AlbumE · 2016
The Life of Pablo
by Kanye West
The Life of Pablo is a 2016 hip-hop album by Kanye West. It runs 21 tracks across 66 minutes on Def Jam Recordings. Riffiter listeners rate it 4.2/5 from 445 ratings.
Hip-Hop · Contemporary R&B · Experimental Hip-Hop
Your rating
- 4.2 /5
- 445 ratings
- 79 /100
- 10 critics
- 21
- Tracks
- 66 min
- Runtime
- 105 bpm
- Tempo
- A# major
- Key
Ratings
445 ratings · avg 4.2
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Reviews
1 review
- 4.0
A gospel album you can't bring to church: TLOP is gloriously unfinished by design — Chance's sunbeam verse on "Ultralight Beam," the Sister Nancy flip on "Famous," tracklist edits continuing after release. The mess is the message: faith, fame and family colliding in real time. Kanye's last great album, fraying audibly at the edges.
54 people have played it start to finish
4 people are spinning it this week
People who scrobbled it: 4.3★ (6) · Everyone else: 4.5★ (32)
Critics
10 publications
- Vice (Expert Witness)A−
- Pitchfork9/10
- Rolling Stone4.5/5
- USA Today3.5/4
- Entertainment WeeklyB+
- NME4/5
- Spin8/10
- AllMusic3.5/5
- The Daily Telegraph3/5
- The Guardian3/5
- Metacriticaggregate75/100
- AnyDecentMusic?aggregate7.4/10
Scores collected from the English Wikipedia ratings box (CC BY-SA). Ratings belong to the publications; follow a link to read the review.
The Life of Pablo album cover
1 rating
The The Life of Pablo cover was photographed by Ryan Dwyer, illustrated by Peter De Potter, and art-directed by Kanye West. Riffiter listeners rate it 5.0 out of 5 from 1 rating.
- Photography
- Ryan Dwyer
- Illustration
- Peter De Potter
- Art direction
- Kanye West
Your rating for the cover
Tracklist
21 tracks · 66 min
Ranked head-to-head
1 vs 1
Stars say how much you like The Life of Pablo. They never settle which song on it you would defend. Pick between two at a time and the order builds itself.
Nobody has finished a run on this record yet. Rank The Life of Pablo's songs yourself →
Videos
3 videos
Ranked by listeners
top 5 · 21 rated tracks
According to Riffiter listeners, the best track on The Life of Pablo is 30 Hours — rated 5.0/5 by 3 listeners.
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About
The Life of Pablo is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Kanye West. It was released by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings on February 14, 2016. The album was initially available exclusively through the streaming service Tidal, following a lengthy series of delays in its recording and finalization. Recording of the album dated back to recording sessions for West's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and took place in various locations. West began working on his seventh solo album in November 2013. The album was originally titled So Help Me God and slated for a 2014 release. This version of the album, which never materialized, included several tracks which were released such as "God Level" (released as part of an Adidas World Cup promo), "Tell Your Friends" (later given to The Weeknd), "3500" (given to Travis Scott), "All Day" and "Only One". In February 2015, the only tracks from this version appearing to make the final cut for The Life of Pablo were "Famous" (formerly titled "Nina Chop") and "Wolves", which West performed on Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary episode, with American recording artists Sia and Vic Mensa.
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In May 2015, West renamed the album SWISH but clarified that it still could be subject to change. On January 26, 2016, West posted a supposed finalized track-listing on his Twitter account, along with another tentative title for the album, Waves. On February 4, West confirmed on Big Boy's Neighborhood radio show, that he still did not have a final album title. On February 9, West tweeted that the acronym of the album title was T.L.O.P. It was revealed the next day via Twitter that the album was titledThe Life of Pablo. West tweeted the album cover on February 11, 2016. West also debuted a portion of the album during his Yeezy Season 3 event on the same day, which West intended to be the album's official release day. West revised the track-list on multiple occasions, ultimately modifying it on February 12, from ten tracks to seventeen. However, the release was delayed in order to include one final track, "Waves", which was initially removed from the original track-list. On February 15, 2016, Chance the Rapper annotated one of his lyrics from "Ultralight Beam" on Genius, explaining that the track was originally supposed to be the album's outro, rather than the opener on the version made available on Tidal.
In brief
- Is The Life of Pablo good?
- Riffiter listeners rate The Life of Pablo 4.2/5 from 445 ratings.
- What is the highest-rated track on The Life of Pablo?
- 30 Hours, rated 5.0/5 by 3 listeners on Riffiter.
- When was The Life of Pablo released?
- The Life of Pablo was released in 2016 on Def Jam Recordings.
- How many tracks are on The Life of Pablo?
- The Life of Pablo has 21 tracks, with a runtime of 66 minutes.
- What genre is The Life of Pablo?
- The Life of Pablo is catalogued under Hip-Hop, Contemporary R&B, Experimental Hip-Hop.
- What BPM is The Life of Pablo?
- The Life of Pablo runs at a median tempo of 105 BPM across its tracks, most often in A# major, measured from audio analysis.
- What albums are similar to The Life of Pablo?
- Listeners of The Life of Pablo also rate DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar, Scorpion by Drake, To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar.
- Who produced The Life of Pablo?
- The Life of Pablo was produced by Ye, Mike Dean, Charlie Heat and Metro Boomin, among 25 credited in total. Ye produced 18 of them.
- Who wrote the songs on The Life of Pablo?
- The Life of Pablo was written by Kanye West, Noah Goldstein, Cashmere Cat and Charlie Heat, among 30 credited in total. Kanye West wrote 3 of them.
Credits
- Produced by
- Written by
+25 moreShow fewer
- Engineered by
- Vocals by
Lineage
24 connections
Built from
- Wolves (Original Version)Kanye WestinterpolatesWolves
- Wolves (BOOTS Reference)Kanye WestinterpolatesWolves
- Wolves (SNL / Yeezy Season 1)Kanye WestremixesWolves
- Hot Ya HotAkbarinterpolatesNo More Parties in LA
- No More Parties in LA (Demo)Kanye WestinterpolatesNo More Parties in LA
- No More Parties In LA (Good Ass Job Demo)Kanye WestinterpolatesNo More Parties in LA
- Suzie ThundertussyJunie MorrisonsamplesNo More Parties in LA
- Give Me My LoveJohnny “Guitar” WatsonsamplesNo More Parties in LA
- Stand Up and Shout About LoveLarry GrahamsamplesNo More Parties in LA
- Dirt and GrimeFather’s ChildrensamplesFacts (Charlie Heat Version)
- New God Flow.1Kanye WestinterpolatesFacts (Charlie Heat Version)
- FACTSKanye WestremixesFacts (Charlie Heat Version)
- Street Fighter II: The World WarriorCapcomsamplesFacts (Charlie Heat Version)
Lives on in
Sting FreestyleBabyfatherinterpolated inNo More Parties in LA
SohoWESTSIDE BOOGIEinterpolated inNo More Parties in LA
One BeerNine Vicioussampled inNo More Parties in LA
Credits and connections from Genius