Hi everyone! AHHHHHH AHHHHHH AHHHHHH here, the Internet's busiest music nerd and it's time for a review of the new self-titled project from Kanye West and Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. Thus far it has been a very busy summer for producer, songwriter, singer, rapper Y-you know who he is, Kanye West Releasing several mini albums within weeks of one another the first of which, while not under his own name did feature his influence and production from front to back. Of course I am talking about Pusha T's Daytona, a 7 track album that just breached 20 minutes in length; all killer no filler. Then following that was Kanye West's new album, "Ye" Also 7 tracks, also just over 20 minutes. Equally to the point, though, not as aggressive and finely tuned as Daytona "ye" was also noticeably less extravagant and wildly experimental than Kanye's past several albums, too but to me this album still struck me as an incredibly unique and important moment for Ye in just how vulnerable and harrowing the material on this album is. To me this record felt like Kanye going through an ego withdrawal and showing the suicidal and self-destructive lows that fuel his god complex highs, which brings me to the third installment of Kanye related releases this summer Kids See Ghosts I had an inkling that this album wouldn't sound too much unlike the Ghost Town track off of Ye's latest album because it features Kid Cudi, "Kids See Ghosts", "Ghost Town", and there's also a song on this record titled, "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" so there's clearly some kind of linkage going on here So, I kind of got to wondering will Kids See Ghosts be aesthetically similar to that Ghost Town track? Will we see a similar fusion of hip hop and guitar music, maybe even hip hop and rock not too much unlike Kid Cudi's WZRD project, which, I don't know, worries me because I didn't like that album too much Also, I was so skeptical going into this thing because a lot of Kid Cudi solo material has been painfully mediocre since Man on the Moon 2 And even though I've enjoyed yays recent releases, he's in such a state of volatility right now Who knows if he can keep this quality up also didn't Kid Cudi and Kanye like have a bit of a rocky Friendship thing lately that could affect this project too. So I did have reasons to be skeptical going into this album, but This record is amazing. It's just as brief as everything else Ye has touched so far this year at 23 minutes and 7 tracks, but it flows fantastically in its short run time feeling like a Full complete album to the point where kids see ghosts actually feels longer than it is It also sounds completely unlike anything. Kanye has dropped so far this year Really dropped ever and sure while as I predicted there are elements of hip hop and rock being fused on this thing There's so much more there are experimental hip hop elements being worked into this thing clearly some Madlib worship here and there and the Grunginess and the brevity of some of these instrumentals and songs. There's even a neo psychedelia edge on this album, too I catch whiffs of some Flaming Lips here and there some Yoshimi soft bulletin Embryonic and even the terror some shots of hard rock and pop and R&B and even grunge get worked into this thing, too occasionally on this record There are some flashes of classic Kanye but there are plenty of moments here too where he is as out there as ever especially with some of the eclectic sample choices one of which is a 1930s Christmas song another one being a Kurt Cobain sample typically on this thing Kanye comes off really manic wild out of control Cudi being really forlorn dejected. It's sort of like they're both taking the emotional and and mental problems that they are known for in their music putting out there in their music and sort of Forming them like Voltron together into this short But epic experimental hip-hop opus and in a huge contrast from Kanye's Ye record the production on this thing the verses nearly everything is so meticulously Assembled like the rawness the lo-fi Production the the feeling of lightning in a bottle the feeling that things on the record were just kind of cobbled together That does not carry over on a kid see ghosts at all I definitely get the sense that the songs on this thing were worked on for a very long time The music and the emotions on this thing are on the edge in every way imaginable for me this thing was mind-blowing on impact and Instantaneously catchy - we have the opening track on here feel the love featuring Pusha T Push drops are really expressive and flashy intro verse over these very somber synth chords right after these Distorted vocal leads from Kid Cudi being echoed out into oblivion *I can still feeel the looove* It's a really powerful refrain powerful mantra to kick the record off with not only that but Cuddy singing this loud this forcefully and also this on pitch Right at the start of the record is is a very good sign so far the song sounds pretty cool. Pretty low-key pretty trippy Strange surely. It's a great vibe, but I just did not see coming right around the corner at the end of this verse Kanye busting in and kind of simultaneously locking in with these gunshot snares that are marching away into the end of the song and over these snares she's going *Kra! Kra kra kra! Kra krrrra! Kra! Sounding like Mike Patton while the song builds up this sonic and rhythmic momentum the track suddenly melts into these dreary bass tones and guitar leads that Miraculously Kid Cudi's vocal lead still fits on top of even though this track is really short we've gone through the number of compositional Transitions that you usually hear in a song double its length the song just ends in such a powerful place Thanks to the performance the production really Everything the color the volume the texture it's all on high Fire is a much more low-key moment on the record the shortest song at 2 minutes and 20 seconds It shows Kanye and Cuddy doing their thing over these very gnarly and rough chunky and Twangy guitar samples some eerie woodwind leads to some psychedelic vocal samples and sound effects It doesn't hit as high as sonic Peak as some of the other songs on here, but I do feel like lyrically these are important moments for Kanye and Cudi as it seems like they're kind of Establishing the personality the vibe the brand of of this collaborative project I also think this track works really well as a depressive counterpoint to the intro cut There's also a marching quality to the percussion on this track to the persistent snare drums and tambourines *ba! ba! ba! ba! ba!* Pair that with the guitar sample and Cuddy's haunting humming Hanging in the back and the song essentially sounds to me like a pirate dirge but in the best way possible in the best way possible there's also something about Kanye's verse on this track that just reminds me of 2000s era Kanye. It's kind of like he's been resurrected But has a newer darker edge the song fourth dimension though struck me as the most Classic Kanye moment on the entire record this song features the kind of genius level beat production that reminds me of cuts like Jesus walks Kanye drops this hilariously explicit verse. Of course. It's about sex. I love the line in this verse when she tells him He's in the wrong hole and he says he's lost that uh, definitely got to me But also I love how Kanye sort of portrays sex as like this psychedelic experience talking about it as if it's like another dimension That I can definitely fuck with and the the line that he ends his verse with saying that if he goes to jail He won't finish the sin and then the rest of the verses just silence Then Cuddy's verse this dude has not sounded this cold-blooded since the 2000s and I just love the camaraderie that is coming through on this album between these guys Already before we've even hit the halfway point It's like Kanye and Kid Cudi are bringing the best out of one another on this record Reminding one another of what each other's strengths are because we know Kanye and Cudi are longtime Admirers of each other's work have inspired one another's work and it's like together in closed quarters on this record They each want to do whatever it is that makes one artist hold the other in such a high regard Because Cudi singing on this thing is more on point than it's been in years. Like he's so on pitch It's scary sometimes I think the shakiest vocal moment for him on this thing is some of the moaning at the start of the track reborn But it's not even really that bad but back to fourth dimension Cudi's bars on this thing are really Slick really trippy and I love the hilarious vocals snippet that sort of ends the song out talking about, you know Just have the music do this and that the other thing and then you know Just two and a half minutes, that's enough for a record. The song free is One of my favorites on here. I mean almost every song on this thing is a favorite of mine It's this crazy hard rock rap fusion. That's just Kanye and Cuddy go absolutely insane on this thing The track is a fantastic extension of some of the themes off the track ghost town throwing out this idea of freedom again And again and again and not just simply social or political freedom really a existential freedom freedom from pain freedom from like mortality the song features these blaring samples have chopped up hard rock guitars It sounds like something out of a Led Zeppelin song A lot of the instrumental though is owed to a very generous sample from a UK Instrumental hip hop producer who goes by the name of mr chop But even knowing that what Cuddy Kanye and ty dolla sign to do on top of this beat is incredible their gargantuan godlike proclamations of I feel FREEEEEEEEE Every single time Kanye and cutting shout that line. I feel like I'm being thrown down into a kaleidoscopic wormhole where all these colors are swirling around my brain ty dolla sign brings these Amazing vocal harmonies like these super dense super thick how many vocals are multi-tracked on top of each other it sounds so AAAAAH Even though ty dolla sign isn't delivering as extrema vocal performance as Kanye or Cuddy He sounds rock and roll as fuck. Again, Kanye sounds absolutely manic on this track. Kid Cudi less So but there's a bit of sass to some of what he delivers on the track Guess what babe? This song is not simply just a fantastic song by itself. It's also redemption for me, too Like it's a fantastic follow-up to ghost town it also sounds like what wizard should have been and the the the godlike vibe of this track the supernatural vibe of this track feels like something yeezus should have achieved reborn is an amazing and for Lauren cooled down after this cut Cudi singing truly makes the track and I love the songs lyrical themes of Moving forward and having no stress getting a clean slate beginning anew the need to hit the reset button once again Kanye drops a fantastic verse on this cut That is one of his most personal yet kind of echoing this very sentiment the haunting background vocals and cue piano and dusty beat may not sound like much just Listing them out But they do a whole lot with very little the refrain Cuddy ends with on this track too - I think adds a very powerful Sentiment to the song questioning which way should he go after either? Fucking up or going through this reborn process where maybe he's bound to make the same mistakes again Then there is the incredibly chilling title track which features the most Meditative instrumental on the entire record more supernatural vibes coming off of this track a really eerie synth lead. A spectral chord progression. Yes. Yngwie aka mos def Also featuring on this thing on the back end in a very wise and in Sage like short verse Kanye's verse is so great on this thing he comes through with so much authority and the finishing Cuddy montage just ends things off with Fireworks the strung out guitar that that basically makes up the bulk of the instrumental here, which is a Kurt Cobain sample It's kind of like Cuddy is taking those grunge vibes that he was trying to execute on speeding bullet to heaven But giving them the the song the platform they finally deserve also I love the way the track transitions from these dirty grimy lowdown verses to these heavenly Vocal harmonies with Cuddy singing out into the ether with a lot of reverb on his voice. Whoa Whoa, then all these incredibly eerie auto-tune vocal harmonies shoot back stay strong Lord shine a light on me, save me please. Damn, the vocal melodies. They put together on this track is just incredible Kanye's verse is fantastic on this thing too displaying this cycle of violence Like really one of his most conscious sets of bars and years this whole idea of asking or begging to be saved by this supernatural power for a record like this to me is a pretty powerful sentiment to end on I also love some of the psychedelics since that go into this track - again enhancing that neo psychedelic edge and just what a fantastic collection of tracks and I don't necessarily see this album as just simply being a standalone thing I very much see this record and "Ye" to be connected Somehow. Making it difficult for me personally to look at this and say oh, you know, it's just seven tracks It's just twenty minutes of music. No, I mean in the grander scheme of things, I feel like this album is very much tied to --Ye's recent release but the track listing on this thing is so Freakin watertight. There's not a song on this that I don't love - some agree or I don't think adds to the tracklisting fantastically every song builds on the next to create this overwhelming mind-altering and strangely beautiful vibe I truly feel like Kanye and Cuddy put one another artistically to the test on this thing with an amazing mix of emotion sound and genres all of which are super vivid just crashing into one another in this violently beautiful display It's like the cosmos imploding and reality melting and the The Matrix glitching and I'm also super impressed with how forward-thinking Difficult to pin down and futuristic. This album feels - I am legit feelin a strong 9 - a 10 on this thing What do you what do you think of that? *snoring* Hey, hey, what do you what do you is this is this exciting to you? Is this does this interest you at all? *more snoring* Well, I liked it I liked it a lot. Transition have you given this album a listen, did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? You're the best. You're the best What should I review next to the like if you like, please subscribe and please don't Cry just leave a comment in the comments If you're feeling full of thoughts Over here next to my head is another video that you can check out hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel Anthony Fantano, kid see ghosts foreverrrr!
Kid Cudi has now received a 0/10 and 10/10 from Fantano
that one dude gotta drink a cheeseburger now
THE PANTHEON:
The Money Store
To Pimp a Butterfly
To Be Kind
Kids See Ghosts
Kanye got two yellow flannel reviews in less than a week the man is on the hottest of streaks.
Holy shit a 10/10
HOLY FUCK A 10 HE ACTUALLY DID IT
Welp, iām fucked...
Today r/Kanye didn't think about killing you
Tenthony Tentano