The Many Lives of Pablo

Abstract

This thesis argues there is an intextricable link between musical ontology and musical infrastructure. In the Middle Ages, musical creations shared a propensity for change which was due to the transcription practices essential to their survival. Currently, however, we understand music in a way that stems from the Romantic period. Even in an age in which streaming services have, we tend to understand music as fixed works that could feature in what Lydia Goehr has termed an imaginary museum. This thesis employs Kanye West's 2016 album The Life of Pablo, which knew an extensive alteration process after its initial release, as a case study that showcases how and why Kanye West has tricked the music industry he is part of in an attempt to link his production process more closely to his output. It does so by drawing upon the album's connection to the inherently improvisational genre of gospel and the way West takes advantage of his double consciousness to consciously build on the African-American tradition of signifying.