ARTIST: Kanye West
ALBUM: Yeezus
LABEL: Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2013
The Resurrection?
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Kanye West is back with his 6th studio album, Yeezus. Yeezus is a sonic journey that takes the listener on an eclectic journey through Kanye’s mind. The album has touches of electronica, old-school hip-hop, reggae and even some classic Kanye.
The album starts with the Daft Punk assisted “On Sight,” a futuristic sounding track with hard drums and loud synthesizers. The abrasive sounding track finds Kanye matching it’s aggressiveness with abrasive raps like “Real nigga back in the house again/Black Timbs all on your couch again/Black dick all in your spouse again/and I know she like chocolate men/She got more niggas off than Cochran.”
The next song is the industry rock influenced “Black Skinhead,” a drum heavy track filled with Kanye’s screams. The end of this song finds Kanye saying God repeatedly and then segues into the dark and brooding “I Am A God” an ode to his celebrity and power. This song highlights the fact that Kanye can and will do whatever he wants to as he hollers, “I am a God, so hurry up with my damn massage/In a French ass restaurant, hurry up with my damn croissants.”
After this is “New Slaves,” a song that finds Kanye speaking on the new kinds of racism in the world. He compares the age when his mother was a child and racism was blatant and in your face to the more subtle racism of today. The song completely switches lanes at the end and Frank Ocean takes the song out singing over a smoother slower beat.
The album takes it down a notch with the Justin Vernon and Chief Keef assisted “Hold My Liquor.” Chief Keef sings “I can’t handle no liquor/But these bitches can’t handle me/I can’t control my niggas/And my niggas they can’t control me/You say you know me, my nigga/But you really just know the old me.” This is a track that finds Kanye unable to leave an ex alone despite everything that says he should.
“I’m In It” is a song about Kanye’s sexcapades and is full of the kind of humor Kanye used to show often. He raps hilarious lines like “Your titties let em out, free at last/thank God almighty, they free at last/ We was up at the party but we was leavin fast/Had to stop at 7-Eleven like I needed gas/I’m lyin I needed condoms, don’t look through the glass.”
“Blood on the Leaves” is reminiscent of Kanye’s work on 808’s and Heartbreaks, and is a tale of a relationship killed by the bright lights of fame. The song features the pairing of a sample from Nina Simone’s version of “Blood on the Leaves” and the bass line from C-Murder’s “Down 4 My.”
“Guilt Trip” is a cosmic sounding song about a lost love that left Kanye and features Kid Cudi singing.
“Send It Up” featuring Chicago newcomer King Louie over a boom bap, old-school sounding beat. This song is easily the hardest on the album and features King Louie contributing a verse and the hook, the repetitive and catchy, “We can send this bitch up it can go down.”
The last song on the album, “Bound 2” is most reminiscent of old Kanye. The song features a classic soul sampled beat and Charlie Wilson singing on the bridge. Kanye raps about a relationship that, to his surprise, actually lasts this time, leaving many to speculate he is talking about Kim Kardashian.
Yeezus is an excellent album overall and definitely Kanye’s most unfettered. While most Kanye albums feature many singles and songs with catchy hooks, Yeezus does not. The album did not even have an official single until after it had already been released. Despite this, Yeezus is an outstanding, cohesive work of art that will probably be remembered as one of Kanye’s best.