EXCELLENT (but obviously quickly written, so full of errors) NPR piece called "Eight Writers on TLOP.. so far" is trending on Twitter.
There are some magnificent and truly eloquent insights about the significance of Ye, musically and culturally, and some very thoughtful ruminations on the new album. Some of these 8 writers, all experiencing the live stream from different locations via different mediums, were disgusted by certain lyrics, but one thing seems to be common among everyone who was assigned to this task: they all found the album absolutely thrilling and extremely emotionally powerful.
One great quote hits a bit at what I'm throwing out ther with my little Pablo theory:
"I really don't care about propriety when it comes to Kanye. For me, the way he constantly picks at the scabs of a nation not at all healed by our attempts to be politically correct offers valuable insight into the anxieties and other negative emotions that can't be ameliorated by polite talk. He's not a role model in any way, but for me, that's what's valuable. Show us your ugly. If anything is authentic about him, it's the mix of ugly and beautiful."[/i] —Ann Powers
Read it here:
http://www.npr.org/sections/therecor...f-pablo-so-far