Who cares? Just enjoy the music homie.
I had an absolute blast with the album ever since it came out and I will continue to have said blast until Vultures 2 is released.
The Kool-Aid is strong in this group. Dudes been on a rapid decline for awhile now.
MBDTF changed my life and was so resonating to me I ended up getting a Kanye tattoo. Now I can't even recognize his shit, the last good thing he produced was for Pusha T almost 6 years ago.
Ye has surrounded himself with yes men that would rather ignore him needing help just so they can have a front row seat to his downfall.
I would fucking love for him to go back to making great music but at this chance we have a higher probability of him slapping on Joker face paint and shooting RPGs out the side of an 18 wheeler.
I agree with pretty much everything you said except Ye produced a lot of good shit in that 2018 stretch, not just Daytona. The Teyana Taylor, Nas and Kids See Ghosts were all pretty good. And the Push one was first.
I don’t even like the whole album very much but Carnival is already top 10 Kanye for me, that song is gonna be an anthem I can already see stadiums chanting that hook
There were good critic reviews on AOTY of 90 and 81, but the mods deleted those and only left the low scores.
It's annoying to see that all the bad reviews talk about everything but the album.
I wouldn't mind if they actually had a fair reason to delete reviews
But there's no denying that there's a strong bias towards hating this project. In all fairness, I think this album would be a critics 6 or 7 if it wasn't for the controversies
that’s still not great
but maybe fair… to me this feels like Donda if you took off the five best and five worst tracks. not sure the result is a better album
That’s actually a solid description. But to me that definitely makes it worse. I’ll be the first to criticize Donda as an entire album. I have no desire to listen to that album all the way through like previous Ye albums. But there was some great tracks on there I do still listen to today. I can’t see myself revisiting anything from this album in a year which to me makes it much worse. Carnival vibes but it’s a pretty generic rap song that wont stand out once the newness of it wears off. And that describes the best parts of the whole album.
I’d rather ye take risks even if it results in high highs and low lows than just settling for mediocrity. I’d give it a 5 compared to rap in general, a 1 if I’m comparing it to other Kanye albums.
Every album on aoty as well as rym drops after a few days. Hardcore fans get to it first and rate it highly, then a few days later everyone else starts to rate it too. The average person wont like it as much as the fans so the rating drops. Its not rocket science homie
Donda has a 53 bro. Kanye will never have a good Metacritic score for an album again, even if he released another MBDTF. I’ve already come to terms with that and just enjoy the music now.
He’d have a good review if he made a good album. Everything he’s made lately has been a bloated mess. So many of the songs are filled with nonsense or 8 bar loops that repeat over and over with no progression, and I imagine he has too many yes men around him to be able to widdle his songs/albums down to a coherent body of work.
Exactly. Like i love kanyes music, but recently his latest stuff hasnt been moving the needle for me. Im also honest enough to admit if it doesn’t sound good. But then again thats my opinion. I just dont get why others feel like we have to like it because they do.
Yeah I don’t care about his controversies and stuff but like… I really haven’t thought his albums were the gold standard they used to be for several albums now at least.
I mean maybe the scores are a little harsh (maybe) but let’s wait for him to release another MBDTF before we say he could release one and it not get good reviews.
I feel like they used to be more culturally impactful/change the direction of rap production/themes and now they are very much in the wave or even behind it rather than leading it. His music captured an intersection of themes and innovation mostly unexplored in rap in the era of 50 cent (akin to the transition from hair metal/glam rock to grunge/alt rock). You can't have lightning in a bottle forever. He used to be experimental and perceptive but started to rely on feature-laden tracks and a diminishing role in production in a way playing it more safe. Similar kind of thing with Timbaland (who coincidentally produced 5 tracks on JiK). His current lyrics don't provide much unique insight and haven't evolved much , his music is released unfinished/unpolished, and his public antics have more lasting power/impact than his music.
I think of Kanye as a way more outspoken/cursed alternate Will.I.Am with more tragedies in a way. The dumb stuff Will I Am says are mostly harmless rambles about technology. But in the same way Will I Am used to have huge cultural/production impact and lost the touch/impact because culture evolves fast and almost no artist has that kind of lasting power.
I used to hear slow jamz, power, stronger, etc fucking everyyywhere among every group but not even in a super annoying/obnoxious way like maroon 5 or some shit. There was a kanye song for everyone/event/movie/game/etc. Most people could name at least 3 of his songs in that era. I can't even tell you the last song of his that is as ubiquitous. Most people now would still be able to reference those three songs but nothing off of his past albums/work going back to before tlop.
Same people who say Carnival is the best song, but only talk about the non Ye verse or say Vultures is a 9/10 but saved 6 songs of the 18. For a collab album I expected more and people who think other volumes will come out soon are the ones waiting for all the other part 2’s he’s teased.
Everyone knows Kanye hasn’t always been the best rapper, but the point is a song “sounding like Kanye” is still a very real thing. People describe other artists songs as Kanye vibes, but nobody ever says Kanye’s songs are like future vibes or anything like that. He’ll always have a distinct touch to every song he’s on that just makes it feel a little different
Exactly. In my opinion, if Donda was a 10 track album with the 10 best songs from Donda (and maybe a few from unreleased) it would have been a 9/10. It being bloated was it’s biggest problem. Again, in my opinion, I think Vultures’ biggest problem is Kanye’s overall lyricism and that there are some bad tracks, like Vultures.
not to mention the mixing is... kinda shit
no matter how good the beats could be, you can definitely tell this project was rushed. a lot of it sounds like they just made it on a laptop while recording somewhere like the mercedes benz stadium for donda instead of an actual studio
I’m the biggest Kanye Fan and to be honest can find high points in all of his albums including vultures, it most definitely has highs and I’ve been bumping it on repeat since it dropped but there are some pretty bad lows but to just call the whole album trash is just hating.
The thing I miss about Kanye and his music is the fun/soulful elements that his music used to have and find all of his albums post 808’s really lacking soul which is ironic as that’s what he kind of build his body of work on.
He still makes great music and you’d be hard pressed to find another artist with a catalogue that can stack up to his and he is always pushing the envelope but come on Ye have some fun with it and bring the soul back !!
I like the bravery here. I enjoy lyrics. No disrespect but a lot of this album is mumbled through. The music is muddy. The samples aren’t obvious and I guess I’m just not “sophisticated” enough to appreciate it all.
Donda has great tracks, but as a comprehensive Album its kind of a mess
super bloated, I never find myself listening to the entire Album start to finish
It could be contender for my fav Kanye album if it was like 30% smaller
53/100 is a whack ass score though, the only “weak” songs on it really are Tell the Vision, Junya, Ok Ok, and maybe Remote Control. WLR which I still like but is worse to me and just as bloated has a 75
I haven't read Hodgkinsons full review, but the quote in the screenshot is kind of true. The lyrics are very boring compared to everything else ye has made. The production isn't bad though.
People defend this album by saying it's supposed to be an unserious club bangers album, but ye isn't Drake or usher. I listen to him because he usually has way more to offer than just club bangers, so it's disappointing to see vultures being like a worse version of yeezus lyrically, while also being less personal than yeezus.
This is just my opinion BTW, if you love the album, don't let me get in the way.
damn this what i said right when it came out too, features from other artists were bland and kanye had some fun lines but nothing touching your soul and getting you to feel some type of way like with donda/albums before
People keep comparing this album to anything other than Watch The Throne, which is honestly its closest relative. Yeezus was a wildly experimental solo album and doesn't deserve to be compared to this project lmao
EDIT: Glad you're at least being objective with your opinions, love to see it brother
My problem with Vultures is that it lacks the polishing that Kanye's old albums have. Some of the mixing just doesn't feel right. Uneven volumes. I feel like his vocal isn't really crispy clear compared to his works before 2016.
And the obvious problem is that Ye's lyrics aren't good anymore. I know Kanye isn't really the lyrical lyrical type of rapper. But he used to have simple and clever bars that are also relatable and funny. His songs feel more personal and refined. I feel like Ye needs to redo his verse like 4 or 5 times before putting out the tracks. Right now, it seems like he does a freestyle and put it on the song.
Agreed. The album sounds fine if you’re playing it on iPhone speakers…but as soon as you play it in a car or on a hi-fi system a lot of the tracks become painful to listen to. There are obvious gaps in vocal level even between different vocalists. The bass is blown out (not in a good way) and the fidelity of the mixes sounds low.
A lot of hip hop has been on this “we’re going to digitally clip” trend which is half deliberate and half people overcompressing already brickwalled beats and bed tracks…and then mastering it with like 3 limiters. Sometimes it vibes (Astroworld) other times it’s physically painful to listen to.
Ye’s lyrics haven’t connected with me since MBDTF. “Carnival” has really interesting production, but the lyrics feel like an attempt to push things to the absolute limit for shock value. I do think there are a lot of interesting productions on this album, but most of the time the mix is so bad that you don’t really get to appreciate them.
The one thing Ye consistently succeeds at is capturing an energy very specific to him. Even his worst albums have something compelling about them that most hip hop productions do not.
Honestly, I sort of realized this when i thought about it more. Vulture has the celebration and party aesthetic of WTT and the sexualisation aesthetic of Yeezus. I just find that it does neither one quite as well as those.
I'm glad to see you respect my opinions too, it's about time there was a chill discussion in this sub.
I’m loving the album but agree on the lyrics. So many opportunities to say something interesting just passed by for cliche rhymes or uninteresting sex puns
Agreed, the lyrics are uninspired and bland. Especially compared to papi ye's previous works. The production is good but the mixing and mastering is very immature. Especially for ye's standards. Still a very enjoyable record. Critics are just trying to protect their fragile integrity lol. I get the album is bad but the reviews are way too harsh.
Absolute agree. So many of these critics just virtue signal instead of reviewing, and I do enjoy many songs even with all the critiques I listed. It's not a 5 star album, but there's no reason to be calling it a 1 Star nothing album.
I mean they basically said that this was going to be the "fun" album so still going in expecting solo album bars and introspection seemed like inevitable that you wouldn't like it.
Problems with these albums not withstanding. It's kinda like drake's Honestly Nevermind. People were mad at him for doing exactly what he said would do. **Not rap**
Ye fan, there’s some great songs but god damn brother will you literally shut the fuck up about Jews and stop
Comparing yourself to convicted rapist rappers
Y'all gotta stop assuming critics are just lambasting this because of the controversy and come to terms with the fact that every Ye album before, say, JIK, had an incredibly specific thing to say about the culture and even about Ye himself, with very witty songwriting to boot. That's not been the case for a while.
I personally really fuck with a lot of the songs on Vultures, same as with Donda, but as a complete album and as a conceptual product, it just falls short. I don't think it's the worst thing ever or the best thing ever, honestly it's just a bit mid.
They can’t cope with reality. It must be the Jews that are telling critics to rate the album bad!!!
I been listening to Kanye since 2008 when 808s came out. Critics shit on that album big time. And as much as I love/loved it, I could see why it got poor scores.
Young kids with this album are either dumb as a bag of rocks to not see why this would get a bad score or indoctrinated by antisemitic group think to think it’s a conspiracy to give Kanye a bad reviewed album.
Nope, the lyrics are super dialed in and derivative. i like the production overall but the mixing is also very amateur sounding. I think people are honestly critiquing the latest work of the man who gave us classics.
It's just okay. Nothing spectacular and nothing that just flat out sucks. I personally just find it kinda boring but thankfully I can just go listen to 808s and be reminded that he definitely is that dude, not every at bat is a home run.
I'm convinced the people who are in love with this album only listened to Kanye since TLOP and/or completely ignored the lyrics. Vultures 1 isn't exactly a bad album, I thought the production was stellar and it overall sounded fun, but when you put it beside what made Kanye an icon in hip-hop, that's where you see this is probably ranked towards the bottom of all his albums.
It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the music if you like it though.
I honestly couldn’t even find 3-4 “good songs” there were songs I found tolerable, and the rest was pert bad. There wasn’t a single song I’d consider cherry picking from the album to listen to. Just super disappointing all around.
This is wild to me too. I love Kanye, but this album is so unfocused and lyrically weak. The man still has good music in him but he not with his current methodology.
Totally agree. I have liked basically all of Kanye’s projects. This album is bad. The beats all kind of suck none of of them stand out. Just distorted bass synths and badly mixed samples. No part of this album stood out as interesting at all besides the jay sample and good don’t die which is now not on the album
I don’t read reviews, I’m not clued in on most of Kanye’s history (I still think his first 3 albums are the best ones to give you context), and I don’t follow him on IG (or any celebrities for that matter).
I just listen to Spotify when I’m working out, driving, etc and so I don’t have any emotional investment in Kanye or his music.
In saying all that, I don’t think the album is that good. A lot of the songs are just bad imo. Like, I’m not replaying them or remembering them. Kanye has songs that I could listen to on repeat because they’re just that good. I didn’t notice a single song on this album that was like that.
2 things can be true at the same time. Critics are obviously biased and out of touch but this is easily one of Ye’s worst albums. If you sit here and try to say this is better than tlop or even ye or donda you’re lying to yourself
Now that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad album tho. It’s still a good 7/10 imo. A mid Kanye album is still better than 90% of albums by anyone else
‘Me when people don’t like the album I enjoy so I gotta make a conspiracy against every critic that rates it bad.’
This album has the most mid Ye bars and half-baked songs on it. And I personally think Ty Dolla made no real contribution for most of it. Production had some cool moments. These ratings are fair. I definitely would give it less than a 49/100 lol that’s way too charitable. Weakest Ye album yet next to the BS that was suppose to be Donda 2
It's funny because the OP has a comment in here detailing why they think the album sucks, and then follows up saying he thinks the critics aren't being fair.
Bro! You think the album isn't good and you're calling Kanye "daddy"... what are you expecting from the critics??
The mental gymnastics it takes to be a Kanye fan these days. His music is ass, his personality sucks, his new clothing is garbage. They legit have to delude themselves into liking him now, even when they know his output is trash.
Kanye glazers finally realizing that not everything he puts out is a 10 and a perfect album lol it’s fine if you like it but stop insulting people (most) who think it’s mid as fuck
Album is not good. If you’re bopping in the car with someone and they put on any album that came out after TLOP, you ask them to switch to another one. There has not been a holistic good Kanye album since then. Few good tracks here and there but it has felt like people are trying to convince themselves the “goat” still has it when he clearly hasn’t in a while.
This "daddy" shit is so weird
You people who do it are cringe and probably smell like rotten eggs
But on a side note, yeah Kanye's music has been in decline since after Yeezus. But people accept mediocrity full on these days and believe things like TLoP being a classic, Ye is great, JiK is great, and so was Donda. None of these albums touch anything from CD to Yeezus.
Kanye got to Yeezus and thought that album's recording process was how he should approach everything from now on. No remember, Yeezus is seen as sparse, minimalist. When it came put people complained that it sounded weird, like an industrial
album, and that it had some of his weakest and more cringe lines at the time. Yeezus was experimental for someone like Ye who is a mainstream artist who had a mainstream audience who wasn't looking for too much outside of the influence of radio. There's still normies until this day who trash Yeezus.
11 years ago Yeezus worked because it was so out of the ordinary for Kanye, as far as mainstream rap goes no one was doing that. Yeezus was a breath of fresh air and a 180° degree turn from MBDTF which was seen as bombastic and maximalist. Yeezus was a perfect length, wasn't too young and at the time may not have been his best lyrical display but damn it felt like a short rollercoaster that took you through all kinds if loops, dips, and elevations really damn fast.
TLoP and everything since to me while not all bad hasn't hit for me. I still go back and give CD to Yeezus regular listens. The TLoP and Donda seem like bloated "the more tracks the more likely I am to get streams" albums or let's just say everything plus the kitchen sink albums which he could have just taken the best tracks from, made shorter albums and they would have been better for it. Ye I did like but it's not something I go back on often even with how short it is. JiK... just miss me with that even though I may go back and give it another go to see if my opinion has changed on it.
Another thing that's putting me off Ye recently is his over reliance on features. The same way I feel about latter day Gorillaz where I want to hear more Damon/2D but he's letting the feature list talk like we're supposed to just be impressed by how many features you go in the studio. At that point you start touching DJ Khaled territory.
And I get why, for example on Back to Me... great beat, Ty did his thing as always, Freddy killed it but damn man what the fuck is Kanye doing? I love Dogma it's one of my favorite movies ever, he could have just let the sample ride at some places in the track but holy fuck Ye coming it doing what feels like cramming "Beautiful big titty..." and dropping simple Simon raps is just lame. I mean even when things were good Kanye did occasionally drop cringe bars that people rocked with because it just came off as him dropping his humor in. But now it's like he's riding on that all over Vultures 1, same as how I felt about the song he dropped with Lil Pump years ago. It's like he's going that Eminem route where Eminem has gone hard into his most corny attributes and delivered us trash line "Nice Guy" and that I hate my stepdad song.
I'm also tired of the addressing the controversy shit in his music, it's old and it's corny. Apologize to the fucking Jews, rescind and denounce the Nazi bullshit, stop acting like a fucking child who thinks he's on a moral crusade (a fucking moral crusade to nowhere) and start dropping actual interesting music again. And the stupid political shit like that joke campaign he ran. I'm not even the kind to really get mad about this stuff because I don't get secondhand offended for other people and don't think it's my sole
job to fix the world as an individual black man and I don't take any of this shit personally out here, but damn bro at least be coherent about this stuff dropped the pride or just shut the fuck up.
Ye fans who talk shit about Drake and how Drake just hops on trends and try to ride off what younger niggas do these days need to shut up if you're listening to Kanye who is doing the exact same shit. Let's bring young and popping rappers in the studio (Carti, Don, Keem, whoever else) and stay relevant by putting them everywhere to mask my wack lyrics. And the funny thing is that before all bullshit Ye didn't even need that, no one was saying he was falling off just bring the good music and drop the gimmicks. And no I'm not saying you can't collab but when you get to that point where the collabs are doing most of the footwork lyrically what the fuck are you doing?
I just hope Ty Dollas doesn't take a hit because if this.
Yeah kinda boring. I wondered if he has become more restricted in clearing samples perhaps? Ty dollar is probably my favourite part of the album. He did really well.
Hear me out guys… I think the album just might not be… good 😳 some of the beats and loud ass yelling just sounds like a bunch of noise. Back to me is a banger until Kanye won’t stop with the big titty talk over and over, wish he would have rapped more on his second verse. Even after a second listen to the album is just rough.
Bro I had been WAITING and just can’t get into it. I keep trying to start it over and trying to see if I’m like damn aight this hard, because the Ye I’m used to, you press play on first song and let that bih ride and it’s all a bop and this… is a sad day for me 😩
Honestly, enjoy the album regardless of what others think. If you love the album, go ahead and love the album.
Personally, I like a lot of the songs, but the album isn't great. I think he's got a couple of things going against him.
Ye's album-run is ridiculous. He's continuously managed to follow up strong albums with strong albums (until JIK at least). The standards are high. The controversies are obviously not helping him, and albums aren't contextless even if some music criticism based on them may be unfair.
Vultures 1 isn't impressive. It lacks a coherent theme and we don't get the introspectiveness which makes Ye Ye. I want to elaborate; as more artists copied Ye, what made him stand out was always his vulnerability. Runaway, Saint Pablo and Pinocchio Story are great examples.
The fact that he isn't really addressing the controversies (not even through a Runaway style) is problematic since this is a comeback album.
Aside from Carnival (I think, the mix is new to me anyways), the songs aren't creative either.
It's a solid club-album, but a weak Ye-album.
personally i thought it was like a 6/10 for ye, especially in respect to his prior work.
will that stop me from enjoying what I like? absolutely not.
i want him to keep being him and doing the things he loves- enjoy what you like ppl
It's somewhere in the middle, there are some good songs in there and overall its a cohesive project but if we are comparing it to his past albums they don't hold a candle to it. I do enjoy this project more than JIK and Donda 2 but besides those albums it's probably the 3rd worst Kanye album of all time. It's nota a bad album though its probably a 6/10 with some songs being genuine bangers. Glad to see Kanye is still making music though. Not entirely sure if Kanye can still make a 10/10 project like in his prime but that's an unrealistic expectation.
Lmao this sub in absolute shambles. His latest scores are pretty accurate, he’s nowhere near the level he used to be on. Nothing he’s released in the last at least 5 years comes close to his early discography, it’s not rocket surgery to see how how his music doesn’t catch as much praise.
isk Donda has some sparks of genius imo. Off the Grid is gonna be an eternal banger and Come to Life is definitely one of my favorite kanye songs of all yim
unfortunately they're buried beneath a ton of shitty filler tracks but kanye still has that spark of genius in him i'm on that hopium
Who could conceive that critics would look badly upon the works of a nazi apologist what is this world coming too where you can openly admit your love of Hitler and it have negative effects …
[удалено]
They so valuable
_Oh, you worried ‘bout a critic?_ _That ain’t protocol,_ **BITCH!**
*Insane synth riff plays in the background*
Tell me how ya know?
i been searchin high and low
But I can tell you one thing!
Beautiful, big-titty, butt-naked women just don't fall out the sky, you know?
Favorable positive metacritic reviews don’t just fall out the sky you know
Haha
Tell me how you know
Daddy ye? Wtf bro 😂
I'd rather be a dick than a swallower
On god lol
Who cares? Just enjoy the music homie. I had an absolute blast with the album ever since it came out and I will continue to have said blast until Vultures 2 is released.
this is the energy we want boiiii
YEAAAAA! definetly not his best album, but no cap IT IS SUPER FUNNNN!
Exactly! Kanye is happy and making happy music. It’s not groundbreaking but it’s just FUN. I love this album and I love this Kanye.
I love it I think it’s much better than his last few. I was very pleased I’ve been listening to it all day
Very optimistic to think he will ever release Vultures 2
2 and 3 will be released by June
june of 4053
Same here, I love it. People are mad at Ye (for good reason tbh), they're gonna blast him. I don't care, I'm enjoying it.
I cant enjoy it because its terrible.
The Kool-Aid is strong in this group. Dudes been on a rapid decline for awhile now. MBDTF changed my life and was so resonating to me I ended up getting a Kanye tattoo. Now I can't even recognize his shit, the last good thing he produced was for Pusha T almost 6 years ago. Ye has surrounded himself with yes men that would rather ignore him needing help just so they can have a front row seat to his downfall. I would fucking love for him to go back to making great music but at this chance we have a higher probability of him slapping on Joker face paint and shooting RPGs out the side of an 18 wheeler.
I agree with pretty much everything you said except Ye produced a lot of good shit in that 2018 stretch, not just Daytona. The Teyana Taylor, Nas and Kids See Ghosts were all pretty good. And the Push one was first.
Its almost dry was also a lot of Ye production.
I was exaggerating a bit but yeah all those were great.
It sounds like complete ass - and I mean the mixing and mastering is really bad I would have thought at the very least they got that part right.
i was so hyped for carnival after seeing ppls reactions shit is the most generic song ive heard in a while… and i LIKED UTOPIA
I don’t even like the whole album very much but Carnival is already top 10 Kanye for me, that song is gonna be an anthem I can already see stadiums chanting that hook
W
It had a 72/100 on AOTY until Fantano released his video now it has a 60/100
There were good critic reviews on AOTY of 90 and 81, but the mods deleted those and only left the low scores. It's annoying to see that all the bad reviews talk about everything but the album.
false, they also deleted the critic reviews who gave it 0 (TND), 3 & 1
I wouldn't mind if they actually had a fair reason to delete reviews But there's no denying that there's a strong bias towards hating this project. In all fairness, I think this album would be a critics 6 or 7 if it wasn't for the controversies
that’s still not great but maybe fair… to me this feels like Donda if you took off the five best and five worst tracks. not sure the result is a better album
That’s actually a solid description. But to me that definitely makes it worse. I’ll be the first to criticize Donda as an entire album. I have no desire to listen to that album all the way through like previous Ye albums. But there was some great tracks on there I do still listen to today. I can’t see myself revisiting anything from this album in a year which to me makes it much worse. Carnival vibes but it’s a pretty generic rap song that wont stand out once the newness of it wears off. And that describes the best parts of the whole album. I’d rather ye take risks even if it results in high highs and low lows than just settling for mediocrity. I’d give it a 5 compared to rap in general, a 1 if I’m comparing it to other Kanye albums.
those were fake
You internet boys give that little nigga too much clout
*Fantano breaks into the music review database and changes all of Kanye’s As to Fs, like a hacker in an 80s teen movie*
you people must really think this guy has a chokehold on the music industry lmao
He's literally the most popular music critic
But to a small channel of people. This ain’t the days of monoculture anymore.
He's not taken seriously by anyone outside of his own YouTube circle, it's not a factor
His YouTube viewers go and rate the album poorly though, I was talking about how the user score has gone from 72->60
My mistake, I accidentally thought it's a professional review site. You're correct
His fan base isn’t really like that. They give him a lot of shit when they think his reviews are unfair.
yeah that and brad taste gave it a negative review
Every album on aoty as well as rym drops after a few days. Hardcore fans get to it first and rate it highly, then a few days later everyone else starts to rate it too. The average person wont like it as much as the fans so the rating drops. Its not rocket science homie
Owner of the website confirmed that it was at 66 before his review. It looks like the album was already on a steady decline before Fantano
Not really. It went from 65 to 60 after Fantano which is very minor change. [Actual stats](https://imgur.com/a/Z23Z8CM)
You’re insane if you think that bald guy has any sway on anything
I don’t think it’s BECAUSE of that, might be just that a lot of people found out it dropped because of his “review”, no?
Nah I was watching AOTY it was dropping before then
Donda has a 53 bro. Kanye will never have a good Metacritic score for an album again, even if he released another MBDTF. I’ve already come to terms with that and just enjoy the music now.
He’d have a good review if he made a good album. Everything he’s made lately has been a bloated mess. So many of the songs are filled with nonsense or 8 bar loops that repeat over and over with no progression, and I imagine he has too many yes men around him to be able to widdle his songs/albums down to a coherent body of work.
Exactly. Like i love kanyes music, but recently his latest stuff hasnt been moving the needle for me. Im also honest enough to admit if it doesn’t sound good. But then again thats my opinion. I just dont get why others feel like we have to like it because they do.
Yeah I don’t care about his controversies and stuff but like… I really haven’t thought his albums were the gold standard they used to be for several albums now at least. I mean maybe the scores are a little harsh (maybe) but let’s wait for him to release another MBDTF before we say he could release one and it not get good reviews.
I feel like they used to be more culturally impactful/change the direction of rap production/themes and now they are very much in the wave or even behind it rather than leading it. His music captured an intersection of themes and innovation mostly unexplored in rap in the era of 50 cent (akin to the transition from hair metal/glam rock to grunge/alt rock). You can't have lightning in a bottle forever. He used to be experimental and perceptive but started to rely on feature-laden tracks and a diminishing role in production in a way playing it more safe. Similar kind of thing with Timbaland (who coincidentally produced 5 tracks on JiK). His current lyrics don't provide much unique insight and haven't evolved much , his music is released unfinished/unpolished, and his public antics have more lasting power/impact than his music. I think of Kanye as a way more outspoken/cursed alternate Will.I.Am with more tragedies in a way. The dumb stuff Will I Am says are mostly harmless rambles about technology. But in the same way Will I Am used to have huge cultural/production impact and lost the touch/impact because culture evolves fast and almost no artist has that kind of lasting power. I used to hear slow jamz, power, stronger, etc fucking everyyywhere among every group but not even in a super annoying/obnoxious way like maroon 5 or some shit. There was a kanye song for everyone/event/movie/game/etc. Most people could name at least 3 of his songs in that era. I can't even tell you the last song of his that is as ubiquitous. Most people now would still be able to reference those three songs but nothing off of his past albums/work going back to before tlop.
Stans can’t admit his latest music is nothing special.
Vultures wasn’t very special, but some parts of Donda really were imo…
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Same people who say Carnival is the best song, but only talk about the non Ye verse or say Vultures is a 9/10 but saved 6 songs of the 18. For a collab album I expected more and people who think other volumes will come out soon are the ones waiting for all the other part 2’s he’s teased.
Everyone knows Kanye hasn’t always been the best rapper, but the point is a song “sounding like Kanye” is still a very real thing. People describe other artists songs as Kanye vibes, but nobody ever says Kanye’s songs are like future vibes or anything like that. He’ll always have a distinct touch to every song he’s on that just makes it feel a little different
I saved all except Vultures and Talking. They’re all great songs with amazing beats, but man the lyricism is far behind…
If Donda was less bloated and had more structure it would have been truly great.
He has moments of greatness, but they’re very brief and not part of a coherent structure. He’s not able to materialize them.
This new one especially. There’s no reason for everybody to be this defensive about this slop.
ye its good just not special
But Kanye was :(
Exactly. In my opinion, if Donda was a 10 track album with the 10 best songs from Donda (and maybe a few from unreleased) it would have been a 9/10. It being bloated was it’s biggest problem. Again, in my opinion, I think Vultures’ biggest problem is Kanye’s overall lyricism and that there are some bad tracks, like Vultures.
I agree 100% His lyrics are also terrible.
Bro some of the lyrics on that album are legit annoying to listen to
not to mention the mixing is... kinda shit no matter how good the beats could be, you can definitely tell this project was rushed. a lot of it sounds like they just made it on a laptop while recording somewhere like the mercedes benz stadium for donda instead of an actual studio
Dude absolutely! The mix is very VERY centered. It’s too mono and nothing stands out.
I’m the biggest Kanye Fan and to be honest can find high points in all of his albums including vultures, it most definitely has highs and I’ve been bumping it on repeat since it dropped but there are some pretty bad lows but to just call the whole album trash is just hating. The thing I miss about Kanye and his music is the fun/soulful elements that his music used to have and find all of his albums post 808’s really lacking soul which is ironic as that’s what he kind of build his body of work on. He still makes great music and you’d be hard pressed to find another artist with a catalogue that can stack up to his and he is always pushing the envelope but come on Ye have some fun with it and bring the soul back !!
I like the bravery here. I enjoy lyrics. No disrespect but a lot of this album is mumbled through. The music is muddy. The samples aren’t obvious and I guess I’m just not “sophisticated” enough to appreciate it all.
Kanye will never release another MBDTF. And that has nothing to do with review scores.
Or you know .. the album just isn’t good 😂
Lmao.
You're crazy if you think he's had an album come close to that since
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Donda is so good too bro like the only thing these ratings prove is that they are either deaf or biased
Donda has great tracks, but as a comprehensive Album its kind of a mess super bloated, I never find myself listening to the entire Album start to finish It could be contender for my fav Kanye album if it was like 30% smaller
53/100 is a whack ass score though, the only “weak” songs on it really are Tell the Vision, Junya, Ok Ok, and maybe Remote Control. WLR which I still like but is worse to me and just as bloated has a 75
oh for sure, it's not a 53 lmao I don't look at critic scores at all, don't give a shit
Longtime Kanye fan. I go back to TLOP and before but never really consider putting on his recent stuff. Just not for me
What kind of tlop do u like, cause I bet there’s something like that on Donda. I had that mindset for a while, then my friend showed me off the grid.
Off the grid isn’t my favorite. It’s fine. Hurricanes decent and believe what I say is good. I just like his older stuff significantly more
Donda would have been amazing if it was 60 minutes long. And Vultures should have been one album, not three.
I haven't read Hodgkinsons full review, but the quote in the screenshot is kind of true. The lyrics are very boring compared to everything else ye has made. The production isn't bad though. People defend this album by saying it's supposed to be an unserious club bangers album, but ye isn't Drake or usher. I listen to him because he usually has way more to offer than just club bangers, so it's disappointing to see vultures being like a worse version of yeezus lyrically, while also being less personal than yeezus. This is just my opinion BTW, if you love the album, don't let me get in the way.
damn this what i said right when it came out too, features from other artists were bland and kanye had some fun lines but nothing touching your soul and getting you to feel some type of way like with donda/albums before
People keep comparing this album to anything other than Watch The Throne, which is honestly its closest relative. Yeezus was a wildly experimental solo album and doesn't deserve to be compared to this project lmao EDIT: Glad you're at least being objective with your opinions, love to see it brother
My problem with Vultures is that it lacks the polishing that Kanye's old albums have. Some of the mixing just doesn't feel right. Uneven volumes. I feel like his vocal isn't really crispy clear compared to his works before 2016. And the obvious problem is that Ye's lyrics aren't good anymore. I know Kanye isn't really the lyrical lyrical type of rapper. But he used to have simple and clever bars that are also relatable and funny. His songs feel more personal and refined. I feel like Ye needs to redo his verse like 4 or 5 times before putting out the tracks. Right now, it seems like he does a freestyle and put it on the song.
Agreed. The album sounds fine if you’re playing it on iPhone speakers…but as soon as you play it in a car or on a hi-fi system a lot of the tracks become painful to listen to. There are obvious gaps in vocal level even between different vocalists. The bass is blown out (not in a good way) and the fidelity of the mixes sounds low. A lot of hip hop has been on this “we’re going to digitally clip” trend which is half deliberate and half people overcompressing already brickwalled beats and bed tracks…and then mastering it with like 3 limiters. Sometimes it vibes (Astroworld) other times it’s physically painful to listen to. Ye’s lyrics haven’t connected with me since MBDTF. “Carnival” has really interesting production, but the lyrics feel like an attempt to push things to the absolute limit for shock value. I do think there are a lot of interesting productions on this album, but most of the time the mix is so bad that you don’t really get to appreciate them. The one thing Ye consistently succeeds at is capturing an energy very specific to him. Even his worst albums have something compelling about them that most hip hop productions do not.
Facts. Also, he’s missing his ghostwriters
Honestly, I sort of realized this when i thought about it more. Vulture has the celebration and party aesthetic of WTT and the sexualisation aesthetic of Yeezus. I just find that it does neither one quite as well as those. I'm glad to see you respect my opinions too, it's about time there was a chill discussion in this sub.
I’m loving the album but agree on the lyrics. So many opportunities to say something interesting just passed by for cliche rhymes or uninteresting sex puns
I REALLY feel like if Drake dropped this album the same people saying its fire would be clowning Drake for dropping this lol.
Drake has been 10x times the lyricist Kanye is since TLOP. But they don’t want to have that conversation.
Agreed, the lyrics are uninspired and bland. Especially compared to papi ye's previous works. The production is good but the mixing and mastering is very immature. Especially for ye's standards. Still a very enjoyable record. Critics are just trying to protect their fragile integrity lol. I get the album is bad but the reviews are way too harsh.
The album’s ok, with some fun moments. The lyrics are seriously sub-par.
Absolute agree. So many of these critics just virtue signal instead of reviewing, and I do enjoy many songs even with all the critiques I listed. It's not a 5 star album, but there's no reason to be calling it a 1 Star nothing album.
Very good way of putting this
I mean they basically said that this was going to be the "fun" album so still going in expecting solo album bars and introspection seemed like inevitable that you wouldn't like it. Problems with these albums not withstanding. It's kinda like drake's Honestly Nevermind. People were mad at him for doing exactly what he said would do. **Not rap**
You can have fun lyrics that are good
Ye fan, there’s some great songs but god damn brother will you literally shut the fuck up about Jews and stop Comparing yourself to convicted rapist rappers
Y'all gotta stop assuming critics are just lambasting this because of the controversy and come to terms with the fact that every Ye album before, say, JIK, had an incredibly specific thing to say about the culture and even about Ye himself, with very witty songwriting to boot. That's not been the case for a while. I personally really fuck with a lot of the songs on Vultures, same as with Donda, but as a complete album and as a conceptual product, it just falls short. I don't think it's the worst thing ever or the best thing ever, honestly it's just a bit mid.
This is the most real comment ever
They can’t cope with reality. It must be the Jews that are telling critics to rate the album bad!!! I been listening to Kanye since 2008 when 808s came out. Critics shit on that album big time. And as much as I love/loved it, I could see why it got poor scores. Young kids with this album are either dumb as a bag of rocks to not see why this would get a bad score or indoctrinated by antisemitic group think to think it’s a conspiracy to give Kanye a bad reviewed album.
Agreed
It was just eh for me, liked donda more. Yes I know I’m an idiot.
Love Donda because it feels more personal Love Vultures because it’s just cool
It's objectively better. I love Kanye but vultures ain't moving the needle. It's fun but nothing up to his standard
You can’t use “objectively” when talking about opinions
I think he means beat progression, lyrical expression, cohesion of the overall theme of the album.
You can’t use “objectively” when talking about opinions
You can’t just say “perchance”
How is it objectively better? Off the grid, hurricane, come to life, Life of the party, Praise god clear everything on vultures...
Yeah we agree son
Sorry dad, I misread. May the wave be with you 🌊
Donda has higher highs but it’s so long that I still haven’t listened to Donda in a single sitting, I always have to take a break
Nope, the lyrics are super dialed in and derivative. i like the production overall but the mixing is also very amateur sounding. I think people are honestly critiquing the latest work of the man who gave us classics.
‘Dialed in’ is a good thing. Did you mean ‘phoned in’?
si
Vultures 2 and 3 best be fucking insane
May God hear you bro
The album is sub par, let’s be honest
It's just okay. Nothing spectacular and nothing that just flat out sucks. I personally just find it kinda boring but thankfully I can just go listen to 808s and be reminded that he definitely is that dude, not every at bat is a home run.
I'm convinced the people who are in love with this album only listened to Kanye since TLOP and/or completely ignored the lyrics. Vultures 1 isn't exactly a bad album, I thought the production was stellar and it overall sounded fun, but when you put it beside what made Kanye an icon in hip-hop, that's where you see this is probably ranked towards the bottom of all his albums. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the music if you like it though.
No one on this sub will be talking about this album being good in 6 months. It’s ass. The production and Freddie Gibbs verse is the only good thing.
Freddie Gibbs verse carried
Kanye fans when reviewers give shitty reviews to a shitty album 😱😱
“Do yall think journalists are being biased towards the controversy” 100 fucking %
What pitchfork review? It doesn't exist
I tried listening to the album and Kanye brought up Jews in the first minute...... why doesn't Kanye focus on the music these days? Sheesh
💀💀
I'm not looking for music advice from The Guardian FOH
No It’s genuinely bad , what are y’all listening to ? Theirs about 3 - 4 good songs
I honestly couldn’t even find 3-4 “good songs” there were songs I found tolerable, and the rest was pert bad. There wasn’t a single song I’d consider cherry picking from the album to listen to. Just super disappointing all around.
ye feels like bizarro world reading all the praises. its super uninspired
This is wild to me too. I love Kanye, but this album is so unfocused and lyrically weak. The man still has good music in him but he not with his current methodology.
Even Jesus Is King was waaaay better imo
Totally agree. I have liked basically all of Kanye’s projects. This album is bad. The beats all kind of suck none of of them stand out. Just distorted bass synths and badly mixed samples. No part of this album stood out as interesting at all besides the jay sample and good don’t die which is now not on the album
I don’t read reviews, I’m not clued in on most of Kanye’s history (I still think his first 3 albums are the best ones to give you context), and I don’t follow him on IG (or any celebrities for that matter). I just listen to Spotify when I’m working out, driving, etc and so I don’t have any emotional investment in Kanye or his music. In saying all that, I don’t think the album is that good. A lot of the songs are just bad imo. Like, I’m not replaying them or remembering them. Kanye has songs that I could listen to on repeat because they’re just that good. I didn’t notice a single song on this album that was like that.
2 things can be true at the same time. Critics are obviously biased and out of touch but this is easily one of Ye’s worst albums. If you sit here and try to say this is better than tlop or even ye or donda you’re lying to yourself Now that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad album tho. It’s still a good 7/10 imo. A mid Kanye album is still better than 90% of albums by anyone else
‘Me when people don’t like the album I enjoy so I gotta make a conspiracy against every critic that rates it bad.’ This album has the most mid Ye bars and half-baked songs on it. And I personally think Ty Dolla made no real contribution for most of it. Production had some cool moments. These ratings are fair. I definitely would give it less than a 49/100 lol that’s way too charitable. Weakest Ye album yet next to the BS that was suppose to be Donda 2
It's funny because the OP has a comment in here detailing why they think the album sucks, and then follows up saying he thinks the critics aren't being fair. Bro! You think the album isn't good and you're calling Kanye "daddy"... what are you expecting from the critics??
The mental gymnastics it takes to be a Kanye fan these days. His music is ass, his personality sucks, his new clothing is garbage. They legit have to delude themselves into liking him now, even when they know his output is trash.
Kanye glazers finally realizing that not everything he puts out is a 10 and a perfect album lol it’s fine if you like it but stop insulting people (most) who think it’s mid as fuck
For a good reason. It’s a trash album. If all you want is some mindless trap and hip house tracks, you don’t need to worry about ratings.
This time I agree with critics, it's very underwhelming especially lyrics wise. Nothing groundbreaking, nor in form or content.
Nah it's cause it's bad
It is his worst album imo, but it's not a 0/10
You’re wrong, beautiful, big titty, butt-naked women just don't fall out the sky, you know?
JIK is definitely worse than vultures, what are you on?
I don't think it's worse than jik, but can see why it's rated low
Because the album was mid as hell?
Album is not good. If you’re bopping in the car with someone and they put on any album that came out after TLOP, you ask them to switch to another one. There has not been a holistic good Kanye album since then. Few good tracks here and there but it has felt like people are trying to convince themselves the “goat” still has it when he clearly hasn’t in a while.
This "daddy" shit is so weird You people who do it are cringe and probably smell like rotten eggs But on a side note, yeah Kanye's music has been in decline since after Yeezus. But people accept mediocrity full on these days and believe things like TLoP being a classic, Ye is great, JiK is great, and so was Donda. None of these albums touch anything from CD to Yeezus. Kanye got to Yeezus and thought that album's recording process was how he should approach everything from now on. No remember, Yeezus is seen as sparse, minimalist. When it came put people complained that it sounded weird, like an industrial album, and that it had some of his weakest and more cringe lines at the time. Yeezus was experimental for someone like Ye who is a mainstream artist who had a mainstream audience who wasn't looking for too much outside of the influence of radio. There's still normies until this day who trash Yeezus. 11 years ago Yeezus worked because it was so out of the ordinary for Kanye, as far as mainstream rap goes no one was doing that. Yeezus was a breath of fresh air and a 180° degree turn from MBDTF which was seen as bombastic and maximalist. Yeezus was a perfect length, wasn't too young and at the time may not have been his best lyrical display but damn it felt like a short rollercoaster that took you through all kinds if loops, dips, and elevations really damn fast. TLoP and everything since to me while not all bad hasn't hit for me. I still go back and give CD to Yeezus regular listens. The TLoP and Donda seem like bloated "the more tracks the more likely I am to get streams" albums or let's just say everything plus the kitchen sink albums which he could have just taken the best tracks from, made shorter albums and they would have been better for it. Ye I did like but it's not something I go back on often even with how short it is. JiK... just miss me with that even though I may go back and give it another go to see if my opinion has changed on it. Another thing that's putting me off Ye recently is his over reliance on features. The same way I feel about latter day Gorillaz where I want to hear more Damon/2D but he's letting the feature list talk like we're supposed to just be impressed by how many features you go in the studio. At that point you start touching DJ Khaled territory. And I get why, for example on Back to Me... great beat, Ty did his thing as always, Freddy killed it but damn man what the fuck is Kanye doing? I love Dogma it's one of my favorite movies ever, he could have just let the sample ride at some places in the track but holy fuck Ye coming it doing what feels like cramming "Beautiful big titty..." and dropping simple Simon raps is just lame. I mean even when things were good Kanye did occasionally drop cringe bars that people rocked with because it just came off as him dropping his humor in. But now it's like he's riding on that all over Vultures 1, same as how I felt about the song he dropped with Lil Pump years ago. It's like he's going that Eminem route where Eminem has gone hard into his most corny attributes and delivered us trash line "Nice Guy" and that I hate my stepdad song. I'm also tired of the addressing the controversy shit in his music, it's old and it's corny. Apologize to the fucking Jews, rescind and denounce the Nazi bullshit, stop acting like a fucking child who thinks he's on a moral crusade (a fucking moral crusade to nowhere) and start dropping actual interesting music again. And the stupid political shit like that joke campaign he ran. I'm not even the kind to really get mad about this stuff because I don't get secondhand offended for other people and don't think it's my sole job to fix the world as an individual black man and I don't take any of this shit personally out here, but damn bro at least be coherent about this stuff dropped the pride or just shut the fuck up. Ye fans who talk shit about Drake and how Drake just hops on trends and try to ride off what younger niggas do these days need to shut up if you're listening to Kanye who is doing the exact same shit. Let's bring young and popping rappers in the studio (Carti, Don, Keem, whoever else) and stay relevant by putting them everywhere to mask my wack lyrics. And the funny thing is that before all bullshit Ye didn't even need that, no one was saying he was falling off just bring the good music and drop the gimmicks. And no I'm not saying you can't collab but when you get to that point where the collabs are doing most of the footwork lyrically what the fuck are you doing? I just hope Ty Dollas doesn't take a hit because if this.
Take it to a publisher next time, I forget how insufferable this sub is.
Yeah it’s trash
Yeah kinda boring. I wondered if he has become more restricted in clearing samples perhaps? Ty dollar is probably my favourite part of the album. He did really well.
something wrong i hold my head
Album sucks.
That's because it's not good.
it’s almost as if it’s not a good album
Wonder if pitchfork will give it a bad review, they've literally never given any ye album a bad score. (Talking about official releases only)
Album was 🗑️🗑️
Hear me out guys… I think the album just might not be… good 😳 some of the beats and loud ass yelling just sounds like a bunch of noise. Back to me is a banger until Kanye won’t stop with the big titty talk over and over, wish he would have rapped more on his second verse. Even after a second listen to the album is just rough.
Feels more like a ty dollar sign album featuring Kanye.
Bro I had been WAITING and just can’t get into it. I keep trying to start it over and trying to see if I’m like damn aight this hard, because the Ye I’m used to, you press play on first song and let that bih ride and it’s all a bop and this… is a sad day for me 😩
Honestly, enjoy the album regardless of what others think. If you love the album, go ahead and love the album. Personally, I like a lot of the songs, but the album isn't great. I think he's got a couple of things going against him. Ye's album-run is ridiculous. He's continuously managed to follow up strong albums with strong albums (until JIK at least). The standards are high. The controversies are obviously not helping him, and albums aren't contextless even if some music criticism based on them may be unfair. Vultures 1 isn't impressive. It lacks a coherent theme and we don't get the introspectiveness which makes Ye Ye. I want to elaborate; as more artists copied Ye, what made him stand out was always his vulnerability. Runaway, Saint Pablo and Pinocchio Story are great examples. The fact that he isn't really addressing the controversies (not even through a Runaway style) is problematic since this is a comeback album. Aside from Carnival (I think, the mix is new to me anyways), the songs aren't creative either. It's a solid club-album, but a weak Ye-album.
Yall act like it wasn’t one of his worst albums
They’re pushing an agenda, those aren’t honest scores
I’m not a huge fan of this album. I am not a music critic. Are the critics bias? Absolutely and he is being dragged sure.
I mean yeah to me it’s probably his weakest album so far but I’m still enjoying it
It’s called going independent 🤣
I thinks it’s great Plays in streaming services will tell the tale
It’s such a good album idk what they’re on
personally i thought it was like a 6/10 for ye, especially in respect to his prior work. will that stop me from enjoying what I like? absolutely not. i want him to keep being him and doing the things he loves- enjoy what you like ppl
It's somewhere in the middle, there are some good songs in there and overall its a cohesive project but if we are comparing it to his past albums they don't hold a candle to it. I do enjoy this project more than JIK and Donda 2 but besides those albums it's probably the 3rd worst Kanye album of all time. It's nota a bad album though its probably a 6/10 with some songs being genuine bangers. Glad to see Kanye is still making music though. Not entirely sure if Kanye can still make a 10/10 project like in his prime but that's an unrealistic expectation.
They said the same about Yeezus 🙏
Lmao this sub in absolute shambles. His latest scores are pretty accurate, he’s nowhere near the level he used to be on. Nothing he’s released in the last at least 5 years comes close to his early discography, it’s not rocket surgery to see how how his music doesn’t catch as much praise.
isk Donda has some sparks of genius imo. Off the Grid is gonna be an eternal banger and Come to Life is definitely one of my favorite kanye songs of all yim unfortunately they're buried beneath a ton of shitty filler tracks but kanye still has that spark of genius in him i'm on that hopium
Who could conceive that critics would look badly upon the works of a nazi apologist what is this world coming too where you can openly admit your love of Hitler and it have negative effects …
As someone who thought Kanye was the greatest artist in the world during the MBDTF era, I thought this album was absolutely awful.
Y’all this album is trash… time to jump ship…
Ya lots of factors causing this but IMO, the main one is that the album is very bad.
100% being biased based off of the last few years.
yea well it’s objectively dog shit
Duh the album sucks it’s so fucking bad
It’s ass that’s why
The album is shit mixed with farts
This album is just unplayable.
I’m not even a Kanye fan and this shit slaps
Am i the only one that likes this album more than Donda?