Yeezus Review: A Blasphemous Opus, Or Overhyped Play on Words?
Kanye West has never been a stranger to pushing the envelope; however, this time around he might have gone a little too far and shoved it right out the window.
Yeezus is everything The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation 808s and Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is not, and that is stripped down and minimalistic. Guest appearances are at an all time low, and the beats are as simple as they've ever been for Kanye. Rick Rubin, who is credited as the record's executive producer is a master at simplifying an artist's music and bringing out their best qualities. However, 'Yeezus' did the opposite, magnifying Kanye's misogynistic side on songs like 'I'm In It' and 'Send it Up' and mobilizing his social and political views on 'Black Skinhead' in a way that fell flat when he resulted to the former.
Yeezus never lacks passion or direction which is an aspect of the album that can be respected. It certainly is a cohesive work at just 10 tracks clocking in at around 40mins. It is also the first of Kanye's albums to feature more than one beat from a producer other than himself. Daft Punk, a group Kanye once sampled for crafting hit records such as 'Stronger' is behind the boards for the first three songs on Yeezus. The electro pop dance group energizes the rapper bringing out a side of him that was missing from MBDTF.
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However, the lyrical content has largely remained the same, except this time around it is delivered in a non-traditional manner taking away from whatever purpose Kanye had intended for the commentary found on some of these songs. It almost feels like you are listening to 10 songs of his random thoughts. Long gone are the well developed and clearly delivered concept records such as 'Two Words' and 'Gold Digger.' Kanye says what he wants in the way he wants to say it, and that's not such a good thing on this record.
In terms of the album title and the controversial 'I Am A God' song, Kanye does little to push any kind of religious or anti-religious message. There are a few blasphemous lines here and there, but the self proclaimed man of God sticks to his usual dabbling in Christianity mentality recognizing that Jesus is still the Most High while spitting some of his most over-sexed lyrics to date throughout the rest of the project. He functions as an unashamed walking contradiction which is something he has been for most of his career.
If a man's words reflect the condition of his heart, then all that could be said about Kanye is that he believes he is a messiah to the music industry saving people from its formulas and power over artists and fans. He certainly delivers something interesting and thought provoking with Yeezus, but it won't hit home with everyone.
