I am a huge Kanye fan. I have liked him from the jump and have always thought he was a great artist. I have respected his work and have been able to differentiate between his offstage antics and his work. With that being said, I am still able to be critical. I have lived with his new album for a few days now and these are some thoughts of “Yeezus”
On sight: The album starts out with an almost cacophonic sounding track. It’s jarring and a bit different sound. This track sets the stage for the rest of the album. Don’t expect to hear anything like what you’ve heard from the radio
Black Skinhead: The track has a great track with awesome drums. It ends up being a lush soundscape but it’s not the typical Kanye sound that we’ve been accustomed to. Funny enough it has a bit of the same swing as Christina Aguilera’s “I hate Boys” Ye’s delivery is rapid fire and aggressive. He ends it repeating “God” and sounding very Napoleon Dynamite.
I am a God: This track is just ridiculous. Play it on good headphones and you will appreciate it so much more. I think the second verse pales in comparison to the first. I like the song but think he could have taken it further. The track has screams and heavy breathing. Kanye, you stunt queen, you!
New Slaves: I like how the track starts out super stripped down (well for Kanye) so you can focus on his powerful words. I think lyrically this is where I like Kanye. I like when he’s talking about something a bit deeper over a banging beat. I kind of wish he brought this same lyricism to “I am a God”
Hold My Liquor: This track gives us time to pause. It is one of the more melodic, chill tracks. Maybe a bit of a throwback to his 808s album?
I’m in It: This track starts is weird in that it is minimalistic, yet has this bounce to it. Did he just say “put my first in her like a civil rights sign”? Umm, eww.
Blood on the Leaves: I love the sample used reminds me of Monica’s “IF you were the Girl” This song goes hard and might just fuck up your speakers. This is a standout track for me. It has the banging track and fun, quotable lyrics
Guilt Trip: I love this track as it has an almost ethereal feel to it. I think Kid Cudi was a good choice to guest on this.
Send it Up: There’s pretty much an alarm going off in the background of this song the whole time yet it’s not annoying. “We can send this bitch up it can’t go down” is as close to a hook as you are really going to get on this album.
Bound 2: This has the feeling of an old Kanye track. This time around, it still feels a bit more stripped down than old Ye. It has an old school sounding sample which is what became Kanye’s signature.
So after hearing this album about times now I am still hearing new things that I haven’t heard before. I LOVE that. It’s different and far from radio friendly. Typically I like songs that I can sing along to or be in a club yelling along drunkenly to. Yeezus doesn’t really give us that. Instead, it gives us something a bit more forward thinking and artistic. I say artistic, not because I think this is Kanye at his lyrical best. I say it because he is doing what artists should do: create art that makes them happy and that they think makes the world a more interesting place. Kanye’s sound is evolving to something that feels a bit more minimalistic than we are accustomed to. I suppose it is a nice balance to a man whose personality and ego continue to grow more and more over the tp. Overall, I think this is a great effort that is well produced and feels cohesive. It should be interesting to see how it is received by the masses.
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