Bobo's Music Reviews: Yeezus by Kanye West

[Bobo 514]

Kanye West Yeezus Review

 

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Ye's experimental sounds and hard-as-nails production culminates to a project ahead of its time.

 

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Three years after Kanye West released his musical epic “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” Ye needed to follow that up with something that could hold its ground to the album of a decade. Yeezus was that album. While being bashed by critics at first due to being too “minimal.” But for me, the album was the complete  opposite. Distorted synths and fuzzy and hard drums with extreme bass were the main elements of the instrumentals on many of the songs on Yeezus. Ye’s vocals are also heavily distorted and caked with autotune. His heartfelt vocals on “Guilt Trip” are a perfect example of how he utilized autotune and effects to create another instrument. Many fans of Ye expressed how they felt about the 2013 album with much hate. Calling the album messy and very hollow-feeling.

 

Three years after Kanye West released his musical epic “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” Ye needed to follow that up with something that could hold its ground to the album of a decade. Yeezus was that album. While being bashed by critics at first due to being too “minimal.” But for me, the album was the complete opposite. Distorted synths and fuzzy and hard drums with extreme bass were the main elements of the instrumentals on many of the songs on Yeezus. Ye’s vocals are also heavily distorted and caked with autotune. His heartfelt vocals on “Guilt Trip” are a perfect example of how he utilized autotune and effects to create another instrument. Many fans of Ye expressed how they felt about the 2013 album with much hate. Calling the album messy and very hollow-feeling.

 

This project started off with a bang. “On Sight” was a musical slap in the face. The intro synth track was all over the place but evolved into something that worked well. The drums kicked in with the melody. Then came the hi-hats, then the lyrics. “Yeezy season approachin’...fuck whatever y’all been hearin’.” After an aggressive first verse, a sample from the Holy Name of Mary Choral Family “He'll Give Us What We Need”. The sample of a child’s voice saying, “He’ll give us what we need, it may not be what we want.” The sample represents Yeezus very well, as fans didn’t want the style of the album, but it was needed as a changeup in musical sound for Ye. the M.B.D.T.F. sound wasn’t going to be able to be replicated forever. The hard-as-nails and aggressive sound are the building blocks of his future sound. After the tornado of sound that is On Sight, Black Skinhead comes straight in with distorted electric guitar and 808 drums and bass. The lyrical themes of the song are all about rebellion. Rebellion against the world that looked down on Kanye. In the outro, he repeated “God!” over and over again. This is a perfect set up into his next song I Am a God. Which features similar synth sounds to On Sight but with a different pattern and vibe to it. On the track, he calls himself a god, and expresses how he is way better than everyone else looking down on him. His ego is at an all-time high with the line, “The only rapper compared to Michael (Michael Jackson).” He literally calls himself a God. 

 

New Slaves is a really interesting track. It covers how Ye feels about what he calls modern day slavery. Stereotyping black people as people who only buy rich things, such as: fur coats, Bentley cars, diamond chains, etc. He also mentions Alexander Wang, an American fashion designer who sells expensive; high-end clothing items. “You see it’s leaders and it’s followers...but I’d rather be a dick than a swallower,” a line from Ye during his refrain on the song. The line is a metaphor towards speaking your mind and being criticized for it, rather than holding in your opinions. The song finishes with West and Frank Ocean–best known for his 2016 record Blonde which came out after Yeezus–singing to Omega’s Gyöngyhajú lány. Fast-forward a few songs to Blood on the Leaves, a song featuring a very infamous sample of Nina Simone’s Strange Fruit, a song all about african americans and lynching that occured during the segregation period in the 1900s. The track is about the downsides of fame. He mentions JAY-Z and Beyoncé in the final verse with the line, “I don’t care if you used to talk to JAY-Z...he not with you, he with Beyoncé , you need to stop acting lazy.” 

 

Guilt Trip, the track I mentioned before, Ye was talking about a girl who he used to date, who only likes expensive things and was a capricorn. But more importantly, she left him but still loved her. West, who is deep in his feelings on the song, contemplates why she left him. Many mentions of alcohol and how he uses it to cope with the loss of his love. He’s on to the next one. It’s all a guilt trip for him. Cudi, the singer I mentioned before, comes in and sings the line, “If you love me so much, why’d you let me go?” A line that ties into my previous point of a guilt trip. The final track on the album is Bound 2, the track that many know as the best on Yeezus. The main sample on the track is from a soulful ballad by the Ponderosa Twins Plus One called Bound. The sample has a voice saying “Bound to fall in love,” Over and over again. After a verse, the tone shifts to a voice singing a refrain, and Aeroplane by Wee playing under the vocal track.

 

After doing a listen through, I’m reminded of the brilliance that was expressed by Kanye West on his sixth studio album. All songs have a sample that adds to the overall story. The sound is hard to listen to at first, but after a bit, it grows on you. The lyrics have meaning, and are quite catchy with most of them. Vocal delivery is great, especially with the features. A highlight of the album is Frank Ocean’s vocals on New Slaves, and Kid Cudi’s singing ability on Guilt Trip’s interlude. It all comes together to form an ahead of its time masterpiece. 

 

Final Rating: 9.2/10

Edited October 10, 2021 by Bobo