Kanye West’s finally named The Life of Pablo has left many wondering who, exactly, he christened his seventh album after. With the record at last available (albeit, lamely, on Tidal), it’s been confirmed that, contrary to speculation, it is not Pablo Escobar that West is paying homage to, but rather, another famous asshole, Pablo Picasso.
It wasn’t just Picasso’s notorious infidelity toward any woman he was with that made him despicable, but the uncontrollable nature of his ego, spurred on only by the greatness of his work. And yes, it sounds quite similar to Kanye West’s career trajectory. As one of Picasso’s lovers, Dora Maar, once told him, “As an artist you may be extraordinary, but morally speaking you are worthless.” If having four children by three women is an inkling, it was clear Picasso cared little for the responsibility of attachments, as his work always took first priority–and, as we can see based on the output, he was right to sacrifice the stability of a personal life for his art.
While West seems to be slightly more devoted to the family he’s manufactured, he’s still found plenty of time to perfect his “art,” that is, in between engaging in Twitter feuds and making outrageous statements like “BILL COSBY INNOCENT” that people have already seemed to conveniently forget about in the wake of Yeezy Season 3 and his album release. Nonetheless, Picasso’s descendants seem perfectly all right with sanctioning the Yeezy-Picasso connection. Even though it was merely an adopted grandchild of Picasso, Florian, who felt the need to assert on behalf of his relatives that the “entire Picasso family gives their blessing,” it’s still enough to make one cringe. Florian concluded, “They both have vision. They both want to revolutionize the game. Pablo Picasso was into art and Kanye is into music. The way they think outside of the box is very similar.” Somewhere, Pablo might be painting a whole new Blue Period over this comparison.
