I talked at length about The Life of Pablo without even mentioning the music! I bet that’s the first time that’s happened! But honestly, it’s good stuff. I think the noise about the rollout has sometimes overshadowed the actual noise (understatement of the year), but perhaps, like we could say about many things regarding Kanye, what seemed off the cuff is actually intentional. The music on The Life of Pablo indicates a low-key release, at least the lowest key Yeezy could possibly reach for. This is kaleidoscopic Kanye, you try and see one version of him and it is instantly replaced with another version. For a quick sec it seems like Graduation-era Kanye has returned, but then he throws you face-first into 2009 Taylor-interrupting Kanye; some beats would be at home on the first half of Yeezus, while others carry on the glory of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This is mid-career retrospective Kanye, and it seems that it may be a turning point to something different from him. I don’t know what it is, but this album, as inconsistent as it is, makes me think we’ll be getting a more moderate, consistent Kanye in the future. He’s just as likely to prove me wrong (especially if we are truly getting another album this summer) but if he’s still operating at this level, I’ll take it. Kanye 2020.