by Short-T
On my first listen of Yeezus, I felt lost. I thought the majority of the album would be filled with Black man angst, the complete opposite of Taylor Swift. Where Ms. Swift has problems in her relationships with others, Mr. West was going to talk about the relationship with himself and his current lifestyle. While the early releases of “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” gave merit to this prediction, the rest of the album falls short in completing that idea. On my second listen, I was alone in my room randomly skipping thru songs in no particular order and liked the songs a little better. On my third listen of Yeezus, I was walking around the neighborhood when I had an epiphany: Kanye West’s sixth album is a compilation.
The ten tracks that make up Yeezus are reminders of his past albums including his collaborations. “On Sight,” “Black Skinhead,” and “New Slaves” are My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. “I Am A God” and “Send It Up” are Graduation. “I’m In It,” is Late Registration “Hold My Liquor,” “Blood On The Leaves,” “Guilt Trip” are 808’s & Heartbreak. “Bound 2” is most definitely College Dropout. My suggestion is that listeners pick which day they want to listen to certain songs. This album is not to be listened to as a whole project because the majority of the songs feature no connection between them. I don’t understand how Yeezy can proclaim himself to be a God on one song and then proclaim to not being able to hold his liquor and refrain from seeking out ex girlfriends two songs later. This makes me want to go ask my Pastor if there is anywhere in the Bible where Jesus couldn’t perform miracles one day because he had a hangover from too much wine. Early on, I had the suggestion that this album should be subtitled 808’s & Heartbreak Part 2, but now I think the better title would have been, When Yeezus Wept. “I Am God” talks about the hate he experienced when he first started rapping so I expected Yeezus to start smiting people by the halfway mark of the album, but just like Superman Returns, I only saw a man of great power weeping over women from his past.
The subject matter seemed to only bring dark and ominous production that began to duplicate itself on certain songs. Daft Punk is a welcomed addition to the project for their contributions, but by the end of “Blood On The Leaves” when the interpolation of C-Murder’s “Down 4 My N!ggaz was finished, I thought about Hit-Boy and how he used the same sample for HS87’s project with Audio Push. From there I started checking the production credits and searching for recent collaborators like Mannie Fresh, Illmind, Mike Will Made It, or Hit-Boy for a shot of adrenaline in Yeezus’s production. No I.D. has one credit on the album and that is the only unheard song that has been played repeatedly in a row since my first listen.
My biggest issue with the album is the lack of rapping. Besides the MBDTF inspired tracks, the rest of the album featured Ye rapping very amateurish as if he has not had any experience or professional influence. There are too many mentions of girls in the club in his lyrics. There are funny lines, but nothing memorable in the verses or flows. I guess if you want to hear Kanye West rap with a holier than thou mentality with humanistic emotion sprinkled in, I suggest listening to Watch The Throne or My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
