Maps of Music

Ye (2018)

Where the lyrics of Ye take you, and where it was really made.

The cover is a mountain view, and the ranch where the album was recorded was first bought as Monster Lake Ranch before being renamed West Lake Ranch.

Key places

West Lake Ranch in Wyoming (2018)

Recording site West Lake Ranch — West bought a property in Wyoming named Monster Lake Ranch for recording and renamed it West Lake Ranch. The album was recorded and produced in Jackson Hole. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Teton Range on the cover (2018)

Album cover Teton Range — The cover photo shows a view of the Teton Range from Jackson Hole. The mountain range is the same one where the album was recorded and produced. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ye: eighth studio album by American rapper Kanye West
• Released June 1, 2018 by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings
• Hip-hop album; critics described its sound as rushed and messy
• Guest appearances: Ty Dolla Sign, Kid Cudi, 070 Shake, Charlie Wilson, Jeremih, PartyNextDoor, Nicki Minaj
• Lyrical themes explore West's mental health, including his bipolar disorder
• Second of five 2018 albums produced in Jackson Hole as the 'Wyoming Sessions'

Background

• February 2016: West tweeted that the album would be titled Turbo Grafx 16, named after the video game console
• The expected summer 2016 release did not happen
• Saint Pablo Tour began August 2016 in support of The Life of Pablo; it ended abruptly in November with 22 of 41 dates cancelled
• The album was restarted after a controversial TMZ interview in May 2018
• Pusha T's Daytona came out May 25, 2018 as the first album from the sessions
• Kids See Ghosts, Nas's Nasir and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. followed the album

Recording

• West returned to Wyoming in May 2018 for the recording
• He bought a property in Wyoming named Monster Lake Ranch and renamed it West Lake Ranch
• Kardashian said about two weeks were spent re-recording the album
• 070 Shake said the album was still being worked on up until the day before release
• Mike Dean said in 2022 that the team had about 10 songs and aimed for a seven-song album

Cover

• The artwork shows the Teton Range seen from Jackson Hole, where the album was recorded and produced
• The neon green text on the artwork confirmed West's bipolar disorder

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Ye (born Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
• Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago; began producing in the mid-1990s for Chicago-area artists.
• Signed to Roc-A-Fella Records as a recording artist after producing for Jay-Z's label.

Members

• Solo artist; formed the Go-Getters group with GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar (1999).

Career

• Debut The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005) earned critical acclaim.
• Released eleven US Billboard 200 number-one albums; five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
• Known for stylistic shifts from chamber pop to electropop, gospel, and industrial rap.
• Founded GOOD Music label; ventured into fashion with Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Adidas (Yeezy).
• Has 24 Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 160 million records.
• Faced major controversy for antisemitic statements from 2022 and later expressed remorse.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: generally favorable reviews, weighted average 64 out of 100 from 34 critic scores
• Critics often compared it to West's previous work
• Praised for subject matter and production; lyrics drew mixed responses
• Some critics found it inconsistent
• Lindsay Zoladz of The Ringer described a slapdash, unfinished quality
• Eric Brown of Billboard said West remained mired in the past
• Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described it as wildly uneven, with sporadic flashes of brilliance
• Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called it bold, risky, compelling and a little exhausting
• Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic found it uneven at times but a fascinating peek into West's psyche

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked it first on its 2023 list of 50 Genuinely Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists
• Rolling Stone had ranked it 30th best hip-hop album of 2018 while its staff viewed it as West's worst album
• Complex ranked it the worst album of West's discography up to August 2022
• Pitchfork Readers' Poll placed it 37th among the top 50 albums of 2018
• NME ranked it 34th best album of 2018
• The Edge and Jon Caramanica of The New York Times both listed it seventh best of the year

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 208,000 album-equivalent units, 85,000 of them pure sales
• Eighth consecutive Billboard 200 number one for West, tying Eminem
• Number one in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Ireland and New Zealand
• Number two on the UK Albums Chart
• Certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA and gold in the UK by the BPI
• Not nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was first announced as Turbo Grafx 16 in 2016, but it took the title Ye in 2018.
• The first planned cover showed plastic surgeon Jan Adams, who operated on West's mother Donda; she died a day after the operation.
• The track 'Extacy' was originally the second track but was replaced by 'Yikes'; it was later released as 'XTCY' on August 11, 2018.
• No music videos were made for the album, but lyric videos for 'All Mine' and 'Violent Crimes' came out on June 19, 2018.
• The listening party was held in Jackson Hole on the night of May 31, 2018, and Chris Rock announced the title there.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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