The “Yeezus” drop date of June 18th 2013 was indefinitely a significant date in Kanye West’s life, and indeed many of his followers. Having not heard from Kanye on a solo basis since his perfected “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” in 2010 the world was curious at what to expect, and what Yeezus revealed was definitely the unexpected.
You can see Yeezy’s renowned reaction to racism demonstrated throughout the masterpiece, strongly recognised in tracks such as New Slaves and Black Skinhead. It seems the iconic rap star is adamant to educate people of our generation, this can also be shown through his unusual interview responses – of which are usually incredibly intense and passionate, his latest interview with GQ (June 2014) highlights his strong natured character and his incentive for not just himself, but for his family to believe in what’s right.
It’s good to see a rapper who lyrically considers his true beliefs. The tone of the album from start to finish is pretty extraordinary and diligent, opening with “On Sight” witnesses a distorted beat and aggressively demanding lyrics as Kanye warns “Yeezy season approachin’” within the first line. Progressing through the album you could say the tempo relaxes slightly in tracks such as “Hold My Liquour”, West attempts to control his inner self through the addition of Justin Vernon and Chief Keef acting as exposing and protecting characterisations throughout the track. We also see a more gentle side to Yeezus in “Bound 2”, reminiscent of his earlier work and he also discusses the importance of his relationship with reality star Kim Kardashian.
Significantly, West turns to Nina Simone for a main vocal hook in “Blood on the Leaves”, sampling her cover of “Strange Fruit” paired with a backing track borrowed from TNGHT’s “R U Ready”. All of which combined creates perfection for the revealing of a story behind a relationship built on fame, money and greed.
Yeezus is the narrative of Kanye’s fragmented life in the past and his perfected life at the moment, it may not be for everyone but has his intention ever been to please everyone? Not at all, his intention is always to make an impression, and that he does extraordinarily well.