Kanye West - Yeezus

Genres: Hardcore Rap, Left-Field Hip-Hop, Midwest Rap

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Review: Before I begin, let me just say that I gave this album 3 stars based on the fact that I appreciate the fact that Kanye kept his word and created an absolutely chaotic and polarizing album that has little to no chance of any form of mainstream success. With that said, listeners will either love or hate the album and I highly suggest you preview it before spending your hard earned money on it.

Now, many critics and some die hard Kanye fans are raving that this album is a "classic", a "game changer" and "revolutionary"; that Kanye is taking it to "the next level", "an artistic genius", and "a rap god"... I won't argue that the album is definitely on another level but to call it a game changer and a classic, well a couple things are wrong about this:

First off, the album seemed very dark and schizophrenic to me. If you haven't heard it yet, let me try to paint a picture of it for you: Imagine being in a large dark warehouse, the air heavy with the sweet/putrid scent of sweat and blood; your head is pounding with the sounds of heavy bass and distorted grimy synth echoing to atmospheric sounds of heavy breathing and manic screeching that sends shivers down your spine and grates at you like the sounds of a dying pig. After what seems like an eternity of relentless sonic assaults on your eardrums, the noise abruptly stops and and the silence is filled with the sounds of an old vinyl record and the scratchy soundtrack to an old jazz song your grandfather used to listen to when you were a kid. Your heart begins to calm down, you relax and begin to enjoy the music and nostalgic memories it brings when the record suddenly scratches and your ears are assaulted once again with the chaotic cacophony that is now known simply as Yeezus.

Like I said before, you will either love it or hate it, and the album is definitely different than any mainstream hip hop, or album you've heard. Now, the fact that critics are hailing Kanye for his creativity, however, does bother me. The fact is, that the majority of the tracks were not produced by Kanye, and the ones that were, share the credits with at least two other producers. His lyrics on the album are fairly weak and his days of socially conscience rap are gone, replaced with crude lyrics littered with racial epitaphs and misogyny. One could argue that Eminem built his career on this type of lyricism but one also has to remember that his Relapse Album was one of his worst to date...even according to him. Now with an album title like Yeezus and a song called "I Am A God", I was hoping for more of a solid concept to the album, similar to J Cole's Born Sinner (definitely worth buying). However, both titles like the rest of the album fell short of "genius" for me and seem to be created more for controversy and album sales rather than commentary and story telling. And like the overall album, everything feels extremely disjointed and out of place. Some critics are saying that the album seamlessly alternates through genres, I call it abrupt and polarizing breakdowns that feel like there is no rhyme or reason to the madness.

Some people will tell you that the album needs to be absorbed and listened to a couple times before the genius of the project sets in, and here's where I will argue with those who are saying that the album is an "instant classic". A "classic" is something that immediately grabs you the moment you hear it, something that instantly makes you smile, get out of your seat and dance like there's no tomorrow. A classic is something that you can play 20 years from now and still feel the exact same excitement as when you first heard it. Yeezus is not a classic nor anywhere near "album of the year." I highly doubt that any other artist will follow in Kanye's footsteps on this one and this is definitely not the new face of hip hop nor was it meant to be. This album was and is a big F-You to the industry. A dark joke if you will, created by a mad artist teetering on the edge of insanity/genius. Just like the documentary "Exit Through The Gift Shop", Yeezus proves that regardless of whether or not your creation is good or not, it will sell on the basis of the artist's reputation and popularity. The album is definitely worth listening to simply because it is so out there. Will I listen to it again? Probably not. But if I did, my top picks from the album would be New Slaves, Blood on the Leaves and maybe Bound 2 (which, by the way, is a horrible closer to the album in my opinion).

Verdict: 60/100