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- Kanye West released his eighth studio album, "Ye," on Friday.
- Early fan reactions to the album, and to its live-streamed listening party that took place in Wyoming Thursday night, were largely positive.
- The album is available to stream now on all major services.
Kanye West dropped his eighth studio album on streaming services early Friday morning, hours after live-streaming a star-studded listening party for the project on a ranch in Wyoming Thursday night.
The album, titled "Ye," is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. It clocks in at just over 23 minutes over the course of seven songs. Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign, and Nicki Minaj are among the handful of guest artists who appear on the LP.
The album's cover features a photo of a mountain range in Wyoming, which Kim Kardashian West said in $4 that Kanye "shot on his iPhone on the way to the album listening party." The words "I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome" appear in green font, corresponding with West's frank lyrics discussing his mental health on the album.
G.O.O.D. Music Kanye West's "Ye."
Early fan reactions to the album on social
The album's release follows a promotional cycle that saw Kanye draw intense criticism for $4 and his calling slavery "$4" in an appearance on TMZ.
Nonetheless, the majority of social media chatter about the music of the album - an eclectic mix of trap and electronic influences, gospel and soul, featuring a good deal of humor and some affecting lyrics about his relationships with his wife, Kim Kardashian West, and his children - appeared to be positive as of Friday morning.
But a number of ostensibly former fans of West were not looking to downplay Kanye's latest controversies:
Listen to the album below:
In some ways, $4 feels like a Kanye compilation album of his previous sounds. I hear elements of Graduation, 808s, MBDTF, Yeezus and Pablo. Sonically, it feels like a story across the years...
- Tamara Dhia (@tamaradhia) $4
Ye album is everything I wanted to hear and more
- luka fallback sabbat (@whoisluka) $4
Kanye's new album is some of old Ye mixed with a brand new sound.
Crazy how he keeps reinventing every single album. Really enjoyed it $4
- Dan Gheesling (@DanGheesling) $4
Say what you want about the man and his views, but the fact of the matter is that Kanye West is the greatest artist of our time and I will forever be saying this until my grave.
This album is gonna be therapy for me.
Thank you Ye. 💆🏽♂️
- waj. (@_wxxxxxxj97) $4
first time in my life im not excited to hear a Ye album. this used to be like a fkn holiday for me...but it aint the same today. STILL feelin a way
- Nadeska Alexis (@neweryork) $4
This album is what happens when you fuck with Trump. This is the worst Ye.
- Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) $4