kanye west graduation album cover alternate

But he’s never shied away from last-minute revisions: When his 2004 debut, “The College Dropout,” leaked, he cut some songs and added others and actually made an already great album better.

label provide an outlet for his restless musical creativity (he may be the only artist to have separate Wikipedia entries for his sprawling album, single and production discographies). He obviously places great importance on albums as an art form, but he’s never been bound by them: His countless collaborations, guest features, songs written and/or produced for others, mixtapes, one-off singles, live performances and his G.O.O.D. Apparently it’s now coming out on August 6th, but we’ve heard that one before - this is a movie veteran watchers of the West have seen many times. Even more frustrating, based on that one listen, “Donda” includes some of his most inspired work in years.

That’s why Prince would finish some songs in a 24-to-36-hour-long haul and revisit others multiple times over decades that’s why West released a revised version of his 2016 “Life of Pablo” album three months after its initial release.Īnd it’s presumably why, like so many of his other promised-but-still-unreleased albums and incomplete ideas, he pulled back the “Donda” album after premiering last week it before thousands at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and millions via an Apple Music livestream.

His flaws are equally deep in all of those categories, like that other controversial and flawed genius, Prince - his most direct precedent.īoth are monumentally creative, but such inspiration doesn’t automatically come with the focus and discipline to execute effectively or coherently - the constant flow of ideas and level of obsession can be too much to keep up with. Say and think what you will about Kanye West - about his ego and politics and mental health and indefensible public statements and all the rest of it - but he actually is a musical genius, at least by the contemporary definition of the term.Īs a songwriter, lyricist and rapper, he’s excellent - but as a producer and conceptualist and creator of exciting and emotionally moving music (in both positive and negative ways), he’s brilliant.

Kanye west graduation album cover alternate