The Life of Pablo is Kanye West’s 7th studio album. It was originally titled So Help Me God, then SWISH, and briefly WAVES. On February 9, 2016, Kanye announced that the title could be acronymized as T.L.O.P., later revealed to stand for The Life of Pablo.

The album premiered on February 11, 2016, at Madison Square Garden and was live-streamed at hundreds of theaters across the world and on TIDAL’s streaming service. It was released for download and streaming exclusively on TIDAL on February 14, 2016, with Kanye announcing it wouldn’t be sold for a week after, via Twitter. However, Kanye later said the album would be a TIDAL exclusive in a since-deleted Tweet, and that it would never be sold. This move pushed TIDAL to #1 on the App Store.

During an interview with The Breakfast Club, West described the album:

[…] This album’s just embracing the music, embracing joy, and being of service to the people. I just hope that people like it and enjoy it, you know? That’s it.

The title, which was derived from a lyric on “No More Parties In L.A.,” takes on many personas, referring to Pablo Picasso, an artist, Pablo Escobar, a notorious drug dealer, and Paul the Apostle, whose name is Pablo in Spanish.

The tracklist was initially revealed on January 25, 2016, in its incomplete form; with updated versions being periodically sent out via various social media accounts. You can view the entire tracklist history here. Kanye called the album a “living breathing changing creative expression.” On April 1, 2016, the album was finally made available to stream on other streaming sites, such as Spotify and Apple Music. He also made it available to purchase directly from his website. On June 14, 2016, the twentieth and final track, “Saint Pablo,” was added.