Kanye has done some funny things in his career, but issuing a call and response to the women working out in Equinox gyms might be the funniest. It’s one of the best songs ever that clearly has no place on an album. I love this song, but it doesn’t belong on The Life of Pablo. It should probably be ranked lower than this, but I have to give it credit for being a legitimate cultural phenomenon when it came out.
This song still makes me smile, even if it’s aged terribly. The guy had two features on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and he gets showed up by Nicki Minaj on Monster and Pusha T on So Appalled, and then I leave off Watch The Throne from this list for no good reason. Welcome to Heartbreak has an ineffective verse from Cudi, though, and is the one time in the album the sadness feels like a bit of a put-on. I have a very, very soft spot for 808s & Heartbreak and still think, even to this day, that it’s under-appreciated as a record. I understood why Kanye put Auto-Tune on himself on 808s & Heartbreak, but I will never understand why he put it on Lil Wayne. By the fourth time I was hitting the skip button. I laughed the second and even third time. I laughed the first time I heard this self-aware little song.
West was so eager to get Lil Wayne in Graduation (he was the best rapper alive at that point) that he snuck this in, even though it’s the weakest song on the album. Visit USA TODAY for more Kanye coverage 80. Pinocchio StoryĪ six-minute Auto-Tune freestyle in Singapore is how West closed out 808s & Heartbreak, and while I do think it fits as a stark closer to the album, it’s still a six-minute Auto-Tune freestyle taped in Singapore. This song is probably too low, but it was the one song on Yeezus where West’s confrontational lyrics didn’t come across as clever, funny or knowingly antagonistic – he just sorta sounded like a jerk. This song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy had some early ideas that he’d explore more on Yeezus, but the hook is tonally a mess and the weird harpsichord interlude has never done anything for me. This song is almost saved by a bizarre and wonderful bridge from Mos Def. It’s a rock in my life, something I can always count on. I hated it the moment I heard it and I continue to hate it to this day. It’s not too late to pull this Nike takedown off the final version of TLOP, Kanye, whenever that comes out. Here’s the list: 93. FACTS (Charlie Heat Version) I did my best, and remember: The reason I ranked the song you love too low is because I personally have an issue with you. He’s got 93 songs and I like or love about 89 of them. No skits in the rankings.Ĭ) Ranking Kanye songs is impossible. I did this because the list was already too long and I’m sorta lazy.ī) I’m skipping all the skits, too. These are just the songs he released on his solo albums. Music, mixtapes and songs he produced and guested on. Some words on the rankings:Ī) I left off Watch the Throne, G.O.O.D. Kanye West released The Life of Pablo this week to wide acclaim ( I called it a near masterpiece), and while many people are already trying to put the album in its historical context, I’m going to do something even more stupid and reckless and try to rank all the songs he’s ever put out.