Producer recreates 'The Life of Pablo' without ever hearing it
It wasn't available in Japan, but Toyomu imagined it by reading WhoSampled and Genius.
If you didn't know, Kanye West's latest album was a Tidal exclusive for a pretty long time. Tidal isn't available in Japan, and pirating music is a criminal offence with penalties as harsh as up to two years prison time for downloading and ten (yes, ten) for uploading. With no way to listen to the album, producer Toyomu decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided to make his own The Life of Pablo (TLOP).
The Kyoto-based artist headed to WhoSampled, a site which, as the name suggests, lists the samples in any song, and grabbed the lyrics off Genius. Without ever hearing the album, Toyomu then put together his take on it. Speaking to Pigeons and Planes this week, the artist said he still hadn't heard TLOP. "I haven't listened yet, this is no reason and meanings. It's just a kind of feeling."
You can listen to (and buy) the album, called Imagining "The Life of Pablo," over at Bandcamp. Every track evokes its inspiration just through sharing sample, but as far as matching Kanye's album goes, it's hit and miss. "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 2," and "30 Hours" are pretty uncanny in arrangement, while the album is an experimental but enjoyable affair, with plenty of robotic voices reading Kanye lyrics.
