Sean Sharp's Diary

Given the ridiculous amount of backstory that goes into the creation of this album and just Kanye's last decade as a whole, it's hard not to go into this without some sort of little voice in the back of your head. To start, I am grateful that this didn't end up being whatever monstrosity he concocted like 6 months ago before he released that letter and announced he was not using AI on "BULLY". I believe this album was not one where Kanye was trying to make something great, but rather trying to save it from being something bad within the past few months. And to be fair, he did succeed in that task. I wouldn't call this bad by any means. The beats and sampling are usually pretty crisp and it contains that bit of spice that reminds you why Kanye is Kanye. The real fall off here is almost everything to do with the vocals. Kanye's vocal mixing is not the best but oddly only on his voice. The few features that do litter this thing are some of may favorite parts. Especially the way CeeLo Green's voice is warped into the chorus on the self-titled track. Love to hear something new with vocal manipulation. Yet anytime Kanye attempts to affect his own voice, it's rough around the edges. The other downside is the lack of progression a lot of these songs have. All too often, a song would start and I would become excited for some sort of great verse or some great chorus, but those moments never came. This may be a backhanded compliment, but I think "LAST BREATH" is actually one of the better tracks on here too. It does feel strange to have Kanye rapping/singing in Spanish and overall the vibe of the track comes completely out of left field, but I can appreciate the Ye flair on the typical reggaeton beat. Andre Troutman's contributions are also a great addition especially on "ALL THE LOVE". While I still find that song didn't stick the landing after the opening, the opening and Andre's portion are just great. I could list almost every song on here for a great thing then follow it up with a "but...". I hope Kanye stays mentally healthy even if it means mid music, but time will tell.

He just keeps dropping top-tier work in such rapid succession. This dude is the definition of locked in. I can understand if his style isn't for you individually, but within the electronic, edgy, pop realm that he is working in, he is really pushing how good and polished it can be. In the last review I wrote for Artemas, I made references to The Weeknd's "After Hours" and how Artemas seems to be continuing that sound while a lot of popular music has moved away from the heavy use of synths in recent years. Artemas to me at this point is fully carrying the torch of how this genre should sound. I have a theory that artists that break into the mainstream while their specific genre isn't what is "hot" at the moment, do so because they are making music that expands on what has been already established in a genre that is losing popularity. The public gets tired of trends and genres and moves on. You could say the same for Yeat or Playboi Carti right now too considering how popular they are while trap rap is on a definite decline in the public eye. They are something very unique to trap and because of this are holding onto this immense popularity while even some of the most popular trap artists of all time struggle to find success. As for "getting up to no good", Artemas continues where he left off. Truly, I could make this review like three sentences because he's not really bringing any new conversations to the table. This is essentially like his last two albums but he just keeps finding ways to keep the production and vocal mixing interesting. Daintree has been Artemas' go to producer for several years now and he joins him again here and the duo were born to make music together. Whatever artistic process they go through is perfect as they keep figuring out how to keep it fresh without re-inventing the wheel. "time alone w u" as a single actually let me a little bit nervous as it wasn't my favorite track he's ever dropped and so I decided to take a break from his singles until the album itself. And while "time alone w u" isn't my favorite of his, I still enjoy it, I just have high expectations. For some reason there are two versions of this album but don't have any distinguishing names or anything. The track "high note" shows up on one of the versions and I'm very happy that it does. This song is definitely a catalog highlight for him. "other lovers" and "myself" are my other two favorites, at least off rip, but pretty much every track on here is very solid. It's almost difficult to go into detail about each song since they're just him being toxic and glorifying some sort of trauma but damn does it sound good.