Kanye West Releases 'The Life of Pablo' Following Saturday Night Live Performances

Following one of the strangest album rollouts we've ever seen, Kanye West's eighth studio album The Life of Pablo is finally here. It arrived with the kind of fanfare we've come to expect from the genius that is Kanye West and was delivered with an exclamation point as West took to the Saturday Night Live stage to unveil performances of "Highlights" with Young Thug, The-Dream, A$AP Bari, and R&B singers Kelly Price and El DeBarge and "Ultralight Beam" with none other than our very own Chance The Rapper who stepped into a new chapter alongside Kirk Franklin for his second helping on the Studio 8H stage.

The performances packed the spectacle we've come to expect from 'Ye with a certain laid-backness that made the performance strikingly upbeat and inspiring throughout. Rumors swirled all week about Chance and Kanye spending time together and watching the latter's excitement as Chano delivered bar after bar was akin to an older brother watching a sibling find his voice. It was cool, it felt genuine and it sets the stage for a whole new era not only from Kanye West and Chance, but from Chicago as a whole.

Following the performance of "Ultralight Beam" Kanye announced the album streaming on Tidal and available for download at KanyeWest.com that also comes with a message from the exiled Yasiin Bey who has been facing persecution in South Africa. Get it asap, this one will be spinning around the TheseDays offices for awhile.

Watch the performances below, and head over to Tidal to stream the album.

High Lights

Ultra Light Beams

SNL Sketch

The @kylemooney/@kanyewest rap battle you didn't know you needed. #SNLhttps://t.co/T67KGAmGpu

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 14, 2016