Kanye West’s sixth studio album, Yeezus, was meant to go where nothing in hip-hop had before. The album was promoted by showing videos on
buildings as well as performing in front of live audiences. Although these were unique ideas, Yeezus still felt like it snuck up on
us. Fifteen days before the due date, ‘Ye
asked for the help of producer Rick Rubin, who would strip down the record to
achieve a minimalist approach. Kanye also
was said to have completed the lyrical components in somewhere around two
weeks. These were abnormal tactics, but
would the final product push boundaries as planned, or just push people away?
On Sight- “Holllllyyy!”
This was my reaction the moment I heard
the opening seconds of Yeezus. Kanye was on some other stuff when he made
this. The song is strangely interrupted
with a change in the beat, but soon after returns to the original beat, which
is a recurring theme on the album. The
beat is out-of-this-world crazy, but at the same time somewhat catchy.
Black Skinhead- Kanye
did not produce an official single before the album release date, but this song
may serve as a hit commercially. I heard
it in a preview for Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming film The Wolf of Wall Street, early this summer, and it sounds amazing
in a theater.
I Am A God-
Yes. Believe it or not, Kanye did
include God as a featured artist on this track.
Here, ‘Ye compares himself to God, while also acknowledging the
importance of God: “I know He the most
high. But I am a close high.” He views himself as being very important and
influential to the music scene; almost as if he is a god. The song uses a lot of medium-to-high pitched
synths, a low bass beat, and the egotistical proclamations we have all grown
accustomed to.
New Slaves- Here,
Kanye says blacks are the new slaves for several reasons, all of which
ultimately relate to money. It has deep
meaning… but enough to justify Kanye calling his second verse “the best rap
verse of all time”? Preposterous! It is not surprising, though, coming from a
guy who never shies away from an opportunity to share his opinions. (Taylor
Swift knows best.) After all, as he
said, he wears his “heart on a sleeve.”
Hold My Liquor- Chief
Keef and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on the same track!? Only Kanye.
“Hold My Liquor” has Kanye battling his inner demons and addressing the
dangerous effects drugs and alcohol can have on relationships.
I’m In It- In
this song, the relationship theme continues, but is much more sexually
explicit. Justin Vernon continues to
make his imprint on the album as he and Kanye are developing quite a repertoire
of songs together. Assassin provides an aggressive
hook and his Jamaican touch makes it all the more memorable.
Blood On The Leaves-
This is one of the more aurally pleasing beats on the album. Kanye samples Nina Simone’s cover of Billie
Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit.” This
song is an ode to past relationships as Kanye talks about what could have
been. It has captivating piano playing in
various parts of the song throughout, as well as an intense brass beat, heavy
synthetic percussion, and auto-tune effects.
Guilt Trip- “Guilt
Trip” is about moving on from a relationship.
Kid Cudi is featured in the song, so of course it has a somber feel to
it. Originally, this song was intended
for Kanye and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne album,
but the style did not match well. The
auto-tune-heavy track fits better on this experimental album. It should also be noted that the rising
synths in this song are sampled from Steve Miller Band’s classic, “Fly Like an
Eagle.”
Send It Up- “Send
It Up” begins with featured artist King L boasting about how great of a club
banger the song is. On the contrary,
this is nothing that will get anyone up and dancing. If you are going to skip a song, this would
be the one.
Bound 2- The last
track on Yeezus contains elements of
Kanye that everyone has grown to know and love.
This soulful sample makes for a distinct sound reminiscent of his past
work. The song uses Charlie Wilson on
the bridge in what feels pleasantly familiar, yet arguably unrelated to the
rest of the project. It is a nice song
in and of itself, but it sounds like the end to a different album.
Yeezus is
different… and if you don’t like ‘different’, you will not like Yeezus.
Kanye tapped into the realm of house music and was inspired while in
Paris, where he recorded part of the album.
It is not a traditional hip-hop album, and you must absolutely keep an
open mind. It takes more than one listen
to fully grasp what Kanye is trying to accomplish here. Hopefully, instead of turning people off, this album encourages others to
seek complete creative control of their marketing and their music, and to not
feel like they need to restrict themselves to a single, defined genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment