Yeezus – Kanye West

This bass must exist as so, because the melodies and even the vocals will be spliced, duplicated, corroded, and sent off to spiral into oblivion; There is no escaping the inevitable decay of these diseased songs. Maybe West is the God that is holding these faint songs together? Maybe he is the God that cast suck illness on these tracks in the first place. Well, he is one of a few in this plagued world that Yeezus creates. Rick Rubin, brought in virtually a week before this album was to be released, cast judgement so close to the last day on Earth that a lot of these songs were stripped away of any of their courage and cheer. They were instead left with either anxiety or cynicism. Daft Punk, playing the angels at the gates of heaven, took their toll on the first few songs not in the way most would expect (I mean, what can you expect after the disco revival Random Access Memories?) but instead on a similar wavelength of the nauseating sirens that Tom Bangalter supplied for Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. The odd thing in the end is that these songs do not exactly sound like they are dying or even gripping on for their dear lives. They don’t even sound undead.

These songs, rather, sound like they were left for dead after such torment and have come back with a vengeance much like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver or Lisbeth Salander in The Girl who Played with Fire. Their presence is to be known, with such tribalistic drumming and the occasional bass pattern that represents a beating heart fighting through ones hurt. The odd soul sample used here and there doesn’t exactly strike as being charming as it did on West’s previous albums. The samples on Bound 2, supplied without any sort of rhythm section, get squashed immediately by a tsunami of bass and ambience during what can only be considered the song’s chorus (who can really tell?) as the samples try to flutter back in like a bird shooed away by a pessimistic old man on a bench. Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit”, featured on Blood On The Leaves, is worked in as a shocking contrast to West’s lyrics. Is West really comparing his personal issues with the racial struggles Simone discusses?

That’s where West always wins. He may talk a huge game and paint a really stupid picture for himself, but amongst the many stupid things he has said, he has said many things we have thought but could never feel comfortable talking about. How many of us have compared a break up or a bad day to something completely ludicrous? Of course keeping an ex away from your current squeeze has virtually nothing to do with the terrors that are attached to the apartheid eras, but perhaps, in the moment, a man panicking will say anything about the situation to get others to listen. A lot of his “ignorant” statements are clearly not spoken out of his ass but are delicately taken care of to ensure that West can piss off just the right people. When he yells that he is constantly being thrown contracts yet African Americans “can’t even read”, it is apparent that he is trying to make an offensive racist joke. However, given the context of the song and the album, that line instead becomes a statement that African Americans are to not be held down anymore. Suddenly, all of his statements, smart or stupid, are questionable on this album. Was his huge screw up calling the men of 300 “Romans” done on purpose, or did he genuinely mess up such an obvious pop culture reference? Either way, amongst so many skewed musical layers and lyrics, such a mistake can be forgiven, even if it was made by a supposed God.

If My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was, apparently, his Sgt. Peppers, then Yeezus is his Kid A: A short stare into the dystopian abyss. Did Kid A predict the future of music? Not really, as nothing much like it has come out since. Chances are Yeezus won’t either. Like Kid A, Yeezus probably won’t get dated either. There is no era that this album fits in (seriously does anything within the past decade sound remotely like Kid A?). West compares himself to Jesus not as a powerful figure, a reborn icon, or a man that is to be respected, but as someone who has somehow entered purgatory and has brought back a representation that we may be able to understand. Not all of us will, as this album is fiercely abrasive, but I don’t think Kanye West cares. The album comes without any form of album art or even an image on the cd itself. The only way you can know it’s Yeezus is by the small sticker that holds the cd closed. For those who don’t know it’s Yeezus or care to see what on earth this album even is, the album will sit on the shelves in stores alone and uncared for. I went to go pick mine up today and a store already was sold out of this album. Without much promotion, this barebones album, visually and audibly, was still accepted by many. For those that are not in the know, they will see a blaring orange sticker without any text on it sitting on top of blank cases within stores. Those willing to take the dive into the unknown are sure to be rewarded. Kanye West, a mainstream producer and rapper, dove into the unknown, and we’d be stupid to at least not try and see what he found. For many this album may just be a treasure that is too deep to dive for, but for the remaining that don’t give up so easily, the treasure will last with them a very long time.