems like Kanye and Mike Dean took their sweet time to mix this album. The production is much more vibrant and interesting and includes some amazing samples, like the use of "Burn the Rain" by Kurt Cobain on the closer, "Cudi Montage" and the use of "What Will Santa Claus Say" by Louis Prima on "4th Dimension." In addition, Plain Pat and Dot Da Genius, the guys behind Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon sound, are credited as producers on some of these tracks, and they do a great job. This album is such a vibe all the way through. The dark tone fits the theme of this album so well. Of course, I should also mention the vocal contributions from the two artists. Kanye's rapping sounds more passionate than the rapping on his own album. There are solid lyrics and no gross mention of where humans come from or the benefit of a woman having breasts. Kid Cudi does an amazing job, too, as he gives out lovely melodies, verses, moans, and hums. He was definitely the star of this album.
Negatives
Most of my complaints don't have much to do with the content of this album. This album certainly sounds finished, but the way this album was dropped pissed me the absolute fuck off. The way this album was released made ye seem on time. It came out on all streaming services one-by-one, as Google Play was somehow the first to get a new Kanye album again, then it came out on Tidal, and then it was a long while until Apple Music and Spotify users finally got it. This album came out on fucking Deezer, a streaming service I never heard of until this past Friday, before Apple Music and Spotify. As a Spotify user, I was fucking pissed that we were the last to get this album. It finally showed up at 12:15pm on Friday afternoon. And on top of all that, we have to deal with a tracklist that's completely out of whack. The order of the tracks is correct, but they were all incorrectly named. The tracklist on Spotify started with "4th Dimension" even though the content of the song was clearly "Feel the Love." Thankfully, this was fixed. Oh yeah, there's also that thing where Kanye makes us look up the songs on Genius to find out who those uncredited features are. The only artist credited was the sample from Louis Prima, for some reason. My only issue with the album's content is that the hooks could have used some work. Most of them felt very repetitive and bare, like on "Feel the Love," "Freeee (Ghost Town Part 2)," and on "Kids See Ghosts."
Features
There were four artists featured, 3 of them uncredited.
1) Pusha T (Feel the Love) - His verse was the only part of this song that had substance whatsoever. He does a lot more than Cudi and Ye and gives out some solid bars and flows.
Verdict: Liked
2) Louis Prima (4th Dimension) - His sampled vocals sounded really chilling. I dig it.
Verdict: Liked
3) Ty Dolla $ign (Freeee aka Ghost Town Part 2) - I have no idea why he's been featured a lot on Kanye's music recently, but I loved his feature here. It sounds different than his usual style. I feel like his part should have been longer.
Verdict: Liked
4) Mos Def (Kids See Ghosts) - His hook was a bit repetitive, but I thought his bridge was decent. He sounded a little monotone but I think it fits the vibe well. Although I think Cudi would have fit his role better.
Verdict: Ehhhh
Best Tracks
1) Fire - This song is exactly like the title because it's fire. I loved the verses, especially Cudi's and I thought Cudi's hook isn't present enough. This song is so good.
2) 4th Dimension (feat. Louis Prima) - There's so much to love about this track. There's the sample, Kid Cudi's verse, and how it gives out such a creepy vibe that fits the album so well.
3) Reborn - This was the best track on the album without a doubt. It reminds me of another great Kid Cudi song, "Pursuit of Happiness." The hook, while not very substantial, sounds amazing because of how well Cudi delivers it. I didn't mind that it was 5 minutes and the outro was a bit long. I could listen to that hook all day. This song captures how I feel about the album overall since it's such a vibe.
Worst Track
Feel the Love (feat. Pusha T) - I was very worried about how the album turned out when I heard this song. Pusha T has a great verse, but it's very telling when his contribution does so much more than Kanye and Cudi combined. Cudi's hook is very weak since it's just one sentence repeated over and over delivered in such an overdramatic tone that it's very hard to take seriously. And apparently, Kanye rapping about scoops, poops, and whoops wasn't enough. Now he's making gun noises. That's literally all he does. Did Desiigner ghost-write Kanye's part? It's not that funny anymore, Kanye.
Conclusion
This was one of my favorite listening experiences in 2018. I wouldn't really describe this as an album, but more as a feeling. It's perfect as background noise and perfect to just put some headphones on and just lose yourself. I know it's not perfect, but I love this album.
Score: 8/10
I wouldn't consider this as a Kanye or Cudi album. The artist for this album is shown as Kids See Ghosts after all. I hope they get together and make more songs.
This concludes my thirteenth review. Here's what next week's series of posts looks like
Monday: Playlist Additions
Tuesday: Hot Take Tuesday #3
Wednesday: Ranking every album in Drake's discography
Thursday: A revisit of Illmatic by Nas
Friday-Sunday: Reviews, possibly of a new Nas album and other albums that come out.
No comments:
Post a Comment