Our Guest columnist ‘B.P.‘ here at wordsbyjcharmz shares his take on the new Yeezus album by Kanye West that dropped on June 18th 2013. Complete track list is also provided below.
Yeezus Album Review- Written By B.P.
“This sh** is making my ears bleed”
“Son, he’s the Hip-Hop version of Radiohead”
These are the words of two people whose musical opinions I hold in high regard, who do not at all know each other at all. They both have very similar tastes in music but hold vastly different opinions on Kanye West’s new album Yeezus. There seems to be no middle ground with this album and elitism on both sides. Either you’ll love it or hate it. As a person who lives in that gray area in the middle extremes like this are often very hard for me to digest which is why I didn’t trust my initial feeling I had when I listened to Yeezus.
So I gave it a second listen and a third listen and finally somewhere midway through I just had to accept that I did not like the album. I’m not against genre blending or experimenting in Hip-Hop. I support it all the way. I hate how we as fans often box in rappers (I’m guilty of this too) into our own little boxes. However an important part of branching out and trying something new is making sure the product is actually good and Kanye just didn’t deliver on this attempt. Not in the music itself but in the one part that make a rapper good… and that’s simply rapping good.
Songs like “New Slaves,” “Bound 2”, “Black Skinhead”, and “On Sight” gives us that classic Kanye. Arrogance, wittiness, and just enough self reflection to show a side of vulnerability that he made popular within a genre more known for making grand attempts at covering person flaws as opposed to openly discussing them. If someone were looking to any songs on the album to speak to what’s good about it, those are the songs I’d direct them too. I’d even go as far as to say that even with me disliking the album “New Slaves” is by far one of the best songs and my favorite songs of the year in any genre across the board.
“You like almost half the album. How can you say it’s bad?” is the question from someone I had to answer just last night. The problem is that for one, 4 out of 10 is still only 40% which isn’t good. Another problem is the songs that are bad, are REALLY bad. As I said before, I’m all for experimenting in hip-hop. Go for it, experiment, and genre blend, make the music sound as big and stadium like as you want I just ask one simple thing. Don’t forget that you’re a RAPPER and at some point your lyrics and flow will be used to judge the album as well. This is where Kanye really doesn’t deliver more than anything. “I’m In It” is ruined by horrible lines like “Your pu**y’s too good I need to crash/You’re ti**ies, let ‘em out, free at last” and “Eating Asian pu**y all I need is sweet and sour sauce”.
“I Am A God” actually does deliver lyrically but musically it’s just too much. There’s something to be said for simplicity and that’s something Kanye used to master not only lyrically but musically as well. As he’s gotten bigger so has the production he uses and it’s not always necessary. I know in theory it fits with the theme of the record but again it’s another miss in its attempt.
I’m not blind to the fact of why a good number of people dislike this album. I’ve seen many who don’t like the album clamoring for the “Old Kanye” back. The College Dropout-Late Registration Kanye to come around again. Get over it. That won’t happen, Kanye is nearly a decade removed from the things in his life that led him to make those albums and if any artist personal life influences their music, good or bad, it’s Kanye West.
I’m not of that opinion however. I’ve enjoyed the evolution of Kanye West musically and even being disappointed with this album won’t stop me from listening to and anticipating the next project he’s involved with. All I ask is that through the continued growth musically don’t forget that as part of hip-hop growth lyrically is always priority number one. Every genre has their one standard for judging it’s artist that will never be questioned and in hip-hop the quality of lyrics will always reign supreme over everything else. This one area is where Kanye has failed to deliver on this album and as hip-hop elitist as it sounds, that’s one area I doubt I’ll ever budge on using as part of my criteria for judging a rapper’s album.
-BP
01. On Sight (Produced by Daft Punk)
02. Black Skinhead (Produced by Daft Punk)
03. I Am A God (Featuring God)
04. New Slaves (Featuring Frank Ocean)
05. Hold My Liquor (Feat. Chief Keef & Justin Vernon)
06. I’m In It (Feat. Travis Scott)
07. Blood On The Leaves
08. Guilt Trip (Feat. Kid Cudi)
09. Send It Up (Feat. King L)
10. Bound 2 (Feat. Charlie Wilson)
Deffered Potential 