It looks like Japan has a little case of Yeezy fever. Kanye West's new album The Life of Pablo was—until recently—only available on Tidal, a streaming service that has not yet launched in Japan. This left Japanese customers in the dark on 'Ye's album. While many potential customers probably opted to pirate it, Kyoto producer TOYOMU decided to do something a little bit different. Without having heard the album and using only the lyrics and a list of the samples, TOYOMU made his own version of The Life of Pablo from scratch. “Subscription services in Japan are too slow, most people are still using iTunes and buying CDs. I thought it might be a good idea to make the whole album without listening to it, [but] maybe it’s reverse thinking," he told Pigeons & Planes.
Naturally, it's not exactly a sound-alike. Some songs match up pretty well, mostly due to their heavy use of the same samples, while others sound comically non-similar. Nonetheless, TOYOMU managed to make his own uniquely enjoyable take on the biggest album of the year. Thankfully for Japanese customers, TLOP is now available on Apple Music, which is available throughout Japan, so they now have access to the original album as well as TOYOMU's fun new version.
You can stream TOYOMU's take on The Life of Pablo below.
