Listening Priority: High
Kanye West's career is a constant struggle between perfecting a sound and reaching for something new. His last major departure from convention, 808s & Heartbreak, yielded overwrought songs and occasionally-dull soundscapes. So, with concerns that his reach may have again exceeded his grasp, he gave his sixth solo album, Yeezus, to the world. Kanye throws race, sex, drugs, alcohol, hubris, religion, class, consumerism, hip-hop, rock, and politics into a blender and comes up with a hell of a cocktail. He doesn't claim to have answers, but he offers an exciting portrait of a man dealing with personal and societal demons. Yeezus is - as many will likely note - flawed and sometimes insane, but this is "love-it-or-hate-it music" with substance, edge, and novelty.
The lyrics and verses range from ridiculous to brilliant, with some serving to assist the absurd beats while others provide a real sense of place and character. The wack rhymes that Kanye has occasionally used on previous albums are fortunately few (the second verse of "I Am a God" being an example) . There are many lines that shouldn't work on paper, but are somehow pulled off by Kanye's conviction in his pure awesomeness and his willingness to embrace his dark side ("I'm In It" takes it too far and then finishes with a brief verse that recognizes how far over the line it went). It may seem that Kanye has fully gone over the edge, but there are still moments when he's aware of his tenuous grasp on the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed ("Pastor said you can't abort that / Now your driver say that new Benz you can't afford that / All that cocaine on the table you can't snort that") and his heresy ("Until the day I get struck by lightning / I AM A GOD"). "Black Skinhead" and "New Slaves," the most explicitly confrontational songs on the album, highlight Kanye's conflicted feelings about being a success in a corrupt system while wanting to tear that system apart. "Bound 2" might represent the biggest step Kanye has taken in his lyricism. He sums up his nontraditional views on love and relationships ("Hey we made it to Thanksgiving / So hey maybe we can make it to Christmas / She asked me what I wished for on the wishlist / Have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches") in a way that's simultaneously frightening and celebratory. It's rapped in a tossed-off manner, but there's a lot to explore in the scene he creates. Kanye captures the sweetness of early flirtation to the joking of established romances and the….. exploration of open relationships. The highbrow ("Jesus wept") is included with the lowbrow ("What would Jeromey Romey Romey Rome think?"), celebrating multiple approaches to life and reminding us that "ain't nobody perfect." While 808s took itself overly seriously, Yeezus - for all its bluster - contains a lighter, tongue-in-cheek side that distinguishes it from 808s, making it more human (and offering lyrics that are far richer with detail). Yeezus may not be as "lyrical" as hip-hop purists would want, but Kanye's brilliant curation of seemingly disparate imagery serves up his fascinating perspective in a way that more traditional verses couldn't *.
But Yeezus is about more than just lyrics. It has a unique sound made up of Kanye's diverse flow, great vocals (by Frank Ocean, Charlie Wilson, Justin Vernon, Kid Cudi, and Kanye himself), eclectic samples, and live instrumentation. "And this is what the future is to me - the juxtaposition of two things that you think don't go together," Kanye said during his VH1 Storytellers performance of "Touch the Sky." On this album, he has passed that vision of the future into an even further juncture in time. There are wild shifts and interludes during a single song ("On Sight"), sudden outros ("New Slaves"), and disruptive smooth vocals ("Bound 2"). There are spacey segments that build to electric climaxes rather than wallowing in a pit of bass ("Hold My Liquor"). Then there's "Blood on the Leaves." It's a sad, gorgeous song that successfully repurposes Nina Simone and TNGHT while letting Kanye sing and rap about a complex failed relationship. It should be a disaster, but it ultimately becomes the heart of this strange album as the TNGHT sample sets the club atmosphere while Nina Simone and accompanying piano provide the melancholy tone. Kanye's use of non-singing features is - even more than on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - just another instrument in his experiment as he lets: Chief Keef provide a disillusioned hook on "Can't Hold My Liquor," Agent Sasco inject some badness into "I'm In It," and King Louie keep "Sent It Up" raw. This isn't like the prog-rock of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, with smooth dissolves between different elements. This is Kanye's version of punk, so we get jump cuts. It's jarring, but it works well with the lyrics to create an aural assault that keeps the listener engaged, excited, and ready to listen again.
The album is possibly the most paradoxical project that Kanye has created yet. It's great, it's idiotic, it celebrates the finer things, it has "New Slaves," it's got great storytelling lyrics, it's got some wack lines, it's rap, it's singing, it's "minimalist," it's ornate, it's got hits to vibe to, it's got calm moments, it's highbrow, it's profane, it's stitched together, it flows surprisingly well, it shocks you, it puts a smile on your face. It's Kanye West. You're welcome.
Kanye West's career is a constant struggle between perfecting a sound and reaching for something new. His last major departure from convention, 808s & Heartbreak, yielded overwrought songs and occasionally-dull soundscapes. So, with concerns that his reach may have again exceeded his grasp, he gave his sixth solo album, Yeezus, to the world. Kanye throws race, sex, drugs, alcohol, hubris, religion, class, consumerism, hip-hop, rock, and politics into a blender and comes up with a hell of a cocktail. He doesn't claim to have answers, but he offers an exciting portrait of a man dealing with personal and societal demons. Yeezus is - as many will likely note - flawed and sometimes insane, but this is "love-it-or-hate-it music" with substance, edge, and novelty.
The lyrics and verses range from ridiculous to brilliant, with some serving to assist the absurd beats while others provide a real sense of place and character. The wack rhymes that Kanye has occasionally used on previous albums are fortunately few (the second verse of "I Am a God" being an example) . There are many lines that shouldn't work on paper, but are somehow pulled off by Kanye's conviction in his pure awesomeness and his willingness to embrace his dark side ("I'm In It" takes it too far and then finishes with a brief verse that recognizes how far over the line it went). It may seem that Kanye has fully gone over the edge, but there are still moments when he's aware of his tenuous grasp on the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed ("Pastor said you can't abort that / Now your driver say that new Benz you can't afford that / All that cocaine on the table you can't snort that") and his heresy ("Until the day I get struck by lightning / I AM A GOD"). "Black Skinhead" and "New Slaves," the most explicitly confrontational songs on the album, highlight Kanye's conflicted feelings about being a success in a corrupt system while wanting to tear that system apart. "Bound 2" might represent the biggest step Kanye has taken in his lyricism. He sums up his nontraditional views on love and relationships ("Hey we made it to Thanksgiving / So hey maybe we can make it to Christmas / She asked me what I wished for on the wishlist / Have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches") in a way that's simultaneously frightening and celebratory. It's rapped in a tossed-off manner, but there's a lot to explore in the scene he creates. Kanye captures the sweetness of early flirtation to the joking of established romances and the….. exploration of open relationships. The highbrow ("Jesus wept") is included with the lowbrow ("What would Jeromey Romey Romey Rome think?"), celebrating multiple approaches to life and reminding us that "ain't nobody perfect." While 808s took itself overly seriously, Yeezus - for all its bluster - contains a lighter, tongue-in-cheek side that distinguishes it from 808s, making it more human (and offering lyrics that are far richer with detail). Yeezus may not be as "lyrical" as hip-hop purists would want, but Kanye's brilliant curation of seemingly disparate imagery serves up his fascinating perspective in a way that more traditional verses couldn't *.
But Yeezus is about more than just lyrics. It has a unique sound made up of Kanye's diverse flow, great vocals (by Frank Ocean, Charlie Wilson, Justin Vernon, Kid Cudi, and Kanye himself), eclectic samples, and live instrumentation. "And this is what the future is to me - the juxtaposition of two things that you think don't go together," Kanye said during his VH1 Storytellers performance of "Touch the Sky." On this album, he has passed that vision of the future into an even further juncture in time. There are wild shifts and interludes during a single song ("On Sight"), sudden outros ("New Slaves"), and disruptive smooth vocals ("Bound 2"). There are spacey segments that build to electric climaxes rather than wallowing in a pit of bass ("Hold My Liquor"). Then there's "Blood on the Leaves." It's a sad, gorgeous song that successfully repurposes Nina Simone and TNGHT while letting Kanye sing and rap about a complex failed relationship. It should be a disaster, but it ultimately becomes the heart of this strange album as the TNGHT sample sets the club atmosphere while Nina Simone and accompanying piano provide the melancholy tone. Kanye's use of non-singing features is - even more than on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - just another instrument in his experiment as he lets: Chief Keef provide a disillusioned hook on "Can't Hold My Liquor," Agent Sasco inject some badness into "I'm In It," and King Louie keep "Sent It Up" raw. This isn't like the prog-rock of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, with smooth dissolves between different elements. This is Kanye's version of punk, so we get jump cuts. It's jarring, but it works well with the lyrics to create an aural assault that keeps the listener engaged, excited, and ready to listen again.
The album is possibly the most paradoxical project that Kanye has created yet. It's great, it's idiotic, it celebrates the finer things, it has "New Slaves," it's got great storytelling lyrics, it's got some wack lines, it's rap, it's singing, it's "minimalist," it's ornate, it's got hits to vibe to, it's got calm moments, it's highbrow, it's profane, it's stitched together, it flows surprisingly well, it shocks you, it puts a smile on your face. It's Kanye West. You're welcome.