Short songs, lack of hooks, lack of 808s, minimal drums, very direct faith based lyrics, “scratchy mixing”... Kanye never explains his creative process and y’all just assume he’s “lazy” or doesn’t care anymore. These are all intentional and my evidence for this is most of these songs have longer/ more maximalist versions. OG Selah is slightly longer with more drums, a sample and dream vocals, Water has a 5 minute version he played in Coachella, Everything we need has a longer version with an X verse as we know. God Is had a 6-7 minute version he played at the listening party. Use This Gospel has a version with drums throughout and a guitar solo at the end of the song, Jesus Is Lord is originally like a 4 minute song as heard in his JIK movie... If he wanted, JIK could easily be double his length. So instead of assuming he doesn’t care, maybe ask why he shortened songs and stripped them down sonically. Well I think the reason is very simple... he prioritized messaging in this album. He removed any sounds that could skew or distract from the message. Drums often do that, they make you want to dance to the music, when you take away drums, you’re forced to listen to the lyrics. I also think it’s why the live version of his songs are more maximal, because that setting is more for entertainment than just messaging. Anyways there’s more I could say about this, but I guess I’ll respond as people reply.

I disagree with this , actually the message would be clearer if the songs were actually more interesting

I believe that ye cut a lot of things off he wasn't sure that he liked or wasn't completely satisfied it, but he didn't replace them with nothing else

remember the jokes everybody made about rick Rubin being a reducer ? he's trying that same formula himself, but rick Rubin knows when to stop, kanye just keeps removing and removing until we have a closing track that sounds like a snippet

( I keep saying , this album and yandhi want to emulate yeezus with a new message - I still believe that is Kanye's favorite album, and this is just a bigger proof of that )

Rick Rubin literally worked on the album lol

the difference is rick rubin wasn't there to help kanye finish it ... that's when he needed help

deciding what goes in and what goes out

Yeah nope. The faith-based lyrics are garbage as f***. How the f*** does that make the album good?

Intentional =/= good

Oh man are you still crying about Jesus is King?

Everything I don’t like = Garbage

How does it make you feel when you continuously drop hate on this album? Just offering up an observation, but that little serotonin rush people get when they throw out hate doesn't compensate for the weird effect that behavior has on your psyche. Woo woo thought incoming, but the real source of happiness is meaningful connection and better understanding your mind. Centering, meditation, tai chi, journaling, yoga, prayer - every culture and faith tradition has a means to try and center/silence the mind so that we can go deeper, better connect and bring positive energy. Kanye's using the tools he has around him that connect with his culture and upbringing. Use whatever tool you want - being a hater is tiring bruh.

Bro, stop forcing people to like the album, I like the album and don't complain how people dislike it, if they don't like it, that's it.

If you don’t like the album cool, but it’s the people who use the explanations I mentioned to say why it’s a bad album.

op came with the fax its okay if people still dont like it tho, opinions differ yk

Imagine being salty in what will be Kanye’s most prolific era

We don’t like JIK because it’s a lazy project. Just like how ye was

There’s nothing genius about having full completed songs then releasing the songs with half the song taken out

The songs are boring and the message has nothing to do with quality

Spooky Ghost is dumb af and should be ignored.

Kanye has been talking about God since Day 1... but in interesting ways.

JIK is boring with some great ideas that Kanye decided to release unfinished

Op somewhat right but theres more too it

Objective facts:

• The mixing on JIK is worthy of criticism - there are spots that are technically incorrect (and probably not in the "it's intentionally incorrect" way). Example - the way the re-recorded lines on God Is are blended in is just horrific. I literally wonder if Mike Dean has some sort of weird vendetta against Ye and poorly mixed it on purpose.

• That said, I agree with OP in thinking the album is intentional stripped down. I can imagine Rick Rubin (during that pre-release trip to Wyoming that everyone though was Def Jam brass hosting an "intervention") telling Kanye to stay on the path of stripping away everything but the essential elements. Minimal instruments, minimal features, lots of empty space, lots of vinyl crackle - these are all intentional and meant to convey the vibe of the era. I think he succeeds (and that it is thus "good," but if you wanted something else I get the disappointment.)

• I truly think he was inspired by the Psalms. Not sure these tracks are as rich in intense metaphor as the biblical bars, but the whole sung out prayers piece makes sense to me.

• Album has an arc - seems obvious - is symmetrical - makes sense - is good if you value aesthetics

• Spooky Ghost is the most infuriating member of ktt, but I still love em

There’s just nothing creative about the album.

Lol shut the f*** up and go gobble some dude’s gooch