Ye (album)

Ye
Studio album by Kanye West
Released	June 1, 2018
Length	23:41
Label	GOOD Def Jam
Producer	Kanye West Mike Dean Francis and the Lights Che Pope Benny Blanco
Kanye West chronology
The Life of Pablo (2016) Ye (2018) Kids See Ghost (2018)

Ye (stylized as ye) is the eighth studio album by American rapper and recording artist Kanye West, released on June 1, 2018 by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. It is the second of five albums produced by West set to be released in the summer of 2018, with a seven-track album being released every week following the release of Pusha T's Daytona. The album precedes the release of West's collaboration with Kid Cudi titled Kids See Ghost, Nas' upcoming eleventh studio album, and Teyana Taylor's second studio album.

Background

Ten days after releasing his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, West tweeted on February 24, 2016 that an album titled Turbo Grafx 16 would be released that summer named after the video game console of the same name. Later that month, West associate Ibn Jasper posted a photo on Instagram showing West and longtime collaborators Mike Dean, Plain Pat, and Kid Cudi in a recording studio working on West's new album. A month later, in March, Quavo from the group Migos posted an image on his Instagram of him in a studio with West, with the words "TURBO GRAFX 16" written on the wall behind them. Other artists present in the image included Lil Yachty, Vic Mensa, Offset (also from Migos), Big Sean, and Tyler, the Creator. The expected summer release of the album was not met, and West began his Saint Pablo Tour in August of that year. The tour ended abruptly, with 22 out of 41 dates being cancelled, after West, on his Sacramento stop, embarked on a rant lasting roughly 20 minutes and ending the show after. West was admitted to psychiatric observation at UCLA Medical Center after the incident.

On April 28, 2018, Kanye West tweeted a text conversation between him and Wes Lang. The text conversation included West showing the initial cover for the album, and an explanation of its concept, followed by him asking for help naming the album. Wes replied, "LOVE EVERYONE", to which West replied "I love that". The presented cover art showed plastic surgeon Jan Adams who performed a liposuction and mammoplasty operation on West's mother, Donda West, which led to complications and eventually her death a day after. Within the texts, West explains that he wants to "forgive and stop hating", implying that the situation regarding his mother's death led to him harboring hate for the plastic surgeon. On April 30, 2018, Adams responded to the news of the cover in the form of an open letter, asking West to "cease and desist using my photo or any image of me to promote your album or any of your work", citing evidence from the official coroner's report on Donda West's death which shows negligence of Donda West's nurse in the aftercare being a factor in her death, that the actual surgery was performed properly, and adds that he is willing to sit down with West to have a face to face conversation. West responded to the letter on his Twitter saying, "This is amazing. Thank you so much for this connection brother. I can't wait to sit with you and start healing."

On May 15, West posted a video on Twitter which featured possible working track-listings of the upcoming albums he is working on.

Recording

In May 2017, news began to surface that West was working on his new album "on top of a mountain in Wyoming" in seclusion. Similar reports emerged almost a year later, in March 2018, of various artists, including Kanye, being spotted in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. These artists were pictured or rumored to be included: Kid Cudi, Nas, Pete Rock, Yassin Bey, Talib Kweli, Dave Chappelle, King Louie, Pi'erre Bourne, ASAP Rocky, Wheezy, Drake, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Wu-Tang Clan, Big Sean, Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Travis Scott and The World Famous Tony Williams. Record producer Mike Dean alluded in a Twitter post to the recording sessions for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which were similarly recorded in secrecy in Hawaii.

In April 2018, West met with Rick Rubin, who was the executive producer on West's previous two albums, Yeezus (2013) and The Life of Pablo (2016). Later that month, West met with and previewed the album for radio host Charlamagne tha God.

Release and promotion

On April 19, 2018, West announced the release date for his eighth solo album via Twitter. Additional announcements included the release date of his collaborative album with Kid Cudi titled Kids See Ghost to be released on June 8, a Teyana Taylor album to be released June 22, and Pusha T's album, DAYTONA, released on May 25. On April 22, West announced over Twitter a Nas album to be released June 15, and then clarified that all albums announced by him were to be produced by him.

On April 27, 2018, West promised on Twitter to "drop a song with a verse that will bring Ebro the closure he's been seeking" referring to Ebro Darden's criticism of his recent support for Donald Trump. The song, "Lift Yourself", starts with an instrumental for the first two minutes, heavily sampling "Liberty" by the group Amnesty. When West appears, he begins rapping nonsensical words, including "Poopy-di scoop Scoop-diddy-whoop" and then the song abruptly ends shortly after. West premiered a song two hours after "Lift Yourself" titled "Ye vs. the People" featuring T.I. The song is structured like a back and forth conversation between T.I. and Kanye West, with T.I. playing the role of West's fans offended by his political views, with West replying to him by defending himself and his stance.

A listening party took place for the album on May 31, 2018, in Jackson, Wyoming, with West broadcasting a livestream of the listening party through the WAV app. The listening party invited a variety of guests, such as Chris Rock, Ty Dolla $ign, Kim Kardashian, Kid Cudi, Lil Yachty, Nas, Pusha T, Desiigner, 2 Chainz, Candace Owens and others, and the album title was announced.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Guardian
The Telegraph

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Thought About Killing You"	Kanye West Mike Dean Francis Starlite Benny Blanco	West Dean	4:34
2.	"Yikes"	West Dean James Mbarack Achieng Ayub Ogada	West Dean[a]	3:08
3.	"All Mine"	West Dean Starlite	West Francis and the Lights Dean[a]	2:25
4.	"Wouldn't Leave"	West Dean Reverend W.A. Donaldson	West Dean	3:25
5.	"No Mistakes"	West Che Pope Dean Edwin Hawkins Ricky Walters	West Dean Pope[a]	2:03
6.	"Ghost Town"	West Dean Trade Martin	West Francis and the Lights Blanco Dean[a]	4:31
7.	"Violent Crimes"	West	West	3:35
Total length:				23:41

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• "Violent Crimes" features vocals by Nicki Minaj