Also if you'd rather have something coherent than TLOP's sort of disjointed fragmentation, check out these fan-made mixtapes that organize some leaked tracks, some TLOP shit and some other Kanye bits into a more digestible format. I really dig "So Help Me God," but all 3 are pretty good. OR if you really wanna go crazy, you could start with the New Westament, which is tracks from Kanye's entire discography arranged to form a coherent story of the rise and fall of Yeezus. I have Google Play playlists of all 3 acts labelled the Old Westament, New Westament, and Quranye.
I always thought that if I studied musicology I'd write about Kanye. His work is so autobiographical. So much of it is all about him but in a different way from all the other autobiographical hip hop. He is as self-agrandizing as any rapper but he also bears his soul, knows it's despicable and ugly but leaves it there for all to behold. Rappers have flaunted their antisocialness for a long time but Kanye redefined it. Big L made himself an object of terror, like a dog that should be put down. Kanye has raps that can do little but make the careful listener look at him as a contemptible piece of shit. And godamn if the man isn't filled to the brim with talent. Despite his pettyness, his nastyness, his antisocialness his occasional hideous honesty and massive talent make his work unique. As a body of work, it's a journey through a man's life like no other.
What I love about Kanye is that he embraces contradiction like almost no other artist I know. Who but Yeezy could (or, perhaps more importantly, would) follow a track Ultralight Beam with "If I fuck this model / and she just bleached her asshole / and I get bleach on my t shirt / I'ma feel like an asshole"? Who else would have the audacity to release an album called fucking Yeezus, featuring the track "I Am A God," while remaining totally steadfast in his Christian faith? But I think people identify with that. We aren't coherent pieces of humanity. Each individual is a collection of multifaceted fragments, somehow figuring out a way to peacefully (or not-so-peacefully) coexist. lil OftenBen